Seahawks Unlikely to Re-Open Team Facility Anytime Soon

With the coronavirus pandemic continuing to wreak havoc around the world, there's been several glimmers of hope in recent days for the return of professional sports.

Bundesliga, a German professional soccer league, resumed games this past weekend. NASCAR returned to action for its first race in months, while live golf returned in a charity event. None of the three events had fans in attendance, but that's expected to become the new normal without a vaccine available.

As for the NFL, the league still has several months until actual games return, but commissioner Roger Goodell sent out a memo last week green-lighting teams to start re-opening facilities as early as May 19 if they are allowed by state and local social-distancing requirements to do so, remain compliant with all public health requirements, and have implemented protocols established by the league earlier this month.

Commissioner Goodell sent this memo to teams today about reopening their facilities: pic.twitter.com/037uKybDNV
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 15, 2020

On-field activities still remain some time away with several states still instituting strict stay-at-home guidelines, but the Steelers are expected to start opening their facility to a few dozen staff members on Tuesday. The Titans and Browns will start re-opening soon thereafter, though they won't jumpstart operations immediately on Tuesday.

As for the Seahawks, Washington governor Jay Inslee has stay-at-home orders in place through at least the end of May, if not longer. Until he starts to pull the curtain back a bit on the social distancing front and allows more businesses to open up, the team won't be able to start the process of returning to the VMAC in Renton.

If fans are looking for a sliver of positive news, California governor Gavin Newsom indicated on Monday that professional sports could return to the state in early June, albeit it without fans. Texas governor Greg Abbott stated his state will allow pro sports to return without fans on May 31, while New York governor Andrew Cuomo also said his state is working towards pro sports returning soon.

In recent weeks, Arizona and Florida also opened up their states for professional sports to return, with Florida governor Ron DeSantis deeming them "essential business" in his state back in April.

It's possible with the turn of the calendar that Inslee could move to the next phase in opening up Washington, which could open the door for the Seahawks to potentially start re-opening their facility at some point next month.

As facilities start to open up around the league, Goodell and other league officials have established strict guidelines for the first phase. Teams won't be allowed to have more than 50 percent of their staffs in the facility at one time and no more than 75 people may be there at once. Coaches and players, with the exception of rehabbing players, won't be allowed at the facility at this time.

“After we implement this first phase, and as more states and localities enact policies that allow more club facilities to re-open, I expect that additional staff, likely including coaching staff, will be allowed to return to club facilities in a relatively short time,” Goodell wrote in the memo to all 32 teams.

Working with the NFL players' union as well as the league's medical staffs to create specific protocols, Goodell has his sights set on some players being able to return to the facility as early as next month. But all decisions will be made with equity in mind, as the league won't let players and coaches report until it's safe for every team to be able to do so.

The Seahawks wrapped up the first phase of their offseason virtual program last week. If their facility remains closed into June, the team will be able to host a virtual mandatory minicamp for veterans but won't be required to conduct it. Training camp is slated to start in late July, which may be the next time players are on a field together.

“None of us can project what are we working towards,” coach Pete Carroll said following the draft. “Are we working towards phase two [of an offseason program]? Are we working towards coming back together? We don’t know. We don’t know about camp or any of that stuff right now. "We’re just going to keep hope alive and just keep pushing and keep these guys entertained and call on them to be a very big part of what we’re doing.”