The path is clear for the 49ers and Raiders to start training camp and start the 2020 NFL season.
Player representatives from the NFL Players Association approved the owners’ changes to the collective bargaining agreement by a 29-3 margin, the union announced Friday.
NFLPA Board of Representatives Statement: pic.twitter.com/uLZuoausu8
– Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 24, 2020
Rookies, quarterbacks, and injured players in the 49ers, Raiders, and 30 other NFL teams began reporting to the team’s facilities earlier this week to undergo initial tests for the coronavirus. NFLPA approval means that training camps will begin “as scheduled,” according to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Back to football pic.twitter.com/o8AiZtSt7k
– Brian McCarthy (@NFLprguy) July 24, 2020
“The season will certainly present new and additional challenges, but we are committed to playing a safe and comprehensive 2020 season,” Goodell said in a statement, “which culminated in the Super Bowl.”
The 49ers and Raiders can now really begin preparations for their season, which will be played as the coronavirus continues to spread within the United States. As a result, their training camps will look very different.
Players from each NFL team will be evaluated daily for COVID-19 from days 5 to 14 of training camp, and testing will only move to alternate days after two weeks if positive rates from players, coaches, and staff they are less than 5 percent. Facilities have been or will be established to ensure social detachment off the field, and the 49ers have even removed cafeteria chairs from their team while limiting take-out meals.
The revised CBA includes provisions for players who choose not to participate in the season, Josina Anderson of ESPN and Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reported Friday. “High risk” players, or those in the “highest risk” categories of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will receive a $ 350,000 stipend and accrue one season, according to Pelissero. Players who voluntarily choose not to participate will not accumulate a season and will receive an advance of $ 150,000 on their salary.
Current understanding by source: 2 bucket considerations for stipends, exclusion options vs. canceled season: “First exclusion option ~ 350k for high risk and 150k for volunteer. Second season canceled-300k stipend if season is canceled and you are in the final list. “
– IG: JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) July 24, 2020
Details on two types of opt-out, which are irrevocable and expire 7 days after the termination of the NFL-NFLPA agreement:
– High risk: $ 350,000 stipend without compensation, accumulated / credited season
– Volunteer: salary advance of $ 150,000, without accumulated / credited season
Either way, hire tolls.
– Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 24, 2020
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that players will have seven days to unsubscribe after the CBA is signed.
Among the other changes that come to the CBA, according to multiple reports, are:
- An unchanged salary cap for the 2020 season and a salary cap of at least $ 175 million in 2021, according to Lindsay Jones of The Athletic.
- Eighty men in training camp by August 16, according to Jones.
- Sixteen-player practice squads, according to Jones.
- Meetings of more than 15 players will be virtual, with a few exceptions, according to Josina Anderson of ESPN.
- There are no preseason games, according to multiple reports.
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The last point means that the 49ers and Raiders will not play each other this preseason. The teams have not played each other in the preseason since 2011 due to concerns about fan violence. This would have been their first showdown, exhibition or otherwise, since the Raiders left Oakland for Las Vegas earlier this year.
The NFL previously announced its regular season schedule, and those dates are now officially on. The 49ers will open the season Sept. 13 on the road against the Arizona Cardinals, while the Raiders will play the Carolina Panthers the same day in Charlotte.
