2021 Dallas Cowboys schedule rumor tracker: Dallas to visit Tampa Bay in season kickoff game

The 2021 NFL Schedule officially drops this evening and we are all very excited to see when the Dallas Cowboys are going to be playing this season.

Of course, while things are official later this evening, there are always a few things to slip out and leak throughout the day when it comes to the schedule.

The league is even allowing some things to be officially revealed ahead of tonight’s festivities and among them is the Week 1 slate. Get ready for primetime right off the bat, as previously speculated, the Dallas Cowboys will visit the defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the season’s kickoff game on Thursday, September 9th.

Playing in the kickoff game is obviously exciting for a number of reasons. One of the unfortunate factors involved is that there is a lot of energy for the reigning champions as they raise their Super Bowl banner right before kickoff. To be fair to this point, though, the Cowboys successfully won against the New York Giants last time they were in this slot (2012).

While there is a long way to go between now and then, it is likely that this game is the closest thing to normal that we have seen since Super Bowl LIV when it comes to fan attendance. Again, time will tell exactly what happens there, but having the Cowboys in the debut slot for that type of thing does make sense.

As noted while this is an official announcement there will be a number of leaks and rumors throughout the day. We will track them for you right here and of course have the official schedule up when it is finalized.

2021 Dallas Cowboys schedule rumor tracker

• It appears that the Dallas Cowboys will host the Las Vegas Raiders on Thanksgiving. The last time that Dallas hosted the Raiders, at the time playing out of Oakland, was also on Turkey Day (2013).
• Dallas might be playing on the road against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football in Week 8
• The Cowboys are rumored to be hosting the New Orleans Saints on the Thursday after Thanksgiving. Dallas has been a virtual lock for TNF the week after Thanksgiving for years now and even hosted the Saints in this slot in 2018. Interestingly the Cowboys will now have two mini-byes coming off of Thursday games as they will play in the opener which is on a Thursday night. They’ll have longer weeks for the opponents following both of these games.
• All of New England’s schedule leaked and the Cowboys will visit the Patriots on Sunday, October 17th (Week 6).
• Our friends at Hog Havens have the Cowboys playing Washington twice three weeks, Weeks 14 and 16. The latter on Sunday Night Football.
• Many reports have the Cowboys at Minnesota on Sunday Night Football in Week 8 and at the New York Giants in Week 16.
• It seems like the Cowboys could be hosting the Denver Broncos in Week 9.
• It looks as if the Cowboys could at Philadelphia in Week 3 on Monday Night Football and hosting the Eagles in the regular season finale.
• The Dallas Morning News reported that the Cowboys will visit the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 2 following their Week 1 game in Tampa Bay.

Last Updated on Wednesday, May 12th at 3:18pm ET.