Report: Owners Could Delay Start Of Training Camp…

The coronavirus may not directly delay the start of 2020 training camps but the pandemic’s economic impact may be what does. According to reports from Tom Pelissero and Mark Maske, owners may not open the doors to training camp until they and the union reach an agreement on football’s financial future.

Per Pelissero, the league may instruct coaches and players to have virtual training camps until the economic future is decided. Owners are pushing for loss of revenue to be swallowed whole whereas the union wants to take it bite by bite, those losses spread out over several years.

While no one has set a deadline to account for a projected multibillion-dollar revenue shortfall, NFL owners want to finalize a deal with the NFLPA before Sunday, when #Chiefs and #Texans rookies are scheduled to begin strength and conditioning, sources say.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 23, 2020

What happens if there’s no deal by Sunday? The CBA contains a no strike/lockout/suit clause. But with no camp schedule agreed to, the NFL could potentially inform clubs that virtual work will continue indefinitely. A big few days ahead. https://t.co/z523QK73CR

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 23, 2020

Maske paints an even darker picture.

NFL owners might be willing to shut down training camps if there’s no deal with the NFLPA on economics, source says: “They could very well shut down the camps and send players home.” Story coming on https://t.co/GXHkX9kbHu. Owners might do more than just making camps virtual.

— MarkMaske (@MarkMaske) July 23, 2020

The owners’ position that camps could be made virtual without a deal on economics with the NFLPA was first reported by @TomPelissero. But it could be a total shutdown, barring an agreement. The CBA does have a no-lockout, no-strike pledge.

— MarkMaske (@MarkMaske) July 23, 2020

Even a virtual training camp does little to prepare players for the season. It’s just an extension of OTAs and minicamps conducted throughout the spring and can’t replace live reps in practice. The union has always angled for a long on-ramp to the season, making any time lost impact that plan.

To date, neither side has seemed to budge much on their economic stance. If the NFL gets its way, the cap will be slashed and football’s middle class will go up in smoke as teams scramble to get under the significantly lowered cap. If the union gets what they want, owners and the league will feel the impact of the pandemic for potentially a decade.

It seems unnecessary to tie the start of training camp with this complicated, economical question, one that doesn’t need to be solved right this moment, but the league is played standard hardball to get what they want.

Training camps are slated to begin on Tuesday the 28th. For the first few days, players will only be getting tested for COVID-19 with recommended self-isolation waiting for results. Once a player has tested negative twice, they’re allowed to enter the facility and officially begin training camp.