Per ESPN’s Dianna Russini, Saints HC Sean Payton told his team this morning that they won’t have a team-led offseason program this summer even if the situation changes.
Payton told his players there wouldn’t be any virtual workouts, online meetings or workouts at the facility even if it were reopened at some point.
“Show up in July for training camp in the best shape of your life,” Payton said via Russini, adding, “take care of your families, your health, and be ready this summer.”
While teams would normally be holding OTAs at their facilities at this time, that’s no longer an option given the current shutdowns because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The NFL and NFLPA recently worked out new guidelines to allow teams to hold “virtual OTAs,” like holding team meetings over Zoom and providing workout programs. This also allows teams to pay out workout bonuses if players have them in their contracts.
The plan is for the NFL’s offseason to remain virtual as long as all 50 states are under some kind of lockdown. This prevents teams from having in-house work, OTAs or any form of camps until all 50 states have removed lockdown restrictions.
If team facilities do not reopen during the offseason workout program, clubs may conduct a mandatory veteran minicamp on a virtual basis, with the following limits: 2 hours of classroom time, 2 hours of workout time.
However, it appears the Saints have closed the door on any offseason work, including the potential for a veteran minicamp, and have turned their focus toward training camp — whatever that ends up looking like.
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