Reports: No NFL Supplemental Draft; Preseason Cut in Half

Update: ESPN is reporting that the original five-day acclimation period that's provided for in the new CBA will be extended to a 23-day period. The league is expected to release details as to how that 23-day period will be structured so as to accommodate for any state-mandated quarantine periods.

With the COVID-19 virus continuing to spike in certain states around the country, the NFL has reportedly made some adjustments ahead of the start of training camps and the preseason.

According to NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero, the league has scrapped plans to hold its annual supplemental draft, which would have been conducted via email later this month.

The supplemental draft, which began in 1977, allows those players whose eligibility status changed after the deadline to enter the regular draft to have a chance at landing with an NFL team. Teams who make a selection in the supplemental draft, which is not a mandatory event, subsequently forfeit their place int he round in which they picked a supplemental draft pick in the following year’s main draft.

Meanwhile, Pro Football Talk reports that the 2020 preseason has been cut in half, an occurrence that had recently been reported to be picking up steam for the last several weeks.

PFT reports that the shortened preseason, which is something teams had been lobbying for in the past, will see Weeks 1 and 4 scrapped, with teams potentially getting the extra time to get their players ready for the upcoming season.

For the Giants, that means their “road" game Week 1 against the Jets and their Week 4 home game against the Patriots will not be played.

However, the reports haven't said if the opponents scheduled for Weeks 1 and 4 will be scrapped or will change.

If the NFL is looking to reduce travel among teams, it makes more sense to move the Giants-Jets game to what is currently Week 2 of the original preseason instead of sending the team on the road to play Tennessee. Likewise, it makes more sense to keep the Patriots game scheduled for Week 4 instead of having the Giants play their original Week 3 opponent, the Packers, at home.

In other news, Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic reported that the NFL is considering requiring fans who wish to attend games this season to sign liability waivers that would protect teams from any potential litigation stemming from COVID-19 lawsuits.

This development doesn’t exactly come as a surprise either as the NFL has been steadfast in its insistence that the league will move ahead with a full season. According to a Forbes report, the league would have stood to lose as much as $5.5 billion from lost ticket, parking, merchandise, and concession revenue had there been no fans in the stands.

The NFL has already decided to allow for teams to sell advertising that will be placed on giant tarps and used to cover the first six to eight rows behind a team’s bench. If fans are allowed into the building and have season tickets that fall under the seating that will be covered, presumably they will be relocated to the nearest compatible seat.

Add us as a preferred source on Google