Earlier in the week, it was revealed that the league was pushing to cut the preseason in half, but it appears the players want to go a different route. Instead, the NFLPA is pushing to eliminate the preseason as a whole in 2020 and voted on the matter this weekend within themselves.
From NFL Now on @nflnetwork on the standoff between the NFL and NFLPA on the number of preseason games and why each side feels it has a say on the matter. Plus a cameo of sorts by @TomPelissero. pic.twitter.com/c3c3vTsaNV
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) July 3, 2020
In a nutshell, the owners and players aren’t seeing eye-to-eye on the matter, as the owners feel the new collective bargaining agreement means that there should be some sort of a preseason although the nation is dealing with COVID-19.
The players, on the other hand, believe that the agreement to construct a joint task force (with the NFL) back in March to combat COVID-19 gives them a big say in whether the safety and health conditions are favorable for a return. Of course, with coronavirus cases on the rise, the players now have concerns and basically would prefer to not jeopardize their health any more than they have to before the regular season.
With the NFLPA still opposed to preseason games, one possible camp schedule the union has discussed:
3 days: medical/equipment
21 days: strength & conditioning
10 days: unpadded practice
14 days: practice (10 max/8 padded)Then it’d be straight into Week 1.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 3, 2020
Per NFL insider Tom Pelissero, the NFLPA countered with the idea to have a 45-day time frame before returning for Week 1’s schedule of games. The first phase would be a three-day period for medical and equipment evaluations. In other words, this would be the time to get physicals done. As for the equipment part, what they might be referring to are things to make the work conditions safer.
Phase 2 would be a 21-day period to work on strength and conditioning although the league had virtual workouts. After that would come the third phase where the team would take the practice fields for non-padded OTA-like sessions for 10 days. Lastly, for the final phase (of 14 days), the team would move to the more physical type of practices seen during the training camp phase in the past with pads.
Whatever both sides decide upon, they have three weeks to put a plan in place as the first set of training camps could begin on July 25. If they can’t decide on a plan, then an arbitrator may have to get involved but ultimately fans will have to wait and see if it gets to that point.