2020 NFL Season: What changes are being considered on and off the field?

2020 NFL Season: What changes are being considered on and off the field due to the COVID-19 pandemic?

The NFL and NFLPA are now within a month of players reporting to training camp.  The players, led by Cleveland Browns center and NFLPA president JC Tretter, want information on what the league protocols for a return to the field will be. Meanwhile, the NFL is trying to gather as much information it can before they have to roll out their protocols and attempt to achieve an accord with the players.

There are a lot of possibilities that have been floated, so let’s see if we can make some sense of what we know.

Training Camp Dates

According to Mike Florio of PFT, Rookies can be required to report to NFL facilities as early as July 19th for their initial COVID-19 testing and conditioning on July 21st. Injured veterans can be required to report for testing on July 21st and conditioning on July 23rd. The rest of the training camp roster will report for testing on July 26th with conditioning on July 28th. Full squad training camp can start on July 28th.

Roster Size

I spoke with Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network Thursday on my podcast, ‘All Eyez on Cleveland’ and he said that team’s roster size would likely be cut down to 75 by the start of camp on July 28th.

The interesting part here is that there are two approaches being considered to get to 75 players. Pauline went on to tell me that teams could potentially bring in rookies, UDFAs, roster invites and even some second year players for a few days of work before the rest of the players report. Front offices could use this short period to evaluate the back end of their roster and cut to 75 before things officially get underway on July 28th.

The other option would require front offices to take a closer look at their 90-man roster and get it down to 75 based on information they already have. Either way, teams will be cutting players right away to get their roster size down.

Hotels not mandatory

A month ago, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced that all 32 NFL teams were going to be required to hold training camp at their home facilities. Many teams have mandated hotel stays during these periods in the past but due to the pandemic, no one will be required to stay in a hotel.

There may be rookies who don’t have homes in their team’s location yet who will need to be accommodated with a hotel room. It is also possible that some players may choose to use a hotel as a way to keep potential infection away from their homes, where their loved ones reside. However, teams will not be able to require hotel stays as they have in the past.

Travel

Obviously, this changes when a team travels for away games. The concept of game day travel has been discussed and met with some resistance from multiple players.

It is understandable that the players would push back against this idea and I’m sure coaches can’t be too keen on the idea either. Jumping off a plane and going straight to the stadium is asking for additional injury concerns.