The Jets have already pulled their scouts and coaches from the road amid the spread of the coronavirus and now they won’t be having in-person visits for draft prospects, either. Teams debated closing facilities and now it looks like this is the first step towards that, as the NFL forbade all teams from letting prospects from meeting team personnel.
Teams are allowed to conduct interviews with prospects over the phone or video conference call, according to a memo sent to teams by the league. The memo states all conversations must be recorded and sent to the Player Personel department upon completion with the dates, times, length and names of participants on the call. Additionally, teams aren’t allowed to hold more than three calls per week and each call can only last one hour.
One of the biggest issues revolving around this new procedure is discovering medical information on prospects. Typically, a team’s medical staff would run tests and take down information for their teams. The NFL said it will now work with the Competition Committee and General Managers Advisory Committee to figure out how to give out medical information to teams.
How this affects free agency and the beginning of the league year is unknown. Right now, the NFL says it plans to open up the legal tampering period for free agency as scheduled on March 16 with the 2020 league year beginning March 18.
Access will continue to be limited for the foreseeable future as teams and the league discusses next steps for the future of the 2020 season as well as the safety of players, coaches, staff, and prospects. This is a fluid situation that could easily change by the day or hour.