NFLPA could propose trading spring practices for longer training camp

Across the NFL, teams wrapped up their mandatory minicamps this week leading into about a month-long break before the start of a grueling season that could approach seven months for the teams that make the Super Bowl.

The timeline of spring practice followed by a break and then training camp has been a familiar one for years, broken up only by a lockout in 2011 and a pandemic in 2020. But it could be in for a change.

The NFLPA is contemplating proposing a major upheaval to this schedule, replacing spring practices with a longer training camp. The move would provide a longer break after the season and a more gradual buildup to training camp in hopes of possibly reducing some injuries.

It’s a plan that has not been met with wide acceptance, with several players and coaches decrying the elimination of OTAs and minicamps in May and June.

“I think we need it,” Saints tight end Foster Moreau said of the current offseason program. “You cook your steak in the offseason and then training camp is like a microwaving period.

“You could go to training camp and you could microwave your steak on high for two minutes and we’ll see how much football you like watching the first four weeks.”

Colts center Ryan Kelly, the team’s player representative to the union, sees both sides of the issue, believing the time off breaks up continuity but starting training camp early could make for too long of a season.

“We throw, we do all these things and then we don’t see each other for two months,” Kelly said, referring to the current schedule. “So it’s like, is that the best and most effective way to train and to really get the most out of it? I think the counterargument is that you add a month in the beginning of the season, it makes the season feel even longer when the league’s pushing for 18 [games] and we’re already playing 17. So I think there’s going to be some back and forth, and I don’t think there’s going to be a perfect solution.”

Under the current offseason format, players can return…

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Publish date : 2024-06-13 19:05:30

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