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The NFL offseason has been slightly altered due to the coronavirus pandemic and another change was confirmed on Thursday morning. According to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, just as expected, the league won't be conducting minicamps in 2020.
The NFL has notified teams the virtual period for offseason work will be extended through June 26, but there will be no in-person minicamps this month, per sources. Expected, and now official.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) June 11, 2020
On the schedule, NFL teams were supposed to have mandatory minicamps from June 11-13. However, with the coronavirus pandemic still limiting teams from returning to facilities in full capacity, they have been canceled.
In addition to minicamps being nixed, the league has extended the virtual offseason program through June 26. As Pelissero points out, teams will have a choice on whether they want to hold offseason programs through the tentative date or not.
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Clubs have the option to extend their virtual offseason program for another two weeks, or discontinue after this week, which a bunch of teams are doing. The NFL and NFLPA continue to work together on remaining protocols to create a safe reopening for training camp.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) June 11, 2020
Instead of having another two weeks of virtual meetings, NFL teams can elect to end their offseason programs after this week. While teams want to make sure they keep as much normalcy as possible, most of them will be ending their offseason programs early.
As a result of minicamps being taken off the schedule, training camps are the next offseason activity for players to attend. Even though training camps will take place, all 32 teams are mandated to have them at their team facilities. Or like the Pittsburgh Steelers are doing, they will conduct their training camp at Heinz Field.
Earlier this offseason, there was a team executive that believed there wouldn't be any in-person team activities until training camp. Over two months since the executive made the statement, it's now official that training camps will in fact be the first in-person activity for the NFL this offseason.
