According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the league’s offseason workout program will begin April 20 in a virtual format. The NFLPA executive committee and board of representatives both voted Monday to approve the offseason plan.
As April 20 was the day workouts had been scheduled to start, it appears the league remains adamant about leaving as many previously scheduled dates unaffected as possible.
Pelissero’s Tweets went on to say that club facilities will only open in accordance with NFL protocols and federal, state and local rules and regulations. If one or more club facilities must remain closed for any period of time, all club facilities must remain closed during that period.
Players are being shipped workout equipment and monitoring devices at a cap of $1,500 per player.
Each team will get three consecutive weeks of virtual work including classroom instruction, workouts, and other non-football related educational programs.
If facilities don’t reopen during the offseason workout program, clubs can conduct a virtual mandatory veteran minicamp with two hours of classroom time and two hours of workout time.
Teams with new coaches — Cleveland Browns, Carolina Panthers, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants and Washington Redskins — will have extra voluntary veteran minicamp.
The virtual period will end no later than May 15 and all offseason programs must end by June 26.
It will be interesting to see how the virtual offseason impacts the Pittsburgh Steelers once the regular season gets underway. There are plenty of opinions on whether there should be a season at all, but this is the NFL and I think that they will do everything under their power to ensure the season happens.
