Rapoport: 'On the Radar' for 2021 NFL Draft to Move to May or June

The NFL offseason schedule is reportedly "going to shift" if the majority of college football conferences move their seasons to the spring amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported on Wednesday's Good Morning Football that moving the 2021 draft to late May or June is "on the radar:"   

The Big Ten and Pac-12 announced plans to postpone their football seasons until the spring. The other Power Five conferences—the ACC, Big 12 and SEC—remain on track for the fall so far.

It's unclear what the threshold is for the NFL to shift its offseason calendar, which also includes college All-Star Games, the NFL Scouting Combine and free agency in addition to the draft, which is currently scheduled to begin April 29 in Cleveland.

Although the logistics of the offseason could be changed, the bigger question is whether prospects who participate in the spring season would be available immediately during their rookie year in the NFL.

Playing the entire college campaign, going through the predraft workouts and then participating in offseason team activities followed by the NFL season is a lot to ask of a player in a hard-hitting sport.

Former Florida and Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer told Fox's Big Noon Kickoff in July there's "no chance" you can ask a player to handle that type of workload, via 247Sports' Sam Marsdale.

"When you play 2,000 competitive reps, your body is not ready for contact in three months or two months,” Meyer said. "It's not. I would not put those players in harm's way. You talk about student-athlete welfare—no chance. You're not doing that."

That said, health concerns remain at the forefront of trying to play in the fall, and an elimination of the football season would have a massive financial impact on athletic departments nationwide.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell released a statement in May saying the league was "prepared to make adjustments as necessary" throughout the 2020 season to navigate the pandemic.

It sounds like it'll remain flexible heading toward 2021, though a perfect solution may not exist.