COVID-19 News & Rumors

NFL: 68% Of Players Vaccinated

July 7th, 2021 at 2:41pm CST by Zachary Links

JULY 7: This number has ticked up a bit over the past two weeks. Approximately 68% of players have now received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. Five teams have hit the 85% threshold. Nearly all Tier 1 and Tier 2 staffers are fully vaccinated.

JUNE 25: Approximately 65% of NFL players have received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to NFL medical officer Allen Sills (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter). That’s roughly in line with the rest of the United States, though it’s well above the 48% rate for Americans ages 18-24 and 50% rate for ages 25-39.

When factoring in the youth of NFL players, Sills & Co. are ahead of the game. Still, the league office is hoping to push that number closer to 100%, even though players are not required to get vaccinated.

A few notable players have pushed back against the league’s protocols and expressed hesitancy regarding the vaccine, which has created issues for certain teams. Meanwhile, the NFL is incentivizing players to get their shots. For example, if a vaccinated player somehow tests positive for the virus, they’ll still receive their per-game roster bonuses. However, if an unvaccinated player tests positive and misses time, they’ll run the risk of losing their bonus money.

While players are exempt, Tier 1 and Tier 2 staffers are still required to get vaccinated. And, on a related note, players will once again be allowed to opt out of the season.

No Players Planning To Opt Out Of 2021 Season?

July 2nd, 2021 at 11:31am CST by Sam Robinson

Nearly 70 players opted out of the 2020 season, with some of the high-profile opt-outs’ decisions affecting teams’ plans going into that uncertain campaign. A more stable backdrop exists a year later, and the NFL may have its full workforce available as a result.

No buzz has emerged on a player opting out of the 2021 season, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes. Last week, the NFL and NFLPA came to an agreement that secured another COVID-19 opt-out provision. Only players deemed high risks for developing complications from the coronavirus are eligible for the $350K payout, but with vaccines now in the equation, it is possible no player opts out by Friday’s 3pm CT deadline.

Several key players opted out in 2020. Dont’a Hightower and Patrick Chung were among the Patriots’ league-high seven opt-outs; the Bears lost nose tackle Eddie Goldman; the Chiefs lost longtime guard starter Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and starting running back Damien Williams; the Vikings lost recent nose tackle signee Michael Pierce; Giants left tackle Nate Solder sat out as well. This group, save for the now-retired Chung, has returned. (Goldman did not show for Bears minicamp, but the team expects him back for training camp.) However, many of the lower-profile players ended up being cut after their respective opt-out decisions. With effective vaccines now available, teams will likely be less understanding of players’ decisions to skip the season.

While a few players have expressed vaccine hesitancy, at least 65% of NFL players have received at least one vaccine dose. The Broncos, Dolphins, Saints and Steelers were close to or had surpassed the 85% mark late last week, according to ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler (on Twitter). The Jaguars and Panthers saw a spike in vaccines after the NFL announced this year’s virus protocols, which provide considerably more freedom for vaccinated players.

A few hours remain for players to notify teams they will skip this season, but opt-outs — decisions that cannot be changed after this afternoon’s deadline — do not look like a major issue for NFL franchises in 2021.

Latest On NFL’s 2021 Virus Protocols

June 24th, 2021 at 5:13pm CST by Sam Robinson

The NFL’s 2021 coronavirus protocols have surfaced, with the NFLPA having successfully secured an opt-out policy — for high-risk players — for a second straight year. The union also bargained an interesting protection for players who run into a Chris Paul-type situation.

Numerous players landed on the reserve/COVID-19 list last season, with the Broncos — who were forced to primarily use a practice squad wide receiver at quarterback — and the Browns — who lost HC Kevin Stefanski, key players and other staffers for a playoff game — being the most notable examples of virus-induced roster issues affecting game plans. With effective vaccines in play now, the 2021 season should be expected to run smoother.

Vaccinated players will also be protected in case they later test positive, as Paul has. If a vaccinated player tests positive and is forced to miss a game or multiple games, any per-game roster bonuses will still be paid, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. This provision would point to an unvaccinated player being at risk of losing bonus money if games are missed because of a positive test.

While players are encouraged to be vaccinated, the NFLPA issued a memo to its workforce Thursday reminding that players are not required to do so (Twitter link via Pelissero). Teams’ Tier 1 and Tier 2 staffers are, however, required to be vaccinated. A few notable players have pushed back against the league’s protocols and expressed hesitancy regarding the vaccine, which has created issues for certain teams.

Thursday’s memo also noted no club official can apply pressure to a player to receive the vaccine. Teams are not permitted to cut players for refusing the vaccine, though as clubs showed through several releases of players who opted out in 2020, players who make matters more difficult for teams still run the risk of losing their jobs — even if teams will not say this is the reasoning behind such moves.

NFL To Allow COVID-19 Opt-Outs In 2021

June 23rd, 2021 at 5:55pm CST by Sam Robinson

The NFL and NFLPA have come to an agreement regarding COVID-19 opt-outs, but players will have less time to make a decision than they did last year.

Players must inform their respective teams by 3pm CT July 2 if they intend to opt out of the 2021 season, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. The payout structure for opt-outs has changed as well. Players deemed high risks for developing complications from the coronavirus will still receive $350K, Pelissero adds, but those classified as non-high-risk opt-outs will not be paid. Last year, non-high-risk players received a $150K stipend. Players had until August 6 to opt out in 2020.

Rookies are not eligible for these opt-outs, according to Pelissero (on Twitter). Players cannot opt back in, as several college cogs did last year. Last year, 68 players opted out and saw their contracts toll to 2021. It would be shocking if this year’s total approached that.

Despite effective vaccines having emerged, the league and the union have been discussing the opt-out issue for months. Many players who opted out last year, however, have since been cut. On that note, it will be interesting to see if any opt-outs take place this year. Teams are likely to be less understanding about players making those decisions.

Circumstances have changed considerably since the 2020 opt-outs commenced. Vaccines have led to a sharp decline in virus cases and are now widely available. The NFL has mandated team employees be vaccinated, but players are not mandated to do so. Every team has at least 90% of its Tier 1/Tier 2 staff vaccinated. Some teams have indicated their staff is fully vaccinated.

The league’s virus protocols for the 2021 season are largely unchanged for unvaccinated players. This has led to multiple players, headlined by Bills wideout Cole Beasley, speaking out against the vaccine and this year’s agreed-upon protocols. As of last week, over half the league’s players have received at least one dose of the vaccine, but even as the protocols ease COVID-era restrictions immensely for vaccinated players, vaccine hesitancy remains an issue for the NFL. Next week’s opt-out date figures to add another complication, though it would be surprising if opt-out decisions affected the league to the degree they did last year.

NFL, NFLPA Agree To 2021 COVID Protocols

June 16th, 2021 at 3:52pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Fans will be back in the stands, and things are slowly returning to normal, but COVID-19 will still loom over the 2021 NFL season in some capacity. On Wednesday afternoon, the league and the NFLPA agreed to the COVID protocols for the upcoming season, a source told Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link).

There are going to be two sets of rules for those who have been vaccinated and those who haven’t been. Pelissero tweeted out the memo detailing the restrictions for unvaccinated players, and they’re significant. Unvaccinated players will have to be tested every day, wear masks in the facility, and travel to road games separately. When on the road they can’t have guests at their hotels or see friends and family. As Pelissero writes in his thread, it essentially boils down to “fly by yourself and sit in your room until kickoff.”

Importantly, players who have been vaccinated won’t have to isolate for five days if they’re deemed a high-risk close contact to someone who tests positive. Those close contact isolations caused a lot of key players to miss games in 2020.

Unvaccinated players will also be hit with fines of up to $50K for things like going to bars or large gatherings. Clearly, the league is doing everything they can to push players to get vaccinated without actually mandating it.

As for what the numbers look like, Pelissero tweeted yesterday that a source told him over 50 percent of NFL players had received at least a first dose of a vaccine. He added that every team has at least 90 percent of their Tier 1/2 staff vaccinated, so clearly coaches and employees are getting it at a higher rate than players. 16 of 32 teams have had at least 51 of the 90 players on their offseason rosters vaccinated.

It’s a lot to digest, and there are significant implications here. A number of high profile players have indicated they aren’t planning on getting the vaccine, so it’ll be interesting to see how this all shakes out. If one thing is for certain, it’s that there will be some drama to come as a result of these new protocols.

Jaguars Notes: Lawrence, Chaisson, Tebow

June 14th, 2021 at 8:36pm CST by Sam Robinson

Trevor Lawrence made his way back from offseason shoulder surgery and progressed to working out with his Jaguars teammates during OTAs. The No. 1 overall pick, however, has run into injury trouble on a new front. Lawrence battled left hamstring tightness last week, and after attempting to return to work during the first day of Jacksonville’s minicamp Monday, he aggravated the injury, Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com notes. Urban Meyer said Lawrence will likely sit out team drills Tuesday, and it certainly would not surprise if the franchise’s QB1 is done with seven-on-seven or 11-on-11 activity until training camp. C.J. Beathard and the now-mullet-less Gardner Minshew split the reps in Lawrence’s absence.

Here is the latest out of Jacksonville:

K’Lavon Chaisson will miss all of Jacksonville’s minicamp due to a positive COVID-19 test, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The second-year defensive end attended Von Miller‘s annual pass rush summit in Las Vegas over the weekend. The event had coronavirus testing, per Chaisson (on Twitter).
The Jags have used a 4-3 defense as their primary look throughout their 26-season history, but new defensive coordinator Joe Cullen will switch to a 3-4 alignment. Meyer confirmed as such Monday, via News4Jax.com’s Jamal St. Cyr. Dating back to their Marcus Stroud–John Henderson D-tackle duo through the “Sacksonville” period, the Jags preferred a 4-3 look. While the distinction means less nowadays, given teams’ sub-package reliance, it is notable the Jags will make this switch.
Tim Tebow has bulked up to 255 pounds, up nearly 20 from his quarterback days, and will be attempting to make a rare transition. Washington tight end Logan Thomas, who is 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds, provides a reasonable example of a quarterback-to-tight end switch working, DiRocco writes. Thomas, however, first worked out as a tight end in 2016 and said it took him two years to feel comfortable at the position. The former Virginia Tech quarterback made the transition in his mid-20s; Tebow will attempt to do so at 33. Thomas noted blocking will be Tebow’s most difficult task, but the Jags may not have a pure tight end role in mind for the former Heisman winner. The prospect of using him as a wildcat quarterback has surfaced.

Many NFL Players Hesitant To Receive COVID-19 Vaccine

June 6th, 2021 at 8:55am CST by Rory Parks

Although there are no official numbers from the NFL, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe hears that the league is generally struggling to get its players vaccinated against COVID-19. Two agents that represent several dozen players between them believe less than half of the league has gotten a vaccine, and longtime agent David Canter — who represents around four dozen players — said, “Man oh man, it’s been hard to get my clients to get vaccinated. Guys are going to do what they’re going to do. They’ve never been guys who are going to kowtow to whatever the public or whatever coach wants them to do, unless their job is on the line.”

Of course, players’ jobs could be on the line if they don’t get the vaccine, even if teams aren’t allowed to say so. Bills GM Brandon Beane said last month that he would release players who refused to get vaccinated, which led to considerable backlash from the league and the union. A week ago, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott acknowledged his concern that more of his players hadn’t yet gotten their shots.

Obviously, this is not an issue that’s limited to Orchard Park. And while NFL players, like everyone else, are entitled to make whatever decision they believe is in their best interests, the realities of their employment do make the issue inherently more complex for them. Dan Graziano of ESPN.com recently laid out the differences in protocols for players who have been vaccinated versus those who have not (Twitter link). Notably, players without the vaccine are subject to daily testing and physical distancing requirements, and if they have been exposed to the virus, they must be quarantined.

Consider a situation like the one that recently unfolded at a Browns practice, wherein several unvaccinated Cleveland players had to be sent home from the facility because they were high-risk close contacts. We saw several games in 2020 that featured clubs that were shorthanded because a number of their players were on the COVID-19 list, and teams certainly will want to do whatever possible to make sure that doesn’t happen again in 2021.

Stars and other core players aren’t going to be in danger of getting cut, but players on the fringes of a roster could be if they don’t get the vaccine. After all, if a roster decision comes down to a vaccinated player versus an unvaccinated one, a team will probably choose the player that isn’t always at risk of missing time. Officially, a player can’t get cut for their vaccination decision, but unofficially, it seems bound to happen, and it could be difficult for the NFLPA to win a grievance on that player’s behalf.

Volin says that the league and union continue to negotiate the threshold at which COVID protocols can be dropped completely, and that one potential number is 85%. In other words, if 85% of a team’s players are fully vaccinated, that team would no longer have to worry about the protocols.

Bills’ HC “Concerned” About Vaccine Timing

May 29th, 2021 at 10:15am CST by Zachary Links

The Bills are back on the field in Orchard Park for voluntary workouts and head coach Sean McDermott says things are about “60% normal” in Orchard Park. With that said, McDermott is still hoping to see more of his players get vaccinated in a timely fashion.

“I’m concerned about it, being very up front,” McDermott said (via the Democrat and Chronicle). “It’s something we’ve talked about and I don’t think the right word is trying to convince (people to get the shot); I think the right word is to educate and build awareness and then let people decide. It’s kind of two-pronged, if you will, with health and safety and then what you’ve got to do to do your job. I think those are the two prongs of the fork right now that must be considered and considered seriously.”

Recently, quarterback Josh Allen indicated that he was still gathering information with regards to the vaccine and weighing his options. Meanwhile, McDermott has to tread lightly on the subject after his GM caused a recent stir.

“Yeah, I would [cut players who refuse the vaccine], because [getting vaccinated] would be an advantage,” Brandon Beane said earlier this month. “I think there’s going to be some incentives if you have X -percent of your players and staff vaccinated. You can live normal…let’s just call it, back to the old days. If you don’t, it’s going to look more like last year…I hope that, if those are the rules, we’ll be able to get enough people vaccinated and not have to deal with all the headaches from a year ago.”

Soon after, the NFL reached out to Beane to let him know that players cannot be released solely for declining the vaccine. NFLPA chief DeMaurice Smith also bashed the Bills GM for his remarks. So, while the NFL is incentivizing players with relaxed protocols, the choice ultimately lies with the players.

NFLPA Exec Bashes Bills GM For Vaccine Comments

May 19th, 2021 at 9:06am CST by Zachary Links

Back in May, Bills GM Brandon Beane said that he would release players who refused to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Soon after, the league office got in touch with Beane to let him know that teams cannot cut players solely for that reason. Now, NFLPA chief exec DeMaurice Smith has weighed in with his thoughts.

“When a general manager speaks out and says something that is not only inconsistent with league policy, but just has a rank disregard for the rights of our players, I don’t know any other way of characterizing that other than just the stupidity that underlines it,” Smith said (via Liz Mullen of Sports Business Journal.)

Given the NFL’s clarification, Smith probably doesn’t have much to worry about on this front. Still, his comments show that the players’ union will be keeping a watchful eye on the waiver wire for any questionable cuts.

Beane’s comments raise a number of questions about a player’s personal right to say no to the vaccine. Beyond that, one has to wonder how the NFL would handle this type of situation in practice. What happens if a team cuts someone for refusing the vaccine while citing their performance as the reason for the release? In that case, the union would face an uphill battle.

Latest On OTA, Training Camp Negotiations Between NFL And NFLPA

May 18th, 2021 at 9:36pm CST by Rory Parks

Phase 2 of the league’s offseason workout program kicked off yesterday, and with it came the news that negotiations between the league and the union with respect to that program are officially dead (via Albert Breer of SI.com). Of course, the union advised players to stay away from team facilities for voluntary offseason activities, and the NFLPA and NFL were ultimately unable to come to an agreement on a number of key points.

Instead, players and coaches negotiated their own structures, and per Dan Graziano of ESPN.com, roughly 15 teams have implemented some sort of change as a result of those conversations. Browns center and union president J.C. Tretter predictably approved of the modifications, saying, “The offseason program has gotten out of hand. OTAs have been ratcheted up year after year, and they’ve turned into — especially for big guys and guys on the line of scrimmage — legitimate full-contact, non-padded practices. Nobody puts any restraints on them; they let guys go at it.”

Some teams are even making changes to the non-voluntary sessions. According to Fowler, the Packers moved their mandatory minicamp up a week, which could mean that a week of OTAs gets canceled, and as Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk writes, the Colts and Eagles have canceled mandatory minicamp altogether. Interestingly, although the Broncos were the first team to support the union’s stance on OTAs, Mike Klis of 9News.com reports that over 70 Broncos players showed up for the first day of Phase 2. The off-site injuries suffered by former Broncos Ja’Wuan James and DaeSean Hamilton and the potential money battle that could ensue may have played a role in that attendance figure.

The initial push from the union to have players boycott OTAs was due to persisting COVID-19 concerns, but as that situation improved in this country, NFLPA assistant executive director of external affairs George Atallah says the union began to shift focus. He says that, despite the complete absence of OTAs in 2020, injuries were down and the quality of the games remained the same (Twitter links via Lindsay Rhodes of the NFL Rhodes Show podcast). So, as Tretter implied, a permanent modification of OTAs into a purely mental exercise is appropriate.

Rhodes asked Atallah if the union is essentially attempting to renegotiate the CBA on the fly, and he conceded as much (Twitter link). And players are also pushing to make last year’s approach to training camp the new normal. Tretter said the ramp-up period that was instituted out of necessity last summer was widely embraced by players, who felt better both going into the regular season and coming out of it.

To be sure, the issue of the quality of the games is a subjective one, and whether there is a direct correlation between the ramp-up period and the absence of OTAs and any data showing a decrease in injuries is debatable. But, if everything was clear-cut, there wouldn’t be much need for negotiation.

In related news, masks are no longer required for fully-vaccinated players, coaches, or staff members, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. And teams will once again be permitted to hold training camp away from club facilities (Twitter link via Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network).

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