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NFL COVID-19 PROTOCOL

To understand the implications of the TC/preseason game changes, it's important to know that over 1/2 of NFL rosters are made up of UDFAs.
 
Anyone know the number of rookie UDFA Texans have? Since HC said rookies would have much harder time than vets, I would anticipate very few making final roster game one. Per 50 percent of all roster are UDFA, perhaps Houston has advantage with more vets? Unless that includes players who were UDFA when they first entered NFL? Which makes more sense.

Perhaps Bill got that one correct.
 
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badboy said:
Anyone know the number of rookie UDFA Texans have? Since HC said rookies would have much harder time than vets, I would anticipate very few making final roster game one. Per 50 percent of all roster are UDFA, perhaps Houston has advantage with more vets? Unless that includes players who were UDFA when they first entered NFL? Which makes more sense.

Perhaps Bill got that one correct.
Click to expand...
Texans Signed These 9 UDFAs
  • Cordell Iwuagwu/G/TCU.
  • Auzoyah Alufohai/DT/West Georgia.
  • Jamir Jones/LB/Notre Dame.
  • Dylan Stapleton/TE/James Madison.
  • Scott Phillips/RB/Ole Miss.
  • Tyler Simmons/WR/Georgia.
  • Elex Woodworth/OL/North Texas.
  • Jan Johnson/LB/Penn State.
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
Texans Signed These 9 UDFAs
  • Cordell Iwuagwu/G/TCU.
  • Auzoyah Alufohai/DT/West Georgia.
  • Jamir Jones/LB/Notre Dame.
  • Dylan Stapleton/TE/James Madison.
  • Scott Phillips/RB/Ole Miss.
  • Tyler Simmons/WR/Georgia.
  • Elex Woodworth/OL/North Texas.
  • Jan Johnson/LB/Penn State.
Click to expand...

Anyone else think another TE was really needed? No UDFA CB's available?
 
OptimisticTexan said:
Anyone else think another TE was really needed? No UDFA CB's available?
Click to expand...
Nah, we are set at corner... :runaway: I'm optimistic for first three on list and the RB. Phillips could be a dark horse at 5'8" and played at 211 with 4.56 speed. He went from Jr College as a junior at Ole Miss and tore up Texas Tech in his first game with over 200 yards. He's considered inconsistent but that could be not playing long in one place. I think he could alternate with David Johnson as a third down back and allow Texans to trade Duke. I have Duke in a trade package for Yannick with Jags. In my scenario, Holly replaces Duke.
 
Todd Gurley has said that he is unimpressed with the safety of the NFL protocol, and likely will sit out the season if there is not a major change. Gurley is likely using that as an excuse. With his deteriorating knee condition.......and his fully guaranteed new 1 year contract.........I'm sure he sees himself much better off not playing this season.
 
Goodell has announced that the NFL and NFLPA have resolved all their issues.........related to allowing allow TC to begin on time and that leading to a full season and full playoff schedule. Funny, there has been no mention of salary caps, player guaranteed monies or the implications and limitations of opt out for those players who choose that route.
 
Several teams in rough cap shape in 2021
Posted by Michael David Smith on July 25, 2020, 5:59 AM EDT

The NFL salary cap usually grows each year. Next year, it’s expected to shrink. And some teams are going to feel the pinch.

Friday’s agreement between the NFL and NFL Players Association guarantees that the salary cap won’t drop any lower than $175 million, but even that represents a significant drop from this year’s $198.2 million cap. Until a few months ago, most teams were expecting the 2021 cap to grow to somewhere in the neighborhood of $215 million, which means teams have $40 million less to spend next year than they were planning for when they were negotiating many of their players’ long-term contracts.

According to OverTheCap.com, eight teams are already over a 2021 cap of $175 million with the players they have signed through next year, before they sign a single free agent next year or draft any rookies. That group includes the Eagles, Saints, Falcons, Chiefs, Steelers, Bears, Raiders and Vikings.

Those teams will have to cut players and restructure contracts just to get under the cap before the start of the league year. Teams cut players and restructure contracts every year, but next year it will prove to be particularly difficult for teams that had a lot of players under long-term contracts that were negotiated before anyone dreamed that a pandemic would cause the cap to plummet.

It’s still possible that the cap won’t shrink as much as everyone expects. New revenue is coming this year from additional playoff games, and the NFL and NFLPA may reach further agreements that keep the cap from dropping as much as expected. But right now, some teams have to be concerned about the salary cap crunch they’re facing in 2021.

**************************************************************

The Texans just barely missed the list of eight. :rake:
 
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Friday, Jul 24, 2020 06:03 PM
NFL, NFLPA reach agreement on COVID-19 adjustments to CBA
Nick Shook
AROUND THE NFL WRITER

After weeks of discussions and negotiations, the NFL and NFLPA have agreed to the foundation necessary to play amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The two sides came to an agreement Friday afternoon following a NFLPA player representative vote, by a count of 29-3, in favor of the proposed changes, the union announced. Thus, the adjusted CBA became official, and training camp will commence in earnest when most veteran players arrive July 28 as originally scheduled. The NFLPA's executive committee voted unanimously to approve the changes proposed by the NFL's owners earlier Friday.

"The NFL clubs and the NFL Players Association approved an agreement that broadly resolves all outstanding issues relating to the opening of training camps and start of the 2020 season," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. "Training camps will begin as scheduled.

"We have worked collaboratively to develop a comprehensive set of protocols designed to minimize risk for fans, players, and club and league personnel. These plans have been guided by the medical directors of the NFL and the NFLPA and have been reviewed and endorsed by independent medical and public health experts, including the CDC, and many state and local public health officials. The season will undoubtedly present new and additional challenges, but we are committed to playing a safe and complete 2020 season, culminating with the Super Bowl."

The agreed-upon deal includes an allowance for 16-man practice squads, high-risk and voluntary opt-outs of participation and the absence of a preseason for 2020, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported.

For players who opt out of participating, high-risk candidates will receive a $350,000 stipend and their contract will toll, per Pelissero. Voluntary opt-outs will receive a $150,000 salary advance and their contract will toll as well. Opt-outs are due within seven days of the deal being finalized.

All of the CDC's defined "increased risk" categories -- e.g. moderate-to-severe asthma, sickle cell disease, Type 2 diabetes, etc. -- are covered as "high risk" under the deal, with the exception of high-BMI.

THE REMAINING AGREED TO TERMS
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
Several teams in rough cap shape in 2021
Posted by Michael David Smith on July 25, 2020, 5:59 AM EDT

The NFL salary cap usually grows each year. Next year, it’s expected to shrink. And some teams are going to feel the pinch.

Friday’s agreement between the NFL and NFL Players Association guarantees that the salary cap won’t drop any lower than $175 million, but even that represents a significant drop from this year’s $198.2 million cap. Until a few months ago, most teams were expecting the 2021 cap to grow to somewhere in the neighborhood of $215 million, which means teams have $40 million less to spend next year than they were planning for when they were negotiating many of their players’ long-term contracts.

According to OverTheCap.com, eight teams are already over a 2021 cap of $175 million with the players they have signed through next year, before they sign a single free agent next year or draft any rookies. That group includes the Eagles, Saints, Falcons, Chiefs, Steelers, Bears, Raiders and Vikings.

Those teams will have to cut players and restructure contracts just to get under the cap before the start of the league year. Teams cut players and restructure contracts every year, but next year it will prove to be particularly difficult for teams that had a lot of players under long-term contracts that were negotiated before anyone dreamed that a pandemic would cause the cap to plummet.

It’s still possible that the cap won’t shrink as much as everyone expects. New revenue is coming this year from additional playoff games, and the NFL and NFLPA may reach further agreements that keep the cap from dropping as much as expected. But right now, some teams have to be concerned about the salary cap crunch they’re facing in 2021.

**************************************************************

The Texans just barely missed the list of eight. :rake:
Click to expand...

Pretty much what I have been preaching for the last 4 months.
 
What to expect in TC:

***************************************************************************************************

The NFL Players Association has communicated to its players the schedule of preseason practices in a training camp without preseason games. Most players won’t put on full pads for the first time until August 17.

For 30 teams, camp starts on July 28; for the Chiefs and Texans (who play three days before the first Sunday of the season), it starts today.

The first four days consist of COVID-19 testing and virtual meetings. On August 1 and 2 (three days earlier for the Chiefs and Texans), physicals will be conducted and equipment will be distributed.

An eight-day “acclimatization period” begins on August 3, with 60 minutes of weight training and 60 minutes of conditioning, in groups of fewer than 15. There will be no conditioning tests or, with limited exceptions, on-field strength and conditioning. During this first phase, walk-through practices of up to 60 minutes are permitted on the first four days, with up to 75 minutes the final four days.

Next comes a five-day (with a day off in the middle) “gradual ramp-up period,” with up to 3.5 hours of on-field time. Formal practices start at 90 minutes in duration with 15-min daily increases, up to 120 minutes. For the first two days, players will have helmets and protective shirts. For the final two days, players will have non-padded practices with helmets, minimal padding (like “shell” shoulder pads), and no live contact.

Starting on August 17 for 30 teams (August 14 for the Chiefs and Texans), padded practices begin during the “contact integration period.” Through September 6, up to 14 padded practices are permitted.

As of Monday, September 7, the 30 teams that play on the opening Sunday of the season will commence their first week of regular-season practice. (On Friday, September 4, the Chiefs and Texans begin preparing for Thursday, September 10.)

Not mentioned in the memo is the obvious fact that there will be no preseason games, for any team. There also will be no joint practices. For all players, the first time that they step onto a field against an opponent will happen when the first regular-season game kicks off. LINK
***************************************************************************

Keep in mind that padded practice "contact integration period" essentially means that full contact will be optional to the team's HCs. There may be, in fact, few to no practices with full contact for some teams

No conditioning tests with very limited strength and conditioning work................will make for an even more than usual "interesting" regular season.:chef:
 
Teams have two options for cutting to 80 players
July 26, 2020, 8:15 AM EDT

Despite a desire by plenty of players to keep the rosters at 90 until Labor Day weekend, the NFL and NFL Players Association have agreed to reduce capacity to 80. The teams have two options for getting there.

According to a memo distributed on Friday to all teams (the memo, as best we can tell, was first reported by Brandon Krisztal of KOA in Denver), teams can either cut to 80 before July 28, or they can wait until August 16.

Teams that wait to reduce to 80 must utilize split-squad procedures, with one group mainly consisting of rookies, first-year players, and any quarterbacks or injured players assigned to that group. (Designations, once made, can’t be changed.) The second group will consist of all veteran players who report on July 28.

A team that chooses the split-squad approach can reduce to 80 at any time before August 16, and then merge into one unit.
 
No player tryouts, for now
Posted by Mike Florio on July 26, 2020, 10:00 AM EDT

Per an NFL memo, teams at this time will still not be able to bring in FAs for tryouts.

********************************************************************************

The memo issued by the league on Friday to all teams specific that, for now, teams may not conduct any tryouts, either at the team facility or elsewhere. Eventually, the NFL’s Management Council will issue a memorandum regarding issues like free-agent tryouts, free-agent signings, player acquisitions via waiver or trade, and players who report for camp later than July 28.

Before that memo is issued, any team that plans to sign a free agent without a tryout or that acquires a player via waivers or trade must contact the Management Council in advance before the player is permitted to enter the team’s facility.

This is part of the effort to ensure that the virus is kept out of a given building, and that any player who shows up at the facility has been appropriately tested. As a practical matter, this concern will complicate the inevitable churning of the bottom of the roster and/or practice squad.

It’s possible that tryouts will happen virtually or with only team personnel present who are kept away from the team facility. It makes little sense to have a tryout player show up several days early and pass multiple COVID-19 tests getting a chance to win a roster spot, and it will make a ton of sense to create a procedure that permits teams to do what they do every year — routinely bring players in for a tire-kicking, either to address current needs or in anticipation of future roster requirements.
LINK
 
The NFL/NFLPA agreement outlines a series of player behaviors, branded “High-Risk Covid-19 Conduct,” that will be prohibited. Banned activities include visiting nightclubs and bars, attending house parties with more than 15 people, going to indoor concerts and other similar entertainment events, attending pro sporting events other than their own NFL games, and going to indoor religious services with more than 25 per cent capacity.

Penalties for violations will include fines, and if the activities lead to positive virus tests, loss of pay and potential voiding of contract guarantees.
 
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The NFLPA reports 107 total player positives during the offseason; with 21 total player positives since players began to report for training camp.
 
[The NFLPA has announced that] Players who test positive for COVID-19 will be placed on a reserve list until they are no longer experiencing symptoms and/Players who test positive for COVID-19 will be placed on a reserve list until they are no longer experiencing symptoms and/or receive multiple negative tests. Players exposed to an infected person will also go on that list and the league will not announce the reason for any player’s placement on the list. or receive multiple negative tests. Players exposed to an infected person will also go on that list and the league will not announce the reason for any player’s placement on the list.
Click to expand...
link

The above is not accurate.

According to the COVID protocol:
  • If a player tests positive and is showing symptoms, at least 10 days must pass since the symptoms first occurred and at least 72 hours must have passed since symptoms last occurred. This likely means that such a player will miss at least two games.
  • If a player tests positive but is not showing symptoms, he can return either 10 days after the positive test or in just five days if the player tests negative twice.
 
The lab that the NFL is using is returning the COVID test results no earlier than 24 hours..............a lot can happen in 24 hours.
 
Looking at what's happened in MLB , I just can't see an NFL season playing out where teams travel as normal.

The NBA model is the only viable one where players are kept "in a bubble" and that might not be enough.

All it takes is one case to start a landslide.
 
The Chiefs have lost another player to the season. RB Damien Williams has opted out, not because of the COVID, but because of of his mother's recent late stage cancer. Williams himself doesn't appear to fall under the NFL's "high-risk" designation as an opt-out. But the CDC lists cancer as a factor for increased risk of severe COVID-19 illness. In addition, Williams also has a wife and young daughter at home.
 
The NFL head medical officer has announced that testing will happen daily for the first two weeks of camp. If positive tests are 5% or lower, then the testing frequency will be reduced to every other day. If not, then daily testing will continue. I'm not sure the basis of this reasoning is sound. Players are not in a bubble, and the test results take at least 24 hours..........that essentially means that with an every other day testing leaves a 3 day delay in diagnosis in the adjusted testing protocol. And that is not even taking account of the fact that there is at least a 20% rate of false negatives (the less than 5% positive tests should not be a criteria for extending testing intervals). The NFL claims that the low nasal swab test they are are using is "just as accurate" as the deep nasopharyngeal test usually employed. This is a claim based on a June 12 Stanford University study that tested only 30 subjects comparing the low nasal test to the deep nasal swab and to the throat swab. As all of the specimens in this series were run through the same test equipment, you wouldn't expect any less than 20% false negatives anyway. The other thing that bothers me is that it has been repeatedly shown that throat swabs are very inaccurate...............yet, Stanford found all 3 harvesting mechanisms equal in accuracy.
 
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NFL’s chief medical officer doesn’t rule out putting all players in hotels
July 31, 2020, 6:05 PM EDT

As the NFL deploys what chief medical officer Allen Sills calls a “virtual bubble,” there’s a chance that the bubble will harden, at least locally.

Pressed on the possibility of putting all players, coaches, and essential staff in a hotel in order to minimize the possibility of a player catching the virus away from work and bringing it to the facility, Dr. Sills said during a Friday visit to #PFTPM that all options are on the table.

It would be difficult for players to leave their families and to live in a hotel indefinitely, and it likely would require further negotiations with the NFL Players Association and modified opt-out rights, given that no player signed up for sequestration. But the current approach entails a degree of risk that would be reduced if players remain with the team; thus, the chances of getting all 256 regular-season games played would be enhanced if the players and coaches aren’t going home at the end of the work day.
THE REST OF THE STORY
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
NFL’s chief medical officer doesn’t rule out putting all players in hotels
July 31, 2020, 6:05 PM EDT

As the NFL deploys what chief medical officer Allen Sills calls a “virtual bubble,” there’s a chance that the bubble will harden, at least locally.

Pressed on the possibility of putting all players, coaches, and essential staff in a hotel in order to minimize the possibility of a player catching the virus away from work and bringing it to the facility, Dr. Sills said during a Friday visit to #PFTPM that all options are on the table.

It would be difficult for players to leave their families and to live in a hotel indefinitely, and it likely would require further negotiations with the NFL Players Association and modified opt-out rights, given that no player signed up for sequestration. But the current approach entails a degree of risk that would be reduced if players remain with the team; thus, the chances of getting all 256 regular-season games played would be enhanced if the players and coaches aren’t going home at the end of the work day.
THE REST OF THE STORY
Click to expand...

5% is a stupid number .... It only takes ONE case to start an avalanche.

They need to either adopt the NBA model and put the players in a bubble (as complex as that may be) or cancel the season.
 
NFL pushes for shorter opt-out window
August 1, 2020, 6:45 PM EDT

The NFL and NFL Players Agreement have agreed that players will have seven days from the signing of the official revision to the Collective Bargaining Agreement to decide whether to opt out of the 2020 season. Since the deal has not yet been finalized, that would put the deadline at Saturday, August 8 — at the earliest.

The league, apparently rattled by the fact that nearly 40 players already have said “no thanks” to pro football in a pandemic, now wants a shorter deadline than the one previously negotiated.

Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports that the NFL “is pushing to move up the deadline from one week after the new CBA side-letter is signed, and it now is expected even sooner.” Schefter’s tweet on the subject suggests that the NFLPA is fine with this, claiming that the opt-out deadline is “now expected to be moved up to either Tuesday or Wednesday.”

The NFLPA shouldn’t be fine with it. The NFL’s opt-out system already is too inflexible and unrealistic, forcing players to make binding decisions without complete information. It’s one thing to show up at camp and witness the efforts to limit the spread of the virus there. It’s another to participate in 11-on-11 padded practices, which won’t happen until the middle of August. And it’s another to play in a game against an opponent, which won’t happen until Week One of the regular season.

What if padded practices result in a spike in positive tests? What if games do? Players should have the ability to make a decision with more, not less, information, based on how things unfold in the coming week.

Players also should be permitted to return.
THE REST OF THE STORY
 
The NFL had agreed to give players 7 days after the signing of the revised CBA to opt out. The revision hasn’t been signed, but the deadline has been revised to Thursday 4PM ET.
 
NFL allows for “changed circumstances” opt outs after Thursday
August 4, 2020, 10:04 AM EDT

The NFL and the NFL Players Association have agreed that players will have the ability to opt out of the 2020 season through Thursday, August 6, at 4:00 p.m. ET. After that, players may opt out under only limited circumstances.

According to the document outlining the final opt-out procedures, a copy of which PFT has obtained, a player may opt out after August 6 if he he receives a new diagnosis that he suffers from one of the “Higher Risk” factors. If that occurs, the player will have one week after receiving the new diagnosis to opt out.

Also, if a player has a family member die or become hospitalized due to COVID-19 after August 6, the player will be eligible at that point to opt out.

THE REST OF THE STORY
 
Von Miller considered opting out, tells teammates to take COVID-19 seriously
Posted by Michael David Smith on August 4, 2020, 3:49 PM EDT

Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller was one of the first NFL players to test positive for COVID-19, and he hopes his fellow players recognize what a serious concern it is.

Miller said he gave “serious consideration” to opting out this season.

“I weighed the positives and negatives and came to my own decision and felt like I could play,” he said, via the Denver Post. “The job the Broncos are doing to keep us safe was enough for me to not opt out.”
Miller said he lost 15 pounds and struggled to work out for a few weeks.

“From my teammates, I get all types of questions about the virus,” he said. “I feel like it’s me pushing [the conversation] out there and saying, ‘This thing is serious. It’s very, very serious.’ . . . We see the types of things happening in baseball [with outbreaks] and we just don’t want that to happen in the NFL.”
 
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