Jump to content

2014 Important Dates


Recommended Posts

February 3: Waiver system begins for 2014. A 24-hour claiming period will be in effect through the Friday prior to the last regular season game (waivers requests made on Friday and Saturday of each week will expire at 4:00 p.m., New York time, on the following Monday.) Players with at least four previous pension-credited seasons whom a club desires to terminate are not subject to the waiver system until after the trading deadline.

February 17: First day that teams are allowed to designate Franchise or Transition players. Franchise and Transition tag numbers should be released prior to the start. There's only a two-week window before the deadline for tagging players.

February 19-25: The 2014 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium.

March 3: Deadline for teams to designate Franchise or Transition players, prior to 4 p.m (ET).

March 8-11: Teams are allowed to contact and enter into negotiations with agents of players that will become unrestricted free agents upon the expiration of their 2013 contracts on March 11 at 4 p.m (ET). A contract can NOT be executed until after 4 p.m (ET) on March 11.

March 11: At 4 p.m (ET), the 2014 league year begins. All player contracts for the year 2013 expire. Unrestricted free agents are allowed to sign with new clubs. Clubs must exercise options for 2014 on all players with option clauses in their 2013 contracts prior to 4 p.m (ET). Top-51 begins, meaning that all clubs must be under the 2014 salary cap prior to 4 p.m (ET).

March 11: Trading period for 2014 begins at 4 p.m (ET), after the expiration of all 2013 contracts.

March 23-26: Annual league meeting in Orlando, Florida.

April 7: Teams that hired new head coaches after the end of the 2013 regular season may begin offseason workout programs.

April 21: Teams with returning head coaches may begin offseason workout programs.

May 2: Deadline for restricted free agents to sign offer sheets with a new club.

May 7: Deadline for Prior Clubs to exercise their right of first refusal for restricted free agents, who signed an offer sheet with a new club.

May 8-10: NFL Draft in New York city.

May 19-21: NFL Spring league meetings in Atlanta, Georgia.

June 16: Deadline for a club to withdraw a qualifying offer to restricted free agents and still retain exclusive negotiating rights by submitting a June 15 Tender -- a one-year deal at 110 percent of the player's prior-year salary.

June 22-28: NFL rookie symposium in Aurora, Ohio.

July 15: Deadline for any club that designated a Franchise Player to sign that player to a multi-year contract or extension. After this date, the player can not be signed beyond that team's last regular season game.

Mid-July: Clubs are allowed to open preseason training camp for rookies and first-year players beginning seven days prior to the club's earliest permissible mandatory reporting date for veterans. Veteran players may report to training camp no earlier than 15 days prior to the club's scheduled regular season game, or July 15, whichever is later.

 

http://www.cincyjungle.com/2014/1/27/5350276/important-nfl-offseason-dates-in-2014

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

FEB. 19-25: _ The NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

You know the drill. There are about a million of them, including the all-important Wonderlic testing mental agility and may get more ink and mean less than any of them.  49ers running back Frank Gore seems to be doing just fine with his six (out of 50),  and the Bengals along with the 31 other teams are going to watch the paint dry while making sure they don’t make too much about this  weekend. The combine’s most important drill? The physical.

The Bengals are picking 24th and they’d probably love a repeat of what happened the last time they picked No. 24 when they whisked cornerback Johnathan Joseph out of South Carolina eight years ago. Joseph was there despite his blistering 4.3 seconds in the 40-yard dash because he had played just one season of major college ball.

But he and Leon Hall (drafted No. 18 the next year) formed one of the best cornerback tandems in the NFL and became a foundation of an AFC North championship defense. Arguably the Joseph pick was the selection that spurred the Bengals’ rise into the defensive top ten four of the past five seasons. Tackle Domata Peko arrived the next day in the fourth round.

The Bengals could very well be looking at cornerback again in the first round with Hall coming back from a torn Achilles for the second time in three years and Terence Newman and Adam Jones turning 36 and 31, respectively, by the fifth game of the season.

Left tackle could also be on the board, pending the decision on the status of Andrew Whitworth and that doesn’t seem to have been discussed yet. Is he a left guard or a left tackle? And if he’s a guard, can they re-signAnthony Collins in free agency?

MARCH 8: The start of free agency with clubs not allowed to sign players until March 11.

From Feb. 17-March 3, teams can designate one of their free agents as a franchise or transition player. Look for the Bengals to do neither.

They are coming off a season in which they rolled out the third most cash in the NFL with what is believed to be an estimated $139 million, $23 million more than the league average and behind only Detroit and Green Bay. That computes to $16 million cash over the salary cap, so look for more of the same strategy of signing their own and leaving much of free agency to extensions for their major players and the back end of the roster.

It’s believed they’ll make a run at this past season’s franchise player, right end Michael Johnson, before and after March 8. But with tackle Geno Atkins and end Carlos Dunlap inking $55 and $40 million extensions, respectively, it remains to be seen if they can compete in the market for Johnson.

Everyone assumes that with Jared Allen on the way out, new Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer is going to make a big run at Johnson. His sack total may have dipped from 11.5 to 3.5 this season, but his work against the run, his indestructible 90-percent play time, and impeccable locker room presence are big sellers.

Much depends, too, on the Whitworth question. If they believe Whitworth is at his best at left guard, Collins may become a priority. Plus, they have to decide when they want to make a run to extend wide receiver A.J. Greenand/or quarterback Andy Dalton. This offseason? Next offseason when Dalton is up and Green is headed into an option year? There’s not room for everybody if Green or Dalton or both get wrapped up this season.

That could cut into role free agents they’d most like to have back. On paper, that would seem to be returnerBrandon Tate, safety Taylor Mays, and offensive lineman Mike Pollak. If they do venture into outside free agency, it most likely is going to be for backups or role players. 

At some point they may have to start looking at going with younger players instead of veterans at some spots as they try to make the cap work. It would be a surprise if they didn’t tender all three of their restricted free agents in linebacker Vinny Rey and wide receivers Andrew Hawkins and Dane Sanzenbacher, all solid young players.

MARCH 23-26:  Annual NFL Meeting in Orlando, Fla.:

It’s a good spot to do business. Last year the Bengals made a run at signing backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick when the meetings were in Phoenix, where Fitzpatrick lives. They lost out at the last minute to the Titans, but who knows what lurks in hotel lobbies this year?

Not a veteran QB this time around, but these meetings mark one of the more remarkable NFL head coaching photos in Bengals history. This is the meetings the coaches sit for the camera and it will be the most intriguing Bengals shot since Sam Wyche and Jerry Glanville posed in 1990, their first get-together since Wyche waved Glanville off the Riverfront Stadium field after Wyche chose to kick a late field goal in the Bengals’ 61-7 victory over the Oilers.

That was also the spring first-year Jets head coach Bruce Coslet appeared in the photo, the last time a head coach came straight from a stint as a Bengals assistant.

At this meeting, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis is going to be in the same frame with his defensive (Mike Zimmer) and offensive (Jay Gruden) coordinators from last  season with Zimmer now the head coach in Minnesota and Gruden in Washington.  It’s believed to be the first time that’s happened in the league since 2007, when Chargers head coach Norv Turner took a photo with his offensive coordinator (Cam Cameron) coaching the Dolphins and his defensive coordinator (Wade Phillips) coaching the Cowboys.

APRIL 21:  First day of offseason workouts at Paul Brown Stadium.

The biggest question marks won’t be participating as Atkins (ACL) and Hall (Achilles) continue their rehabs. All indications are both are doing well and that there have been no setbacks of any kind. Which would suggest both are on the timetable for the start of training camp or close to it.

But there is a long way to go as everyone tries to avoid PUP, which would put them on the sidelines for the first six weeks of the regular season.

Everyone else who suffered season-ending injuries last season should be ready to go that first day at PBS, led by

defensive lineman Robert Geathers (arm) and linebackers Emmanuel Lamur (shoulder) and Sean Porter(shoulder). Because left guard Clint Boling tore his ACL so late in the year (Dec. 1), there is some concern if he’ll be ready for training camp and is a PUP candidate purely because of timing.

MAY 8-10: The NFL Draft.

No matter what happens first, the big story is going to be if the Bengals take a quarterback relatively early, like say before the fifth round. Lewis and new offensive coordinator Hue Jackson have reiterated that Andy Dalton is their guy.

But they haven’t denied they are looking at getting younger and better at backup quarterback. It’s a position that has been served by journeymen veterans since Lewis sat first-round pick Carson Palmer in 2003 and it sounds like they want to see if they can develop one themselves as they look at a draft class that has been described as deep.

Don’t read into it as a way of pushing Dalton. As Jackson said when he was promoted, “I'm going to be the guy that pushes Andy and I think Andy will push himself.”

 

http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Daily-reminder/ed3a3198-2ab2-436b-a303-09290e238302

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm a nerd for this stuff and rally enjoy the 3 or 4 week stretch starting at the combine and running through the first couple weeks of FA.

I quit competitive sports after my sophomore year of college so I tend to relate most closely to the GMs and front office types and find their decisions and their competition to assemble the best possible rosters is maybe the most interesting part of the NFL to me.

I can't wait for the combine to start creating that separation between the top guys and the late 1st types to get a real idea of who may be available for the bengals at 24.

Then FA should be really interesting and a lot less stressful than last year. They have enough cap space, even after some extensions, to go sign some guys but they don't really need to. Almost every contributor from last year is under contract and the few who aren't all seem to have decent options to replace them waiting in the wings. So Bengals are really in a position of strength when it comes time to negotiate. Should be able to play hardball, be patient and get some great bargains after the expensive guys get overpaid.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting. Obviously AJ is a no brainer. Are there many guys from other teams where there is a debate on whether they should use their option or not? I remember the top 7 from that draft were all studs. Most of the QBs were busts.

 

 

it sounds like pretty much all of them will get the tender, thought like AJ, their teams will work on longterm deals.  It was a great class.

 

Blaine Gabbert and Jake Locker are probably two notable guys who might not get the tender.  Gabbert's probably a definite.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

The Cincinnati Bengals and NFL finalized and released offseason workout dates for this summer.

First Day: April 21
OTA Workouts: May 27-29, June 3-5, June 16-18
Mandatory Minicamp: June 10-12

The dates of the post-draft rookie minicamps will be circulated at a later date.

As per Article 21 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, each club’s official, voluntary nine-week offseason program is conducted in three phases:

Phase One consists of the first two weeks of the program with activities limited to strength and conditioning and physical rehabilitation only.

Phase Two consists of the next three weeks of the program. On-field workouts may include individual player instruction and drills as well as team practice conducted on a "separates" basis. No live contact or team offense vs. team defense drills are permitted.

Phase Three consists of the next four weeks of the program. Teams may conduct a total of 10 days of organized team practice activity, or "OTAs". No live contact is permitted, but 7-on-7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 drills are permitted.

Article 22 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement stipulates that clubs may hold one mandatory minicamp for veteran players. This minicamp, noted below, must occur during Phase Three of the offseason program. Head coaches hired after the end of the 2013 season are also entitled to conduct an additional voluntary veteran minicamp.

Each club may hold a rookie football development program for a period of seven weeks, which in 2014 may begin on May 12. During this period, no activities may be held on weekends, with the exception of one post-NFL Draft rookie minicamp, which may be conducted on either the first or second weekend following the draft.

 

 

http://www.cincyjungle.com/2014/4/3/5579354/cincinnati-bengals-offseason-workout-dates

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...