2020 NFL League Calendar: Important dates including the Combine & Free Agency

Now that we are in offseason mode in the NFL, it is appropriate to look at the important dates coming up on the league calendar, including dates related to the combine, free agency, and the NFL Draft.

NFL Scouting Combine

It might be the offseason, but that doesn’t mean there is much downtime in terms of football discussion. From February 24th - March 2nd, 2020, the NFL Combine will take place in Indianapolis.

Franchise Tag, Free Agency, and NFL Draft Dates

Here are some other important upcoming league dates (for the year 2020) to be aware of:

• February 25th: Teams can begin applying the franchise or transition tag to players on their team.
• March 10th: The final day to declare a franchise player, before 4:00 PM ET.
• March 16th - March 18th: Teams can begin entering contract negotiations with players who will be unrestricted free agents. Qualifying offers to restricted free agents and offers to unrestricted free agents who the team wants to retain should also be made during this stretch. This is otherwise known as the “legal tampering period.”
• March 18th: At 4:00 PM ET, free agency officially begins, and teams may begin signing players or trading players who are still under contract. Additionally, all teams must be under the salary cap at this time.
• March 29th - April 1st: Annual League Meeting, Palm Beach, FL
• April 6th: Clubs that hired a new head coach after the end of the 2019 regular season may begin offseason workout programs. This includes the Browns. Teams with returning coaches begin April 20th.
• April 17th: Deadline for restricted free agents to sign offer sheets.
• April 23rd - April 25th: NFL Draft, Las Vegas, NV
• April 27th: NFL clubs may request permission to visit with, try out, or sign any player who was under contract to the XFL at the conclusion of the XFL season.
• May 19th - May 20th: NFL Spring League Meeting, Marina Del Ray, CA

You can find the entire details of the league calendar here.