When Does Buffalo Bills 2026 Training Camp Start?

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With the Buffalo Bills’ offseason workout program in the books, the next stop for the team is 2026 training camp.
But when will the Bills head to St. John Fisher University in Pittsford, NY to begin their final preparations for the upcoming campaign. The expectation is that the team will hold its first training camp practice on July 29, according to Always Gameday in Buffalo’s Sal Capaccio.
“I think 47, or 48 is the number that you have to wait from your first game all the way back to when you can have your first training camp practice,” said Capaccio. “Therefore, that’s why it is actually going to be a July 29th start, it appears, for the Bills, their first day of training camp.”
That’s a bit of a change from last season, when the Bills hosted their first camp practice at St. John Fisher on July 23. The reason for the later start this season is that the beginning of the NFL Schedule is also starting later than normal.
The league typically begins its schedule the week after Labor Day, which falls on Monday, Sept 7. That is the latest possible date the holiday can fall on the calendar, which thus has pushed the start of the NFL season back until Sept. 9, when the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks will host the New England Patriots for a rematch of this past season’s championship game.
How many practices will the Bills have?

Last season, the Bills hosted 11 practices open to the public, including the Return of the Blue and Red scrimmage at Highmark Stadium. One thing that may be different this season is the timing of each practice.
Former head coach Sean McDermott routinely scheduled Bills practices to begin at 9:45 a.m. However, early during his first year at the helm, Joe Brady has pushed the team’s OTAs and minicamp a bit later than they had previously been schedule under McDermott. Reading the tea leaves, it feels likely that training camp practices may begin a bit later in the day as well.
The Bills were permitted to begin their offseason workout program a bit earlier than most team this season due to having a first-year head coach. As a result, Buffalo’s OTAs and minicamp have already wrapped up, while other teams around the league, including the divisional rival New York Jets, have a week remaining before they break for the summer.

Alex Brasky is editor of Shout! magazine, along with serving as a contributor to Bills - ONSI. He has been on the Bills beat the past nine seasons and recently joined Newsweek to expand his coverage beyond the NFL. Alex has also previously covered the MLB, Pro Baseball Hall of Fame, PGA Tour and March Madness and earned first place for his spot news coverage in the New York Press Association's Better Newspaper contest.
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