NFL hopes to release 2014 schedule by mid-April

The NFL schedule is expected to be unveiled sometime in mid-April. (USATSI)

It's April and April is usually when everyone starts wondering when the next NFL schedule will be released. We know which teams will be playing which teams in 2014, but we don't know the times and dates of those games yet. That should change soon though.

In an email to ProFootballTalk, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league has a 'normal target' date of sometime in mid-April. That means we should see a 2014 schedule sometime in the next few weeks.

Since 2007, the schedule has been released sometime between April 11 and April 20.

In five of the past seven years, the schedule was released on a Tuesday (2008-12). In the two years where the schedule wasn't released on a Tuesday, it was released on a Thursday (2013) and a Wednesday (2007).

Based on Aiello's email, the schedule will likely come out sometime between Tuesday, April 15 and Thursday, April 24.

Although the 256-game regular season schedule isn't out yet, we do know a few things. We know which teams will be playing in London and we know the Seahawks will be hosting the NFL opener on Sept. 4.

We also know that the 49ers won't be hosting any Monday or Thursday games in 2014 due to the traffic conditions around the team's new stadium during rush hour. The 49ers could still conceivably host a Thanksgiving game though as that wouldn't be affected by rush hour traffic.

Anyway, here's what we do know:

Week 1 on Sept. 4: TBA at Seattle

Week 4 on Sept. 28: Dolphins at Raiders in London, 1 p.m. ET

Week 8 on Oct. 26: Lions at Falcons in London, 9:30 a.m. ET

Week 10 on Nov. 9: Cowboys at Jaguars in London, 1 p.m. ET

Week 13 (Thanksgiving Day): AFC at Lions, NFC at Cowboys

The Week 8 game between the Falcons and Lions will be the earliest Eastern Time Zone kickoff time in NFL history.

We'll have to wait until mid-April to find out everything else.

To hold you over until then, here's some schedule release facts: The last time the schedule wasn't released in mid-April was in 2006, when the schedule came out on April 6. The last time the schedule was released in a month other than April was in 2002, when it was released on March 28.

NFL Hot News

WR Britt to the Rams on one year deal



According to ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter, the St. Louis Rams have added another wide receiver to the arsenal of quarterback Sam Bradford. Kenny Britt was signed Monday to a one year deal worth a reported $1.4 million, with $550,000 guaranteed.The 25 year-old, former first round draft pick has spent his first six seasons with the Tennessee Titans. He played in 12 games in 2013, catching only 11 balls for 96 yards.



Britt has never really lived up to expectations that come with being a first round draft pick. His career high in receptions is 45 and he's never eclipsed 800 yards in a season. His best season was 2010, when he caught 42 balls for 775 yards and nine touchdowns in 12 games. That was during his second season and had many experts believing his third year was going to be a breakout year. The 2011 season started off proving the experts right. Britt had 14 catches for 269 yards and three touchdowns after two games and had Music City begging for Britt. In Week 3, Britt tore his ACL and MCL, and has never been the same.That's the pessimist's view.The optimist's view is this: Britt is still only 25 years old and he's headed to St. Louis, where his head coach will be Jeff Fisher, who was also his head coach during his best season in 2010. He'll have one of the most promising, dynamic young wide receivers in the league on the other side in Tavon Austin. Britt is a 6'3", 225 lb wide receiver. That is something that any quarterback could grow to enjoy having, especially in the red zone. Speaking of quarterbacks, Sam Bradford is a pretty good one. He was enjoying the best year of his career in 2013 until tearing his ACL in week 7. He was on pace for 3,800 yards, 32 touchdowns and less than 10 interceptions. So, with all that in mind, it's possible that Britt could see a resurrection in his career in St. Louis.I expect that. I see Britt as a WR2 with upside. Talent doesn't just disappear. If the commitment is there, a 25 year-old wide receiver should be able to reach any success that he's had in the past. I like what the Rams offense is building, and expect Bradford to have a huge year in 2014. WIth Britt and Austin at WR, and Zac Stacy at RB, expect the Rams to have several viable fantasy options this coming season.