Important Times to Remember For The Purple Offseason
Folks, the offseason is time for hope and conjecture. Part of this process involves understanding what teams can do and when they can do those things. For the sake of concision, I’ll merely be highlighting March dates. Take a look at some dates for the Minnesota Vikings offseason. All the info for these dates comes from NFL.com.
As recently discussed, the franchise/transition tag window is officially open. That’s important because it will impact which players are actually available in free agency. The window to tag a player ends on March 8.
The NFL Combine (which recently had to navigate the threat of 157 players refusing to show up) begins on March 1 in Indianapolis. Under Rick Spielman, the Vikings put a fair bit of importance on the combine. It’ll be fascinating to see how Kwesi Adofo-Mensah uses that info from the combine workouts to help with the NFL draft (which runs from April 28-30).
For many Minnesota Vikings fans, the draft is the most exciting part of the offseason. For me, it’s free agency; it’s always a ton of fun.
March 14-16 represents the beginning of the NFL’s unofficial flirtation with the league’s free agents. No deals can be signed, though they can be agreed upon. As we’re reminded on a yearly basis, fans should be wary about counting their free agent chickens before they’re hatched. There are always some players who change their mind (see Barr, Anthony). Even still, this is indeed one of the most exciting times in the league year. The Vikings will be looking to create cap room in the lead up to this period so they can bring in talent.
On March 16 at 4 p.m. ET, the new league year will begin. The 2022 NFL year is officially underway, so teams can put those aforementioned deals into ink.
There is one final date I’ll highlight for the Minnesota Vikings offseason (at least for now). I’ll break my March rule to highlight a date in April. Teams with a new head coach will be able to begin offseason workouts on April 4. The Vikings will thus get a bit of a jump on their offseason program. It’ll be our first chance to see Kevin O’Connell getting some work in with his team.
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