NFL Rumors: Insider Gives Update on State of Combine Talks over Bubble Restrictions

Player agents aren't threatening to boycott the NFL Scouting Combine altogether but are suggesting to their clients they avoid working out at the annual showcase, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Dan Graziano of ESPN initially reported agents were concerned about the NFL's health and safety rules for the combine, which limited the extent to which draft prospects would have contact with their agents, trainers, doctors and nutritionists.

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio reported Sunday that as many as 155 players were weighing a "formal boycott."

Schefter provided some clarity Monday afternoon:

Any players who choose not to attend the combine or limit their participation would be doing so with an endorsement from the NFL Players Association. Tom Pelissero of NFL Network shared an NFLPA memo in which the union cited "long standing opposition" to the combine:

According to Graziano, the inability for players to personally interact with their nutritionist was a point of contention "since many of the prospects are trying to reach certain weights in time for the combine and that effort could be upset by the last-minute decision by the league to be the sole provider of food for prospects at the event."

USA Today's Josina Anderson reported on similar concerns:

The NFLPA memo alluded to the general questions many have asked over the years as to the overall utility of the NFL Scouting Combine.

In his Netflix series Colin in Black & White, free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick compared the event to a slave auction. Others have drawn the same parallel, albeit in different terms.

There are obviously benefits to bringing representatives from every NFL team and nearly all of the top incoming draftees to one central location. But for the players, there is increasingly less need to work out en masse when they can instead turn their focus toward their school's pro day.

The 2022 combine is right around the corner. It's slated to begin March 1 and run through March 7 in Indianapolis.

However, what is typically the biggest pre-draft event on the calendar may lose some of its importance this year.