Chargers Announce Dates for 2017 Offseason Program

The NFL offseason is in full swing. The initial rush of excitement that comes with the start of free agency has come and gone, and the hype for the 2017 NFL draft is increasing rapidly. Players around the league are getting ready to start their teams' offseason program, and for five of those teams, the Chargers included, that time is fast approaching. The Chargers official website recently published an article with the dates of the team's offseason program. You can find that article here.

One of the perks of having a new head coach is getting to start the offseason program two weeks before teams with returning head coaches. For the Chargers and their new head honcho Anthony Lynn, that means Phase 1 of their offseason work begins next week on April 3rd. Phase 1 is reserved for strength and conditioning as well as rehabbing players still recovering from the events of last season. This portion of the offseason program lasts two weeks and leads right into Phase 2.

Phase 2 lasts weeks and begins on April 17th. In this portion of the program, coaches are allowed to start running players through drills, though no contact is permitted at this point. Another perk of having a new head coach is getting an extra veteran minicamp. The team will hold it’s first voluntary veteran minicamp April 25-27, as well as their rookie minicamp May 12-14.

Phase 3 then begins starting May 15th, with OTA’s starting the day after on May 16th. The dates set for those sessions are May 16-18, May 23-25, June 5-6, June 8-9. Once again these will be non-contact sessions. However, offense vs. defense drills are now allowed. The second of the Chargers veteran minicamps will be held June 13-15, this one being mandatory. After that, the team will break until the start of training camp. The dates for Chargers training camp have not been released at this point.

There you have it. It’s time to get excited for Chargers football again. Feel free to share your enthusiasm in the comments section below.