SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Across the NFL this week, teams wrapped up their mandatory minicamps, a last bit of offseason work leading into the league’s longest break for players since the winter.
Then comes a grueling stretch that could approach seven months from preseason to playoffs for the players who make it to Super Bowl LIX, set for Feb. 9 in New Orleans.
The league’s timeline of spring practices followed by vacation 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 might be about to change.
The NFL Players Association is contemplating proposing a major upheaval to this schedule by replacing spring practices with a longer training camp, which would extend the break after the season and provide 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 organized team activities — which have less on-field activity — and minicamps in May and June.
“I think we need it,” New Orleans 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.