Falcons Key Offseason Dates to Remember: Rookie Minicamp, OTAs, and Training Camp

Now that the NFL Draft has come and gone, what do the Atlanta Falcons have to look forward to for the remainder of this offseason?

Now that the NFL Draft has come and gone, what comes next for the Atlanta Falcons? | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

FLOWERY BRANCH – The Atlanta Falcons have reached the midpoint of the NFL offseason, but there will be no days off for a team that flipped its front office and coaching staff around. 

Matt Ryan, Ian Cunningham, and Kevin Stefanski are hard at work looking to put together a team capable of snapping a dreadful eight-year playoff drought. Free agency and the draft have given us a good idea of what this team could look like, but the next several months will start the whittling process. 

According to NFL rules, each club’s official, voluntary nine-week offseason program is conducted in three phases:

• Phase One consists of the first two weeks of the program, with activities limited to meetings, strength and conditioning, and physical rehabilitation. 
• Phase Two consists of the next three weeks of the program. On-field workouts may include individual or group instruction and drills, as well as “perfect play drills,” and drills and plays with offensive players lining up across from offensive players and defensive players lining up across from defensive players, conducted at a walk-through pace. No live contact or team offense vs. team defense drills are permitted. 
• Phase Three consists of the next four weeks of the program. Teams may conduct a total of 10 days of organized team practice activity, or “OTAs”. No live contact is permitted, but 7-on-7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 drills are permitted.

There will be several major decisions to make, including extensions (looking at you, Drake London) and the second wave of free agency, and we took a look at what is still left for the Falcons this offseason. 

MAY

• May 1st: Deadline for teams to exercise the fifth-year option on players selected in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. The Falcons have activated that option for running back Bijan Robinson. 
• May 8th – 10th: Falcons rookie minicamp
• May 13th or 14th: 2026 NFL schedule release
• May 18th – 19th, May 21st, May 26th – 27th, May 29th: Organized team activities (OTA) offseason workouts
• May 19th – 20th: Spring league meeting (held in Orlando, FL)

JUNE 

• June 1st: Deadline for prior club to send “June-1 Tender” to its unsigned restricted free agents who received a qualifying offer for a right of first refusal only for such player to be subject to the CBA’s “June 15 Tender” provision.
• June 8th – 9th, June 11th: OTA offseason workouts continue
• June 15th: Deadline for franchises to withdraw their higher qualifying offer to restricted free agents and still retain exclusive negotiating rights
• Late June: ‘Rookie Readiness Program’ to be held at individual clubs.

JULY

• July 15th: Franchise tag deadline – If no multi-year contract agreement or extension is reached, the player can receive only a one-year contract that cannot be extended until after the 2026 regular season.
• Mid-July: Training Camp Begins
• July 22nd: The signing period ends for unrestricted free agents who received a UFA Tender by their 2025 club at 4:00 p.m.

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