NFL League Year to Start on Time Despite Coronavirus Concerns

The new NFL year will start on Wednesday as was previously expected, the league announced to teams Sunday. 

The NFL sent a memo to teams on Sunday noting that Monday at noon ET marks the start of the legal tampering period, Monday night marks the deadline to apply the franchise or transition tag and Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET will begin the start of free agency.

Recently, it was uncertain if the start of the league year would be delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. But free agency and contract agreements can take place without any contact so the league may consider moving forward as planned.

On Sunday morning, the players voted to approve and ratify the new collective bargaining agreement. Legal tampering for free agents will begin at noon on Monday.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused the league to cancel its annual meeting in West Palm Beach, Florida, which was set for March 29 through April 1.

Many teams have started pulling scouts, coaches and personnel from in-person visits ahead of the NFL draft.

There are more than 156,800 confirmed cases of the virus globally across at least 131 countries.