The risk is simply greater than the reward.
The NFL could skip preseason games this summer after the league offered to remove its entire exhibit list in the final round of return-to-play protocol negotiations on Monday.
The NFL Players Association had called on the NFL to eliminate all preseason games – the league had previously cut the preseason to four games in half – to help keep players safe during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Instead of games, the union wants a longer acclimatization period to account for missed training time in the spring and to help avoid an injury spike like the one the league saw after the 2011 lockout.
According to the NFLPA’s plan, the preseason would include three weeks of strength and conditioning training, 10 days of non-padded practice, and 10 days of padded practice.
NFL Network reported on Monday that the league had offered to eliminate preseason games and increase the acclimatization period from seven to 18 days. The league has also agreed to test for COVID-19 daily to start camp and allow any player to opt out of the season, according to the report.
the Detroit The Lions are scheduled to report to training camp on July 28, with rookies and quarterbacks this week. All players will be tested for the virus upon arrival.
“We will insist and continue to fight for the right period of acclimatization,” NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said in a video conference last week. “The preseason has an impact on that, but the other issue with the preseason is that we think the right priority for our players and our business is not just to find a way to start the season, but to consider a way to end it. And to engage in two games where players would fly all over the country and then get together to work, we think doing that before the season doesn’t influence or increase properly the likelihood of starting and ending the season on time. “
After eliminating the first and fourth preseason games earlier this month, the NFL initially decided to play a preseason game, in what was to be week three of the preseason.
Had this schedule been implemented, the Lions would have been in line to play the Miami Dolphins in Miami.
The home of the Dolphins in Miami-Dade County is currently one of the hottest places in the country for COVID-19 and is considered a “red flag area,” with more than 3,000 new cases reported on Saturday and limited availability of intensive care beds.
NFL Players Association president JC Tretter said last week that players have reservations about playing football in Miami given the spread of the virus.
“We have players, as we have told our members, who are nervous about flying from a relatively safe place directly to a hot spot with their families, with their children, with their wives,” he said. he said, specifically mentioning Houston and Miami. “Is it safe? … These are the questions we want answered, this is how safe is it to start a football season over right now with places in this country where the teams are located experiencing giant spikes from this virus., and that has to be something that needs to be looked at when we make a decision. The health and safety aspect needs to be considered first and foremost for the players. “
The Lions open the regular season in less than eight weeks, Sept. 13 against the Chicago Bear at Ford Field.
They have three road games scheduled in other coronavirus hotspots in the first half of the season, a Week 3 game against the Arizona Cardinals and consecutive matches of weeks 6 and 7 against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons.
The NFLPA has told players to show up to training camps as scheduled, although the league and union are still negotiating how to handle positive tests, among other things.
Eliminating preseason games could make it harder for undrafted rookies and some veteran free agents to make it to the squad, as they will have fewer opportunities than usual to impress coaches.
“I really feel for these guys coming up and for the rookies, just like I do for the senior high school seniors,” said Lions wide receiver Danny Amendola, who was not drafted by Texas Tech this spring. “It’s truly unprecedented how unhappy and heartbreaking at times it is.”
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