And we’re off: the New Orleans Saints officially started the Dennis Allen era on Monday, April 4, as one of four teams with first-year head coaches starting their offseason workout program. The Chicago Bears (under Matt Eberflus), Miami Dolphins (under Mike McDaniel), and New York Giants (under Brian Daboll) were each given a two-week head start on the rest of the NFL. Players who choose to participate in the first phase of the offseason will have an opportunity to work out in the team facility and spend time on the practice field with their new training staff, though it’ll be a while before helmets come on and any full-speed drills start being run.
But what do these workouts entail? The NFL Players Association describes Phase 1 as a two-week period of four-hour sessions at the team facility, with two hours of work with strength and conditioning coaches and another two hours of independent training in the weight room. Of those two hours with the strength coach, only ninety minutes can be spent on the field. It’s a strictly-regulated part of the league calendar with player safety in mind. No one is wearing helmets, and all contact drills are prohibited.
For the Saints specifically, this will be their first opportunity to meet the team’s new director of sports science, Matt Rhea, who was hired away from Alabama. Rhea brought New Orleans’ new strength coach Matt Clapp along with him from the Crimson Tide, so this is a good opportunity for players to get to work and familiarize themselves with some new faces and new processes around the facility. Assistant strength and conditioning coaches Charles Byrd and Rob Wenning were each retained, so there is some continuity.
Participation is strictly voluntary at this early stage in the offseason, and the Saints haven’t really taken pains to incentivize it through contractual workout bonuses. Only three players have workout bonuses written into their contracts, per Over The Cap: wide receiver Michael Thomas ($200,000), defensive end Cameron Jordan ($100,000), and kicker Wil Lutz ($50,000).
Thomas has been rehabbing his surgically-repaired ankle in Southern California in recent months, so it’s unclear if he’ll make it out to join the team in New Orleans just yet. It’s worth noting that his $200,000 bonus is the highest on the team and one of the largest figures around the league, though. Lutz was cleared from core muscle surgery earlier this offseason and should be readying to reassert himself as one of the NFL’s best kickers.
Football activities will ramp up in the weeks ahead. Phase 2 allows all position coaches to get on the field for individual drills ahead of a three-day voluntary minicamp starting April 25, and Phase 3 introduces large-scale organized team activities (OTAs) over the summer, some of which will be open to fans. That coincides with the arrival of rookies following the 2022 NFL draft, and should be an exciting time in New Orleans. The first full-team mandatory three-day minicamp starts June 14. Here’s the full offseason workouts calendar:
- Phase 1: April 4 to April 17
- Phase 2: April 18 to May 8
- Voluntary minicamps: April 25 to April 27
- Phase 3: May 9 to June 6
- OTA workouts: May 24 to 26, May 31 to June 2, June 7 to 10
- Mandatory minicamp: June 14 to 16
This all leads up to training camp beginning at the end of July, so keep an eye out for updates on when fans can be allowed to observe practice and when camp begins. Before we know it we’ll be sweating at practice in Metairie and getting ready to watch preseason games. It feels like kickoff at the Caesars Superdome will be here before we know it.