The NFL sent a note to teams on Wednesday outlining the rules for its off-season programs – rules the league has decided to impose after failing to reach an agreement with its players’ union on some key issues.
The parts of the off-season program that are voluntary under the CBA – everything except the mandatory annual mini-camps in June – will remain so. But while the NFLPA has publicly called for the entire off-season to take place virtually in light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the league is telling teams that field work will be allowed.
Phase 1 of the off-season program, which reflects what the players requested, will take place between April 19 and May 14. Practically all meetings will take place and no field work will be allowed. The league says it wants to use this phase to focus on vaccine education efforts and make the vaccines available to players, team staff and their families as soon as different local regulations allow.
Phase 2 will take place between May 17 and May 21. It will remain voluntary and meetings will remain virtual, but field exercises will be allowed in accordance with normal Phase 2 guidelines (which prohibit contact and limit time spent on the field per day). The annual post-draft beginner mini-camps will take place in the week of phase 2.
Phase 3 will be a traditional phase 3 that takes place between May 24 and June 18 and will include 10 normal days of voluntary OTA work, as well as mandatory mini-camps. Meetings in this phase will be allowed to take place virtually or in person and applying COVID-19 rules on testing, tracking contacts and limits on the number of people allowed in different parts of the team facility.
Players who practically attend meetings or training sessions will still be entitled to $ 250 per diems, which was an important part of the NFLPA’s demand during the off-season program negotiations.
The league will not require vaccination of players or staff, but expects to receive responses from the NFLPA on its vaccine proposal, which would ease COVID restrictions on vaccinated players and staffed teams that reach a certain percentage of vaccination thresholds. According to the league’s proposal, players who have been vaccinated would be less tested and less restricted from following contacts and would have more freedom of movement around and outside the team’s facility. Teams with players and staff reaching a certain percentage of vaccinations would be subject to more relaxed COVID protocols, as were teams in other professional leagues.
The NFLPA has publicly stated that it believes the off-season program should be exclusively virtual and urges its members not to participate in portions of the program that are voluntary within the CBA. The Union acknowledges that 203 players have training bonuses in their contracts that require them to participate in off-season training to receive these bonuses and does not actively discourage these players from doing so, although the union is trying to articulate a message. broader that players should no longer accept contracts that include bonuses for participating in off-season voluntary training.