The Kansas City Chiefs rookies are scheduled to report to training camp early next week. Amid the uncertainty of the football season, Chiefs rookies, quarterbacks and selected veterans have been told camp is “a go” and will report to the practice facility Monday for COVID-19 testing, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. The rest of the Chiefs roster will report to camp on July 25.
The NFL and NFLPA have still not come to terms with what the 2020 season will entail (even though both sides had months to figure this out), but that can’t stop the Chiefs from telling their players to report to camp — per the collective bargaining agreement in place.
Of course the NFLPA has some requests in place to protect the players. Under the proposal submitted by the NFLPA any at-risk player who decides to sit out the season would still be paid their full base salary, but not any bonus money. If a player opts out because he has an at-risk family member, that player wouldn’t get his base salary, but he would “earn an accrued season and benefits.”The NFLPA also wants an “opt-out” clause for any player that already reported to training camp, but the league wants a hard deadline attached to that clause.
Then there’s the matter of the length of the preseason. The NFL has already reduced the length of preseason games from four to two, but the NFLPA doesn’t want any preseason games that all. There also is the matter how the COVID-19 testing protocols will work as there is no set plan at the moment — even though the Chiefs and Houston Texans report to camp Saturday.
Texans superstar J.J. Watt revealed on Twitter the players have not received an Infectious Disease Emergency Response plan from any team nor the league, whether there will be daily testing or semi-daily testing, how a potential positive COVID-19 test would affect contracts, and what training camp would actually look like.
The league will reportedly have a designated roster spot for any player who tests positive for COVID-19 — that player will be placed on the newly formed COVID-19 list for three weeks — creating an extra roster spot for that team in place for the infected player.
Training camp is right around the corner, even though the players are still left in the dark on league protocol with COVID-19. Buckle up.
