The NFLPA held a conference call with agents on Monday to discuss a number of topics regarding the 2020 season and how the league will handle safety protocols moving forward.
NFLPA medical director Thom Mayer said that players, upon returning to the team, should expect to be tested three times a week with any players testing positive being isolate, per Tom Pelissero.
“You can’t fit the virus into football, you have to fit football into the virus. This is a badass virus,” Mayer said, per Albert Breer.
According to Mayer, there’s a 90 percent chance reliable saliva testing is available before players return to facilities.
NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said the union expects to make headway on overall protocols going forward in the next 30 days or so, as the scheduled start for most team’s training camps is six weeks away, per Pelissero.
Josina Anderson hears that the NFLPA mentioned a proposal to the NFL to use the minicamp period for players to come in and take physicals, but the response was no.
Smith did admit that the NFLPA has had preliminary calls with the NFL regarding the projections for the 2021 salary cap. Should they play a season without fans, the league could be looking at a loss of at $3 billion, per Pelissero.
This would come out to local revenue losses averaging around $100 million per team.
Pelissero notes that the new collective bargaining states the NFL and NFLPA must bargain in good faith if there’s a significant revenue shortfall. Smith mentioned that bargaining hasn’t started yet, but they could negotiate a smoothing of the cap to ensure there’s isn’t a huge 2021 cap hit.
The NFLPA has been working with Oakley on special protective visors for players to wear.
“Think of them not as visors, but as face shields,” a source said, per Breer.
We’ll have more regarding the upcoming NFL season as the news is available.
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