NFL Notes: 2020 Season, 2021 Salary Cap, Training Camp

2020 Season

• Dan Graziano reports that during a league meeting, it was discussed whether players could face fines if they’re found to have spread COVID-19 by engaging in “reckless” behavior away from the facility.
• According to Graziano, some players are unhappy with proposed face shields they would be required to wear due to obvious concerns about effects on vision and breathing.
• Graziano also reports that media access is likely to be virtual during the season and that players will be required to stay in their homes instead of at hotels during training camp.
• As for testing, Graziano says the current plan for training camp is to test every other day. However, players are reportedly pushing for daily testing.
• Graziano adds that there is definitely some sentiment among players of: “Why are we playing at all if it’s this unsafe?”
• Albert Breer reports that the NFL has been in close contact with Australian rules football and rugby leagues about how they’re handling things, as the league doesn’t believe soccer is that reliable a proxy for comparison.
• Breer mentions that a lack of reliable testing has been an issue for college football.
• According to Breer, any positive cases will be treated as “football injuries” and require players to be paid.

2021 Salay Cap

• Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that the NFL hopes to resolve any issue of how to allocate 2021 salary cap shortfall by training camp.
• According to Fowler, the  NFL and NFLPA must decide how to offset the loss of revenue due to no fans and effects of the pandemic with borrowing from future years being a potential option. 

Training Camp

According to Tom Pelissero, one possible training camp schedule the union has discussed includes:

• three days of medical/equipment
• 21 days of strength and conditioning
• 10 days of unpadded practice
• 14 days of practice (10 max, eight padded)

This would then lead into Week 1 of the regular season. 

Pelissero adds that players would be divided into smaller groups initially, e.g. under 15 players for strength and conditioning and up to 40 in unpadded practices. This would buy an extra month or so before all players are together in a higher-exposure setting.