Will Eagles coach Nick Sirianni get to install his systems in person this spring?
The NFLPA would like to curtail in-person offseason work.
The NFL league year starts Wednesday, when teams can begin to sign free agents, and the Eagles can finally make official the trade of Carson Wentz to Indianapolis. The three-day draft starts April 29, and unlike last year, teams have been told that they can gather at team facilities for the draft.
Beyond those dates this offseason, who knows?
During the 2020 season, played amid coronavirus restrictions, there was a lot of talk about the benefits of a presumed upcoming “normal offseason.” As the vaccine rollout continues, will teams return to practice venues for offseason programs? Will there be on-field work and in-person classroom setups this spring, or will teams work remotely until players are vaccinated?
Teams and agents say they don’t know yet, and some are not optimistic about any sort of normalcy occurring before training camps open at the end of July, at best.
This is definitely of concern to teams with new coaching staffs and systems, such as the Eagles.
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One agent said recently that on a conference call with the NFL Players Association, he was told that “they expect the beginning of the offseason will be virtual, like last year. They don’t expect players to have access to the vaccine until at least the summer, like, August, September, so they feel the season will be a lot more normal [but] this offseason’s going to be a lot the same as last year.”
This agent added an element that hasn’t been widely examined − his impression that quite a few players are “anti-vax.”
One would assume the teams want players in their buildings as much as possible. That is true in some cases, the agent said, but some organizations did not like the cost of daily testing last season.
He said the testing cost about $100 million last year, “so they don’t want to pay for these next three months if they don’t have to. Then you have GMs and coaches and team personnel, they all think it’s necessary, especially for the young players, to come in and participate in OTAs and learn the system.”
An NFL general manager, speaking on background, said he feels the NFLPA reflects the views of veteran players, such as union president and Cleveland Browns center J.C. Tretter, more than it takes into consideration the acclimation of less-experienced members.
“You’ve got Tretter from the players association who’s played in the league for eight years, he doesn’t need an offseason program, like the young guys,” the GM said. “A lot of the players, especially the veterans, are saying, ‘Hey, we did it last year without an offseason, we don’t need to go back.’
“I would say that’s shortsighted. There are lots of players on our team, not just rookies, but second- and third-year players, who need every friggin’ rep they can get. … I think it’s shortsighted to think that the league won’t suffer. If we go three, four, five years like this – if the league negotiates it away and we don’t have an offseason program – I think the overall quality of play will come down.”
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The high quality of play in 2020 was a reason Tretter cited for seeking the end of offseason work, in a late-December newsletter.
“I believe the changes implemented this season have demonstrated that we can put an entertaining product out on the field while further reducing wear and tear on our players’ bodies,” Tretter wrote. “There is no reason for us to ever return to the previous offseason program.”