NFL free agency will begin on time amid coronavirus pandemic

While the coronavirus has impacted most of the sports landscape, the NFL’s new league year won’t be delayed and will commence as scheduled.

The league’s legal tampering period is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. CT on Monday, and the new league year — and free agency — will start at 3 p.m. CT Wednesday.

Now official. NFL sent memo to teams, informing them: Negotiation window noon tomorrow. League year weds. Franchise designation ends tomorrow at noon. Official.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 15, 2020

According to Schefter, the NFL Players Association did not want to move the start of the new league year. Considering there’s no traveling involved, they figured they could get business done — especially if things with the coronavirus get worse before they get better.

NFL says NFLPA would not provide consent to move league year, per source.

NFLPA says: No one is traveling anyway. It’s not football activity, it’s deals. Everyone is working remotely. Let’s do our business remotely. And this could get worse before it gets better. So do it now.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 15, 2020

There was discussion about whether or not the NFL would postpone the start of the new league year amid the coronavirus pandemic. Ultimately, the NFL made the decision to move forward considering free agency can be operated remotely.

With free agency set to begin Wednesday, the Bears have some decisions to make, including whether to keep or release Leonard Floyd, as they look to free up salary cap space.