The NFL Players Association might want to overhaul its offseason workout program, and the proposal has gotten mixed reviews from current and former players.
The plan would eliminate voluntary on-field workouts in April and May, and instead, the players would report to training camp in mid-June to early July.
The union is expected to submit a proposal this summer and the changes could take effect in 2025.
Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh is intrigued by the idea but said the proposal will likely need some tweaks to become fully effective.
“That’s really interesting to me,” Harbaugh said at the Ravens OTAs this week. “I think there’s a lot of science behind that, and the thing I’m really encouraged by with a proposal or a thought like that is the fact that the union and the league are working together on it. To me, that’s really good, because we want to do the best we can to keep guys as healthy as we can [and] get them ready to play football.
“Right now, it’s not probably perfect. I think the different studies [that] they’ve done would say that the timeline is not really great, and so if they can kind of make the timeline better somehow and both the union and the league agree that this is the best way to do it, that would be fantastic. ... It’s just a longer ramp-up preparation period right into training camp, with training camp.”
The offseason program for most NFL teams starts in mid-April and runs through mid-June. A six-week summer break lasts until training camps begin mid-to-late July.
Some players have grown accustomed to this schedule. They don’t mind being at practice sporadically in the late spring. Those workouts are also voluntary so veteran players can choose not to participate and some of them work out on their own.
“I don’t really mind the way it’s set up right now,“ Ravens tight end Mark Andrews said. ”I think this is a good time period of guys coming back here, working. You’re able to get with the team, get the plays in, and then you get that extra break off, which is kind of nice for your body. It’s kind of nice for everything, just getting your head back right, but I don’t know the right answer to that. It could be both. I haven’t done it the other way. 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], because I really don’t have a problem with the way it’s set up right now.”
Other players are interested to see how the new plan plays out. They are open to the changes because there are benefits to having the longer training camp as opposed to the shorter workouts in the spring.
“I like both scenarios,“ Ravens defensive back Brandon Stephens said. ”Obviously, it would be good to have a longer break, and then once we’re here, get it going. But whichever way it goes, we’ll all be ready for it. ... I mean, if it does go that way, obviously, it will be the first for everybody, so it will be out of the norm to be away for that long, but you’ve just got to take the onus upon yourself to stay on top of the playbooks, stay on top of your technique—stuff like that—and be ready once we get back.”
Other players, however, were not enthusiastic about the proposal. Some of them feel they have been kept out of the loop when these types of plans are discussed.
Other players contend the NFL has a different agenda with the plan to overhaul the offseason. They allege this is the beginning of the league adding more games to the regular season.
“This is also going to hurt young guys trying to make a roster. Not that current NFL players care about that.”
