NFL: What’s next when the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers confirm international matchups

Before this season’s game at Wembley, for example, the Jacksonville Jaguars traveled to London early in the week, while the Rams arrived the day before the game and returned to Los Angeles immediately after a 35-7 win.

“Some teams will stay close to the training site, others will have to travel long distances for players after that travel, when they get through the flying phase,” White said. “It depends on the team they play on, so the lack of standardization is what seems arbitrary.

“The game requires a certain amount of rest, preparation and recovery for players to be safe, so all of that must be taken into account if we are going to talk about [travelling] Away or more international matches. “This is a matter of negotiation.”

The NFL’s current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the NFLPA allows up to 10 regular season games to be played overseas per season.

The Minnesota Vikings became the first team to play two international games in the same season in 2025, playing in Dublin and London on back-to-back Sundays, and linebacker Jonathan Greenard said he “didn’t want to play two games in a row.” [again]”.

But White said the players gave “a great deal of positive feedback because of the way they handled it. That’s the trick.”

He added: “It is possible that 16 matches around the world is too much, but that is up to the players to decide once they have all the information.

“We have some sense of what makes for a positive experience when traveling internationally, and we collect data.

“It’s about making sure the players are at the heart of that discussion.”