The Indianapolis Colts are pulling their scouts and personnel off of the road and altering their offseason travel plans as the coronavirus outbreak continues to evolve into the sports world, the team announced Friday.
The Colts also announced that only essential personnel will be working at the team’s headquarters at the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center.
Colts statement: "Until further notice, Colts headquarters at the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center will be limited to essential personnel only. In addition, our team will suspend travel for our coaches and scouts until further notice."
— Joel A. Erickson (@JoelAErickson) March 13, 2020
COVID-19 has impacted several sports across the world. The NBA suspended its season after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus. March Madness has been canceled as well as most sporting tournaments across the country.
The NFL did announce Thursday that the new league year is still set to begin on Wednesday, March 18, but there is a chance that changes in the days leading up. The league did cancel the annual meeting, which was set for March 29 in Palm Beach.
The NFL is somewhat unique in that they are in the offseason. They don’t have to suspend play, but they do have to alter their travel plans. This could certainly result in major changes to the free agency visits and the 2020 NFL draft, which is scheduled to begin April 23.
There are multiple teams across the league that are considering shutting down their facilities because of the virus outbreak.
Multiple NFL teams are discussing shutting down their training facilities due to the Coronavirus, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 12, 2020
There could be a major impact on free-agent and draft prospect workouts and meetings. For some of the big-named and prominent players, this won’t have too much of an impact. But for the under-the-radar free agents and potential Day 3 picks in the draft, this will have a big impact.
The Colts are going to do the best they can to make sure their staff is not exposed to the coronavirus. It’s a very fluid situation for the entire league and further changes to the pre-draft process shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand.