NFL officials remain guardedly optimistic at this point, amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, that they’ll be able to stage a complete or nearly complete 2020 regular season. But they are increasingly pessimistic about salvaging any of teams’ offseason programs for players, and wary about potential disruptions that would accompany the opening of training camps this summer.
Those views were expressed by several people familiar with the league’s planning who spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer candid views about the NFL’s prospects to continue operating as normal during the growing outbreak.
While the spread of the virus has caused other sports leagues to postpone games or shut down indefinitely, the NFL has been relatively unaffected, including moving ahead with free agency last week.