The month of March is here, which means the Indianapolis Colts are gearing up for free agency to open and the 2020 NFL draft to arrive a month later.
As is the case with most months in the NFL offseason, there are certain days that hold more value. Whether it’s a deadline that needs to be met or the actual marking of the new league year, the month of March has just about everything.
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Here’s a quick look at the important dates to keep in mind for March:
March 10: Deadline for franchise and transition tags
This is pretty straight forward. Teams have been able to apply the franchise tag for about a week now. The deadline to apply that tag to a certain player is on this date by 4:00 p.m. New York time. This doesn’t directly impact the Colts because they essentially have no one to tag, but they will get indirectly impacted as some big free agents won’t hit the market because of the tag.
March 16–18: Legal tampering period
Ever wonder why general manager Chris Ballard won’t comment on free agents during the early offseason? Well, its because he’s literally not allowed to. That would fall under tampering, which is a big no-no in the NFL. However, 48 hours before the start of the new league year is called the “legal tampering period.”
This permits teams to contact the agents of impending free agents from other organizations without penalty. This is when some big free agents will agree to contracts. However, it doesn’t become officially official until the new league year begins. Though it is rare, it is possible for a player to agree to terms with one team during this time and then back out or find a new team before the new league year begins. But that doesn’t happen all that often.
March 18: Happy new year!
This is the big day of the month. The 2020 season will officially begin on March 18 at 4:00 p.m. New York time. This means that all 2019 contracts officially expire and those players that haven’t gotten a new deal will become free agents.
It would be easiest to simply list all of the objectives that must happen before 4:00 p.m. ET:
- Teams must exercise options for 2020 on players with an option clause in their 2019 contracts.
- Teams must submit their qualifying offers on impending restricted free agents (RFAs) if they want to keep Right of First Refusal/Compensation. If they don’t, that player becomes an unrestricted free agent.
- Teams must submit the minimum salary tender for impending exclusive rights free agents (ERFAs). If they don’t, that player becomes an unrestricted free agent.
- The Top 51 rule comes into effect for the salary cap. The Colts don’t have to worry about this.
- Free agency officially opens at 4:00 p.m. New York time as does the trading period.
- All 2019 contracts officially expire at 4:00 p.m. New York time.
March 29–April 1
The annual league meetings take place in Palm Beach, Florida. This is where the ideas for changes to the game happen. The owners and general managers get together here to talk about how to make rule changes, make the game fairer, etc. An example would be the rule change that allowed head coaches to challenge pass interference.
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