Mapping out Every Date You Need to Know for the 2012 NFL Offseason

The National Football League has a lot of important dates coming up this offseason. The following are the important dates that fans should be aware of when it comes to building or re-building your team on it's way to a possible championship.

March 13 - Free agency begins

The players that everyone have been talking about get put up for the highest bidder by their agents. Expect a lot of movement this offseason from guys like Mario Williams, Carl Nicks, Vincent Jackson and Cortland Finnegan.

March 25-28 - NFL owners meetings

These meetings are where the NFL have made rule changes in the past related to issues such as player safety, the kickoff rules and even the timing rules from the play clock. This will also be where a lot of the scheduling takes place.

March 30-31 - Super Regional Combine

Think of this like February's combine part II. A lot of the smaller school players who stood out at their regional combines will wind up at Ford Field on these days to participate. Between this and the February combine, you will have the pool of essentially every player who will be drafted.

Mid-April - Team Sponsored Offseason Programs Begin

This is where the teams will start getting their veterans back together on team grounds. This is where the players start working on conditioning and chemistry on the field.

Late April - 2012 NFL schedule is announced

Want to know who your team is playing on what days? You'll have to wait until the end of April and the NFL comes out with their schedule right around the time of the draft.

April 26-28 - NFL Rookie Player Draft 

What will your teams take in order to supplement their veteran talent? The rookie draft is one of the biggest events all year in all of sports. This year will be no different.

The first round is the night of the 26th, the second and third rounds are on the 27th, and the fourth through seventh rounds on the 28th.

Late July - Training Camps Across the League Begin

This is the signifying date as to the offseason ending and the season being right around the corner. Training camps are where the true chemistry and how you find out the players to be cut.

Early August - 2012 preseason begins

Coaches use this as the way to get evaluations of players in a game situation. This is also the time when players tend to endear themselves to fans only to find themselves on practice squads.

Sept. 6 - 2012 NFL regular season begins at stadium of Super Bowl champion

The end of the offseason, this is the official day that we can all say, "FOOTBALL IS BACK!!"