Coronavirus Has NFL Grappling with Changes to Draft and Offseason Ahead

Across the NFL, from the offices of coaches to the living rooms of players to the league office in New York, everyone is watching, and wondering, what comes next in the battle against the coronavirus.

One player told B/R he's followed every piece of news about the virus and is worried about his kids. Another said he is concerned about how the virus could sweep through minicamp locker rooms.

Still, a different player claimed he and some other players "don't give a s--t and will just roll the dice." And then there was the retired veteran who joked that current players would hope this would all lead to the cancellation of OTAs.

While team personnel have their own concerns, they have also found themselves playing information gatekeeper for their players. One coach said some of his players have been asking him and the team's medical staff about all of this, while another stated bluntly, "Yes, it's gotten everyone's attention."

It's been difficult to take definitive action when the story—and virus—keeps moving, but in the immediate term, several teams have decided to hold back on sending some coaches and scouts to pro days because of the outbreak. Washington owner Dan Snyder went a step further in announcing that all travel for employees has been suspended. The Buccaneers have done the same. 

The NFL is in an unprecedented place, and the league is grappling with what to do while watching and waiting, just like you are.

Interviews with league and team officials, as well as coaches and players, have made it clear the planning takes into account two ideas:

1. There's extreme concern but no panic;

2. Many of the people around the NFL think there will be massive changes to the league calendar.

One of those schedule changes has already been enacted. The annual spring owners' meetings, scheduled for March 29-April 1 in Palm Beach, Florida, have been canceled. 

It's also expected that the April draft, scheduled for Las Vegas from April 23 to 25, will not be held in its usual format, with thousands of fans in attendance. The 2017 draft drew about 100,000 fans to Philadelphia, according to the NFL. The Vegas draft was expected to draw similarly large crowds.

While the NFL is expected to issue a statement on its plans for those events within the next few days, changes to the league calendar are already in motion, with the announcement that Hall of Fame Fan Fest, scheduled for late March, has been postponed.

Ted S. Warren/Associated Press/Associated Press

Several team sources think that the next big change will be OTAs. Coaches believe they will be pushed back or possibly canceled. Several are preparing for the possibility that training camps, and even the preseason schedule, will be disrupted.

That isn't such an implausible notion. A Harvard scientist says 40 to 70 percent of all adults in the world could contract the virus this year. A congressional doctor said there could be 70 to 150 million infected in the United States alone. Experts also say it will be at least one year before there's a vaccine. 

Put it all together, and it's easy to surmise that even if the outbreak lasted just a few months, the NFL schedule would be dramatically impacted.

Players told B/R they are preparing for a lot of contingencies, especially in light of how other leagues are handling the outbreak, including the NBA's decision to suspend its season and MLB's announcement that it would cancel the rest of spring training and delay the start of the season.

Given the sudden shutdown of meaningful games, these players say they would not be surprised if the NFL does something similar with offseason workouts.

Indeed, it's clear that everyone around the NFL is saying what many across the nation, and world, are thinking.

We've entered into an entirely different universe.

Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @mikefreemanNFL.