As coronavirus continues to cause the suspension and cancelation of many sporting events, one league that has not announced any delays is the NFL. Next week, the start of the new NFL season and free agency is scheduled to begin, which sports fans are desperately anticipating.
Joining WFAN's Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts Friday afternoon was former NFL executive and current contributor to The Athletic, Michael Lombardi to discuss the league and their looming agency.
"For us as sports fans, the one thing we have left is the NFL offseason, do you think it should go on as scheduled?" Roberts asked Lombardi to kick off the interview.
Lombardi didn't offer football fans the good news they were hoping for, instead saying he expects the start of the NFL's new year to be delayed.
It's easy to do a contract, Lombardi explained, but for the majority of players it takes a physical and in-person meeting to get a deal done.
"We all need it, but the reality is we just have to be patient," Lombardi said. "the mechanics of the offseason can work, the problem is you have physicals, you have to get on airplanes and then the media's going to want to come out and meet the player and you can't have group gatherings. It all becomes problematic"
Lombardi further explained he thinks they have to push it back at least a week or two, especially as team's pull their scouts off the road and tell people to work from home.
Asked about the new collective bargaining agreement vote and if it will get agreed to by the players. "I think it's a good deal for the middleclass, its not a great deal for the top-level players perhaps, but they always get their money anyway," Lombardi said. "It's a horrible deal for the coaches. No practice time, limited offseason, limited time around the players."As more practice gets cut in the new CBA, Lombardi added that we have to accept, September is an extension of the preseason. "The games in September are going to be reflective of the preseason, you're going to lose games in September as you get your team ready."
Moving on to the local teams, the New York Giants most high-profile free agent is defensive lineman Leonard Williams, who they acquired in-season from the Jets.
In terms of the Jets top free agent Robby Anderson, Lombardi believes the Philadelphia Eagles are going to make a big push in trying to sign the wide receiver. Lombardi notes the Eagles wanted to sign Anderson when he was an undrafted free agent in 2016, after playing college football with Philadelphia's Temple University.Click the audio player above to hear the full interview with Michael Lombardi
