NFL, union approve virtual offseason workout program

Panthers make McCaffrey highest-paid running back

WASHINGTON, April 14, (AP): The NFL and its players union have agreed to conduct “virtual” offseason workout programs due to the COVID-19 pandemic until every team is permitted to open its facilities.

Teams can hold voluntary classroom instruction, workouts and non-football educational programs using online platforms, according to a memo sent to the teams that was obtained by The Associated Press.

League executive Troy Vincent said it’s imperative to be “reasonable and responsible in the current environment.”

The three-week, virtual offseason starts on April 20 for teams with new head coaches and April 27 for the others. It runs through May 15. Teams with a new head coach have the option to go four weeks. A team can’t begin its virtual program after April 27. Teams also can’t save their virtual weeks for use after facilities open and players return to the field.

Participating players must be paid the $235 daily minimum and players with offseason workout bonuses must be credited for their participation in those sessions. Each rookie player will receive a minimum of $135 for each day he participates in a club’s development program.

Teams can provide workout equipment worth up to $1,500 per player.

The league’s offseason program concludes June 26. If stay-at-home orders throughout the country continue into the summer, teams will have to conduct a mandatory veteran minicamp in a virtual manner.

“Whatever we do is going to be in compliance with the governing rules of the particular state and it’s going to be consistent with good and recommended medical health practices,” NFL lead counsel Jeff Pash said. “We’re going to do it in a way that preserves competitive equity and doesn’t expose anyone to risks that the medical profession says people shouldn’t be exposed to. We’re going to rely on that kind of guidance.”

Pash said the league has not discussed contingency plans to alter the schedule, or play games outside a team’s home stadium.

Meanwhile the Carolina Panthers have rewarded Christian McCaffrey for his production and versatility, making him the highest-paid running back in the NFL.

The team agreed to a four-year, $64 million contract extension with McCaffrey on Monday, a person familiar with the contract negotiations told The Associated Press.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the Panthers have not announced the extension. Details on how much of the contract is fully guaranteed were unavailable.

The $16-million-a-year deal eclipses Ezekiel Elliott’s contract with the Dallas Cowboys that is worth $15 million per season.

The extension keeps McCaffrey, 23, tied to the Panthers through the 2025 season. The coming season would be the final year of his rookie contract, and Carolina had the option to pick up a fifth year in 2021.

It appeared to a matter of when, not if, the extension was coming after Panthers coach Matt Rhule made it clear last week that he viewed McCaffrey as a vital part of the franchise moving forward.

McCaffrey ran for 1,387 yards and posted 1,005 yards receiving last season for the Panthers, joining Marshall Faulk and Roger Craig as the only running backs in NFL history to reach 1,000 yards in both categories in the same season.