The NFL on Monday at the Spring owners meetings approved a flexible Thursday Night Football schedule. The good news for the 49ers is the rule won’t apply to them in 2023.
It’s a pretty significant shift to move a team’s game into the TNF slot, so the NFL made rigorous requirements for such a move. Those flexes can only happen between Weeks 13 and 17, only two flexes are allowed, and the league requires a 28-day notice for the teams.
For San Francisco this won’t impact them since there’s a two-game maximum for TNF games. The 49ers play on Thursday night in Week 3 at home against the Giants, and again in Week 12 on the road in Seattle for Thanksgiving.
Since the 49ers will hit their two-game maximum before the TNF flex window begins in Week 13, they won’t have to worry about any of their late-season games getting pushed up a few days.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter the 49ers were one of the teams that voted in favor of the move. While it won’t affect them in 2023, it certainly could in the coming years when their schedule doesn’t include two early TNF bouts.
There could be some movement in their schedule late in the year if they’re flexed into or out of a Sunday night game, but their pair of Thursday games is set.
