The NFL free agency period was supposed to begin this coming Monday. But in a world where NBA, NHL, MLB and any other sport you can think of is postponing games, and everything else is being closed or cancelled, daily reports of NFL players signing $100 million contracts probably won't happen. Not on time anyway.
That's the expectation of Mike Florio and Profootballtalk, anyway. The league will apparently put off an announcement until after the players' vote on the new CBA is finally completed; they don't want to delay that one any longer. But that deadline is Saturday, and once it's done -- assuming a simple majority backs it -- the league could begin its league year. But sounds like it won't.
Unless you're living in a cave, you're aware that the world is pretty much shutting down for a couple of weeks, at a minimum. Trapped in our homes or towns, it might be a nice distraction to talk about the destinations of Tom Brady and Philip Rivers and the like, but that's probably going to have to wait. A week? Two weeks? A month? No one really knows.
Team officials and employees aren't traveling. Prospective free agents aren't going to want to/be able to. Face to face discussions and negotiations aren't going to happen.
The XFL officially shut down its season yesterday. Also not a surprise.
At this point it's fair to wonder about the likelihood of the NFL Draft happening on time. There were already going to be limitations regarding in-person visits, and upcoming Pro Days will be cancelled (if they're not already). Even if colleges wanted to hold them (with lots of them shuttering things), teams won't be traveling to them, so what's the point.
Yesterday the NFL cancelled annual league meetings, scheduled for the end of the month in Florida. It won't be a surprise when they do the same with the start of free agency.
--Andy Richardson