What NFL Teams have a Bye in Week 5? Everyone who's sitting out this week

The Kansas City Chiefs will not have a chance to extend their perfect start this week. Kansas City enters its bye at 4-0, while the Carolina Panthers are the only other team sitting out Week 5 at 2-2.

That makes Week 5 the official start of the 2026 NFL bye schedule . Each team receives one bye during the 18-week regular season, with breaks continuing through Week 14 before every team is active again down the stretch.

Which NFL teams are on a bye in Week 5?

Only two teams are unavailable this week, making this one of the lighter bye periods on the calendar. The Chiefs and Panthers are both off, meaning fantasy managers only need to work around players from those two rosters.

Kansas City ’s absence is likely to be the more disruptive one because of the number of fantasy-relevant players tied to its offense. Anyone depending heavily on Chiefs starters will need temporary replacements before the rest of the league returns to action.

The Week 5 slate still contains a full run of high-profile games elsewhere. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers visit the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night, while the Philadelphia Eagles face the Jacksonville Jaguars in London on Sunday.

Bye schedule gets much busier next week

Week 6 brings the first significant jump in absences. The Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions, Miami Dolphins and Minnesota Vikings will all sit out, doubling the number of teams unavailable compared with Week 5.

Another four teams are off in Week 7. The Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Chargers and Washington Commanders will all have their scheduled breaks, adding another round of lineup complications.

The bye schedule continues in varying groups through Week 14. One notable exception comes in Week 12, when all 32 teams are active during Thanksgiving week before the remaining byes resume afterward.

Fantasy managers need to start planning

Early bye weeks can create awkward decisions because fantasy rosters are often still being reshaped after the opening month. Injuries may already have reduced depth, while useful waiver-wire replacements can become harder to find once four or six teams disappear from the schedule.

Week 5 at least offers a relatively gentle introduction to the problem. Only Kansas City and Carolina are absent, but the calendar becomes far less forgiving immediately afterward.

The simplest approach is to look ahead before roster pressure increases. Managers who already know which players are missing in Weeks 6 and 7 will have a much better chance of avoiding rushed lineup decisions.