Don’t look now, but there is finally an end in sight for this, the dead zone of the NFL offseason.
On Thursday the NFL announced the 2015 offseason schedule for teams around the league and the voluntary portion begins sooner than you may realize.
The voluntary offseason workout programs set the tone for the months ahead, before players report to minicamps, while also providing training, teaching and physical conditioning for players.
Under the new CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement), organizations will hold a voluntary nine-week offseason program which is broken down into three phases.
Per the CBA:
Phase One: Consists of the first two weeks of the program with activities limited to strength and conditioning and physical rehabilitation only.
Phase Two: Consists of the next three weeks of the program. On-field workouts may include individual player instruction and drills as well as team practice conducted on a “separates” basis. No live contact or team offense vs. team defense drills are permitted.
Phase Three: Consists of the next four weeks of the program. Teams may conduct a total of 10 days of organized team practice activity, or “OTAs”. No live contact is permitted, but 7-on-7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 drills are permitted.
Closer to home, the Baltimore Ravens’ initial offseason program will begin on April 20, while OTA workouts are slated to run from May 26-28, June 1-3 and June 8-11.
Over the past several seasons, attendance has been high for these voluntary sessions, with key veterans participating despite the “voluntary” moniker assigned to the workouts.
The Ravens’ mandatory minicamp will run from June 16-18 this year.
For rookies and undrafted rookie free agents the offseason schedule begins almost immediately.
With the NFL holding the draft again later than in years past (April 30-May 2) there isn’t much downtime for the youngsters.
As the CBA states, each club may hold a rookie football development program for a period of seven weeks, which in 2015 can begin on May 11.
Hang on folks – we are almost through the roughest part of the NFL offseason.
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