The Kansas City Chiefs are still slated to open their training camp July 25 at the team’s practice facility on the grounds of the Truman Sports Complex. That is only 19 days from now.
But over the weekend, we learned that the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) has made a proposal that could substantially affect the way the Chiefs (and the rest of the NFL teams) handle their affairs: require teams to have no more than 80 players in camp – 10 players less than is normally allowed
According to a report by Mike Florio from NBC Sports’ “Pro Football Talk”, the NFLPA recommendation goes further.
The union also wants no more than 20 players in a given facility at the same time during the initial acclimatization period (training and conditioning) that covers the first 21 days of camp. The number doubles to a maximum of 40 during the next phase of 10 days of contactless practice.
So basically teams would have to operate multiple shifts during the first 31 days of camping, if the NFLPA recommendation is accepted. The last two weeks of preseason preparation, involving 10 practices (eight padded) would involve the entire list.
As Florio pointed out, this proposal is a bit misplaced for a union that would typically consider more jobs for its members as its first priority, which we should probably consider as a sign that the NFLPA considers COVID-19 as a significant health risk. for the players.
In any case, it is consistent with a training camp program proposed by the NFLPA that NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero presented on Friday:
- Three days of medical and equipment checks.
- 21 days of strength and conditioning
- 10 days of practice without filler
- 14 days of practice (10 maximum – eight of them padded)
That schedule also conforms to the NFLPA position that preseason games should not be played; According to this timeline, the Chiefs’ first padded practice could not take place before August 28, almost a week after the first preseason game (now scheduled for August 22), and just one day before the second exhibition game now scheduled for August 29.
The NFLPA proposals come down to teams making a cut of 10 players on their rosters before training camp begins. In any other season, that would not be terribly difficult; the coaches would have had at least Some opportunity to see what these players can do on the field during organized team activities, rookie minicamps etc.
But in the low season of the coronavirus pandemic, the only thing that trains Really Knowing about your newly signed players is how they have responded to the instructions in the virtual meetings they have held. While coaches across the league have spoken positively about how this has worked, you’re unlikely to find many who believe the process has given them enough information to remove 10 players from their training camp rosters.
And to be clear, we don’t know exactly how the NFLPA proposal would really affect the charts. Could players not present at the camp remain on a roster, and thus protected from being signed by another team, or would they simply have to be eliminated? Would we see a round of rookie players jumping from one team to another, similar to what we see after the final cuts, on the eve of training camp?
For now, these types of questions remain unanswered, and we don’t know how much of the substance of these NFLPA proposals will find its way into the way the NFL conducts its training camp business. But we can be sure that they are part of the ongoing negotiations between the league and the union, and there are just over three weeks left until most teams start camp.
