The NFL Players Association is preparing a proposal that would overhaul the offseason as soon as 2025, but not everyone is on board with the plan.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported last week that the NFLPA is pushing to eliminate voluntary spring workouts in favor of a longer training camp ramp-up that would allow players to report in mid-June to early July.
However, The Athletic’s Jeff Howe spoke to some people around the league who oppose the proposal because it would reduce the amount of time they get to spend with their families.
“It’s terrible,” an NFL assistant coach who was granted anonymity told Howe. “Might as well go back to [coaching] college. Coaches and staffers would never have time off. Maybe February.”
Offseason programs currently run from April to June with everything voluntary for players except for mandatory minicamp. Teams then can break for around six weeks before returning for training camp at the end of July.
The new proposal would remove spring OTAs entirely. A formal proposal from the NFLPA is expected to be ready this summer, per Pelissero.
Many around the league don’t see the need to change the offseason program.
“OTAs aren’t bad,” Buffalo Bills wide receiver Curtis Samuel said. “You get to come in and get to be around the guys. You put in work on the field, but you get to build that bond, that chemistry. That’s what you need to go far in the playoffs.”
“For the NFLPA, they ask everybody in the league and they ask all the guys, and [hopefully] they will make sure that’s a consensus that guys would want to [change the schedule],” Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews added. “I really don’t have a problem with the way it’s set up right now.”