If the NFLPA has its way, then offseason workouts will be on the debating table in the coming weeks—OTAs, that is, which have always been formally voluntary, but in practice, somewhat of a requirement. Citing the play of the 2020 season without an in-person offseason, NFLPA president J.C. Tretter wrote in an open letter in December that the Spring workouts have been shown to be “simply unnecessary”.
According to Chris Mortensen and ESPN, the NFL and NFLPA have initiated conversations to negotiate just what sort of in-person offseason the league will employ this year, if any, with the union maintaining that if—rather when—the league opts to trigger its right to expand the season to 17 games, it would also trigger a revision of the terms of the CBA governing offseason workouts.