The expected virtual offseason put in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic includes more details now. Teams’ respective offseason programs, under this amended format, will begin April 20. The NFL and NFLPA put in place procedures for the 2020 offseason Monday.
No team can report to its facility until all 50 states are cleared from the various lockdown measures the coronavirus has induced, per Charles Robinson of Yahoo.com (on Twitter). The NFLPA’s board voted unanimously to approve the changes after weeks-long negotiations with the league.
Phase 1 of this offseason format will only include voluntary classroom work, while the second phase — which begins May 18 — can include virtual individual workouts, Albert Breer of SI.com tweets. Phase 2 is also voluntary, as it is during normal work years. It remains uncertain how workout bonuses will be distributed.
Phase 1 classroom work is capped at two hours per day; so are Phase 2’s virtual workouts. Most teams will have three weeks’ worth of voluntary classroom work allowed. Teams that hired new HCs, however, can hold a veteran minicamp starting May 11. Veterans will receive $235 per day for virtual participation; rookies will collect $135 daily.
Each team’s offseason program cannot run beyond June 26. That is a later date than usual. Minicamps usually wrap up by mid-June at the latest, with players then working out independently before late-July training camp report dates. The league is holding out hope for some type of midsummer pre-training camp ramp-up period, however. That would not commence until late June or early July.
With many players not having access to home gyms, some will certainly possess advantages. However, each team will be mandated to provide players $1,500 stipends to acquire certain workout equipment, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com tweets.
Certain states have quarantines in place until at least June 10, and due to the uncertainty COVID-19 has caused, it now looks like a good bet the NFL’s 2020 offseason will be fully virtual.
So the whole league can be held hostage by a single state’s overreaction? (I’m looking at you, Virginia…)
I know you probably think death is a great cure for “overreaction” but some folks would rather try a different approach.