5 things to watch for when the Buffalo Bills 2023 schedule is announced

Buffalo Bills Bye Week

In the past, teams that played over in Europe would automatically have their bye week the week following that game. However, as Sal Capaccio with WGR550 tweeted, the NFL now gives teams the option of having the bye week after that game or at another point in the season.

In his tweet, only three of the eight teams that played in Europe last season elected to automatically have the bye week after that game. It should also be noted that the four teams who played in Week 4 and Week 5 did not elect to have the bye week right after that game.

The reason is that there is some advantage to having the bye week later in the season. As the season goes on, players accumulate injuries and the later the bye week the better it is as players can use a week off to rest up for the remainder of the season and hopefully the playoffs.

If the Buffalo Bills have their game in London early in the season, it wouldn't be surprising to see them elect to not take their bye week right after that game.