2019 NFL Offseason: Key Dates to Know
It may seem like the hum of the season ending and dog days of summer are looming, but don’t fret football fans there will be plenty of action in the offseason, just not on the field. Between trades, franchise tags, watching Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown, draft picks and the league meeting there are plenty of moving pieces and key dates fans need to pay attention to this offseason.
Key dates to know
Feb. 14: Eyes will be on Kyler Murray watch as Athletics players are set to report to spring training. It’s already been reported the Murray will attend the NFL combine, but not showing up to spring training will be more solid evidence the Heisman Winner is taking his chances in the NFL.
Feb. 19: Start of franchise/transition period. NFL teams can use a tag on one pending free agent in the hopes to keep them or get the right of first refusal if the player goes somewhere else.
Feb. 26-March 4: Indianapolis hosts the annual NFL Scouting Combine.
March 5: Deadline for franchise/transition tags goes into place at 4 p.m. ET.
March 13: Free-agency begins. Most of the off-season deals will be made during this time. Big names coming into this period are Le’Veon Bell and Nick Foles, but so much could happen between now and then so charge your phone and get the popcorn ready!
March 13: Teams must be under the league’s salary cap, and any trades and free-agent deals will be made official.
March 24-27: The annual league meeting held this year in Phoenix. This meeting is where we could see rule-changes and reviews on replay, which considering what happened in the NFC Championship will be a hot topic at the meeting.
April 1: Offseason workouts can officially begin for the eight teams with new head coaches.
April 15: The NFL’s remaining 24 teams can begin workouts.
April 25-27: The NFL Draft! This year the draft will be hosted in Nashville. The Cardinals have the No. 1 overall pick and many expect Ohio State’s Nick Bosa to be on the top of Arizona’s list. Other key players getting looks are Alabama defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins, Kentucky’s Josh Allen, and LSU’s linebacker Devin White.
May 3-6, 10-13: Rookie mini-camps take place where draft picks, undrafted rookies, tryout players, and some first-year players can get a feel for the team and show off their skills.
June 2: Teams can release players to move below their salary-cap by designating players as post-June 1st cuts.
July 15: Teams must reach agreements with franchise tag players on multiyear contracts by 4 p.m. ET. If not agreement is reached the team will have the player for just the 2019 season.
Mid-July: Training camps are allowed to begin and full-squad can start 15 days before a team’s first pre-season game.
Aug. 1: The Hall of Fame Game and the official return of football!
Sept. 5: The 2019 NFL regular season kicks off!
