Some tweaks to the NFL’s schedule leading into the league’s new year have been announced.
Here’s what you need to know:
New timeline for the NFL week ahead:
Saturday, 11:59 p.m.: Players' vote on proposed CBA ends
Monday, 11:59:59 a.m.: Franchise/transition tag deadline
Monday, noon: Negotiating window opens
Wednesday 3/18, 4 p.m.: League year and free agency begin
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 10, 2020
The biggest change announced this morning was the extension of the Franchise and Transition Tag deadline to 10:59:59 a.m. CT on Monday March 16 (originally, teams would have had until 3 p.m. today). With negotiations regarding a new Collective Bargaining Agreement dragging, an extension for this deadline was a sensible decision.
An extension to the tag deadline doesn’t necessarily impact the Bears, as Chicago doesn’t have anyone who makes sense to use the tag on at this time. However, this move could have a major impact on free agency. For example, teams like Washington (G Brandon Scherff), Dallas (QB Dak Prescott, WR Amari Cooper), Chargers (TE Hunter Henry), Tennessee (QB Ryan Tannehill), and Tampa Bay (EDGE Shaq Barrett) are among those who have a little bit more time before making one of the franchise’s most important offseason decisions.
If the new CBA gets passed and ratified by Monday, then the option to use both tags won’t be available. If the CBA doesn’t get passed, then that particular rules tweak for the final year of the current agreement will still exist. So, yeah, it’s a pretty big deal.
As noted in the embedded tweet above from NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero, it’s about to get busy in the NFL. Constituents of the NFLPA are set to vote on the new Collective Bargaining Agreement on Saturday. By the time that vote comes across, we’ll have a better idea for what will be in store for Monday’s tag deadline, which is *IMMEDIATELY* followed by the 11 a.m. CT opening of the “legal tampering” period for free agents. Two days after that, the new league year begins at 3 p.m. CT. By then, we’ll have a far better grasp on what the league’s labor peace situation will look like … not to mention the future of the Bears.