The week everyone has been waiting for since the clock hit zero in their playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks is here — the week Eagles training camp begins.
But while the wait is over, the training camp — and season — we all looked forward to since January is going to look very different this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here are some rules everyone should know with training camp here:
Opt-Out: As is the case with other major league sports, players will have the option to opt-out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns. Players that opt-out will receive a stipend of $150,000 if they voluntarily opt-out, or $350,000 if the decision to opt-out is deemed to be because of a medical concern.
The deadline for players to notify their team of whether they will be opting out is (roughly) the end of this week.
Training Camp Schedule:
July 28th-July 31st: COVID Testing and Virtual Meetings
August 1st-2nd: Physicals and Equipment
Augst 3rd-August 12th: Weight lighting, walk throughs, conditioning
August 12th-16th: Practices begin. Practices start at 90 minutes, can increase 15 minuntes daily up to 120 minutes.
12th-13th: Helmets can go on
14th-16th: Non-padded practices (no live contact)
August 17th-September 6th: Padded practices can begin. Maximum of 14 padded practices.
80-Player Roster: The Eagles have made seven cuts over the last few days, moves they wouldn't normally make right before the start of training camp. This year, however, more cuts are likely coming before July 28. In an attempt to limit how many people are in team facilities and to practice as much social-distancing as possible, teams that want to have a full-squad practice must have their roster at 80 players by July 28. If they don't, they have to hold split-squad practices.
The Eagles seem to be heading towards having full-squad practices, as their roster is at 82 players as of Monday morning, with two more cuts likely coming to get to an 80-man roster — and full-squad practices — by Tuesday.
The Eagles have to be down to a 53-man roster by Sat., Sept. 5.
16-Player Practice Squad: Some of the biggest changes to NFL rosters this season involve the practice squad. Normally just 10 players, this year the practice squad can have up to 16 players, a move likely made with the unfortunate reality that players will be testing positive for COVId-19 this season, and there will be more roster turnover than normal.
In addition to being able to carry more players on the practice squad, teams are also able to have up to six veteran players on the practice squad. Although those veterans have to agree to sign to the practice squad after being released, this means the Eagles could go with a veteran-heavy practice squad if they wanted.
Teams are able to move up two players to their game-day roster each week, with that player then going back to the practice squad the following Monday. Each player, however, can only be moved up twice in one season. The Eagles will also have the ability to prevent four players on the practice squad from being poached by another team.
That is a major change and will likely impact how teams, like the Eagles, put together their 53-man roster.
Game Day Roster: Teams can dress up to 48 players for games this season, up from the 46 they dressed on game days last year. One caveat, however, is that in order to dress 48 players the team must dress eight offensive lineman. The Eagles usually dressed eight offensive linemen anyway, so they essentially get two-more players active on game day this season.
Salary Cap: The impact the COVID-19 pandemic will have on the salary cap is complicated. You can read all the details, and how it will impact the Eagles, here.
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!
