Miles
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- Mar 18, 2019
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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — As COVID-19 continues to impact sports leagues around the country, the NFL appears poised to continue forward with its eyes on starting the 2020 regular season without a delay.
Jeffrey Pash, the league's executive vice president of labor/league counsel, joined several other league executives, including Troy Vincent, Brian Rolapp and Peter O'Reilly, to provide updates on the NFL's plans for the season and other tentpole events in the wake of COVID-19 crisis.
The Athletic's Lindsay Jones was among the national reporters on a national conference call with Pash and Co., and she joined me on "The Neutral Zone" to explain the key points of the conversation.
Read on for a few of the highlights from the podcast, and click here to listen to the entirety of my interview with Jones.
2020 NFL DRAFT
As the league prepares for the 2020 NFL Draft, they will likely implement a "hub and spoke" model. Commissioner Roger Goodell will be based at a central location, and the league will then have offshoots that include the 32 teams, 50 of the top draft prospects, key former players and several die-hard fans.
The NFL plans to send phones and tripods to the top prospects to set up video feeds and ensure a sense of familiarity for this year's draft.
"They're working on some of these logistics so that we can have some of the familiarity where the guy, he's not going to get his jersey right away, but to have some of that feel of your representing your new team when your name gets called," Jones said.
It's possible that these prospects will receive a hat for each of the 32 teams and will then put on the correct hat after being drafted.
The NFL is also discussing how the event will work for teams. Franchises could potentially have the option to extend their time on the clock if they're working on a trade. This may only be available once per team during the draft.
"I think there's going to have to be a little more grace applied, a little bit more patience — especially in the later rounds of the draft when the rounds are so short and that's when a lot of the trades are happening," Jones said.
And while some states' standards would currently allow teams' core decision makers to gather on an off-site location, Jones said she believes the NFL will likely have to abide by the rules of whichever state has the most stringent shelter-in-place policy. This would ensure competitive fairness.
The NFL released more information about potential draft scenarios on Thursday in a memo to general managers and head coaches.
All NFL facilities are currently closed through at least April 8.
Still, Jones believes the NFL will find a way to once again make the draft a premier television broadcast.
"It's going to be a good TV event," Jones said. "That's the big thing that they're really working on right now. It's still going to be on ESPN, on ABC [and] on NFL Network. We're all stuck at home. We can all take a break from [Netflix documentary] Tiger King and watch three full days of the NFL Draft."