We've concluded Brandon Staley's end of year conference, and are well on our way into the offseason. What better way to forget about the dismal performance our boys put on in Jacksonville than by diving head first into the offseason schedule.

January 9th, 2023

Free agents

We're going back in time to highlight a couple interesting facts about this particular date. For one - teams may begin signing Free Agents to their roster for the 2023 season as of January 9th. As the league year doesn't start or end until March 15th, this means players in contract years are not yet considered free agents. What this does mean is that free agents who ended the season unsigned like Odell Beckham Jr have a "leg up" on the 2023 UFA class. Players that are also cut from teams and have at least 4 pension-credited season do not have to pass through waivers and do not have to wait for the new league year to sign with a new team.

To answer a question some may have when reading this, no, these players do not count against the compensatory formula. There is a little sprinkle of opportunity there, but if we're being honest the list of available players isn't very appealing.

Here is a list of available free agents as of January 5th

2020 Draft Class Negotiations

January 9th also marks the day that teams can begin contract negotiations with their 2020 draft class. For those of us that are impatient, that means at the time of this writing we are 9 days behind on extending Justin Herbert. Let's go, Tom.

Rollover Declaration

Teams must announce their 2023 cap roll-over by January 9th as well.

Upcoming Dates

My plan moving forward will be to post an article for each of these major dates covering the finer details of the topic at hand, such as an article on Franchise and Transition tags that should drop on February 21st, the first day those are available to use. Some dates that are more procedural and well-known, like the waiver wire beginning on February 13th, will be glossed over or skipped.

February 13th: Waiver system begins for 2023. Teams have 24 hours to claim "waived" players. Players with at least 4 pension-credited season skip waivers and can sign with a team of their choice.

February 21st - March 7th: Teams may designate Franchise or Transition Players

February 26th-March 6th: Combine in Indianapolis

March 7th: Pro Days Begin

March 7th-19th: Draft-Eligible Facility Visits Begin. Clubs are permitted 30 non-local players for physical exams/visits, no on-field workouts

March 7th-26th Video or telephone interviews with draft-eligible players begin. Three video or telephone interviews allowed per player, no longer than one hour in length.

March 13th-15th: Free Agency "Tampering Period"

March 15th: Start of the New League Year

• Deadline on contracts with option clauses for 2023
• Top 51 Rule is in effect; teams must be under the 2023 salary cap
• Trading Period Begins
• Teams may designate (2) players contracts that will be considered "terminated" after June 1st for cap purposes.

March 26th-29th: Annual League Meeting

April 17th: Clubs with returning Head Coaches may begin off-season workout programs

April 19th: Deadline for clubs to time, test, visit, interview, or conduct physical examination with a draft-eligible player at a club facility

April 21st: Deadline for Restricted Free Agents to sign Offer Sheets

April 26th: Deadline for Prior Club to exercise Right of First Refusal to Restricted Free Agents

April 27th: Deadline for clubs to time, test, visit, interview (including remotely) or conduct physical examination with draft-eligible player at any location

April 27th-29th: NFL DRAFT!

May 1st: Deadline for Prior Club to issue "May 1st Tender," or the Unrestricted Free Agent Tender.

May 5th-8th; 12th-15th: Clubs may elect to hold their one three-day post-Draft rookie mini-camp.

May 15th: Rookie Football Development Program begin

Training Camp: TBD

Source: https://operations.nfl.com/gameday/nfl-schedule/2022-23-important-nfl-dates/