Getting Started

NFL rules strictly regulate and limit offseason workouts for teams. Perhaps to a ridiculous degree. Some high school and college teams have more serious football practices this time of the year. NFL teams get to do some stuff, not a lot of football stuff, but they get to do some stuff and for some teams that stuff starts this week. Also in accordance with league rules teams with new coaching staffs get to start their offseason "workouts" a few weeks earlier than the rest of the teams. The Atlanta Falcons, Buffalo Bills, and New York Jets started yesterday. The Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers start today. The Denver Broncos and Chicago Bears start next Monday. Every other team can't start until April 20. Preparation for the 2015 NFL regular season is upon us.

Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement each team's official, voluntary nine-week offseason program is conducted in three phases.

Phase 1 consists of the first two weeks of the program with activities limited to strength and conditioning and physical rehabilitation only.

Phase 2 consists of the next three weeks of the program. On-field workouts may include individual player instruction and drills as well as team practice conducted on a "separates" basis. No live contact or team offense vs. team defense drills are permitted.

Phase 3 consists of the next four weeks of the program. Teams may conduct a total of 10 days of organized team practice activity, or "OTAs." No live contact is permitted, but 7-on-7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 drills are permitted.

Article 22 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement stipulates that clubs may hold one mandatory minicamp for veteran players. This minicamp must occur during Phase Three of the offseason program.

Another benefit for teams with new coaches is an additional voluntary veteran mini-camp that must be conducted prior to the Draft (April 30-May 2). All of the teams but the St. Louis Rams will hold a mandatory mini-camp in the middle of June. The Rams under Jeff Fisher and Les Snead seem to do a few things a bit differently from the rest of the league.

While NFL teams are surprisingly limited in the football work that they are allowed to do in the offseason it's still a great change from the first 50-plus years of the league. Teams used to shut their doors for the entirety of the offseason. Players weren't available because they had to work during the offseason to support themselves and their families. Football simply didn't pay enough. Now that some are paid enough to support their families for several lifetimes they are expected to spend some of their offseason at football practice, or something close to football practice. That something gets started this week for a few of the teams.