Tampa Bay Buccaneers suspend traveling due to coronavirus
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are one of the first few NFL organization to suspend pre-draft traveling plans amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won’t be traveling- at least for a while- amidst the coronavirus pandemic, according to reports from CBS Sports.
The Buccaneers joined several other NFL organizations- including the Washington Redskins, Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers- to suspend pre-draft traveling plans as a way to keep franchise personnel safe and to keep the disease from spreading. Many other NFL organizations are expected to follow suit in the near future.
Tampa Bay personnel were expected to attend several Pro Days across the country, but many of those are being canceled anyway.
With the Buccaneers staying in Tampa for the time being, there’s a chance that this might be the end of draft analysis- at least in terms of face-to-face contact- before the big event happens in just a month.
Obviously, the Bucs will continue to watch film and hold interviews over the phone with potential candidates.
In addition to pre-draft travel being suspended, the NFL suspended its annual spring meeting- where business and rule changes are discussed- until May 19. The NFL did say that it has no intention of moving the start of the league year, according to a report from Adam Schefter. The start of the league year will be March 18, as originally planned.
NFL said it has "no plans to move the start of the league year."
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 12, 2020
It will be interesting to see how free-agent discussions and traveling are handled as the franchise tag deadlines looms (next Monday) and then negotiations begin immediately following that.
At this point, we’d expect much of this to be done by phone- as a lot of it is anyway- but that would leave deals ‘pending a physical,’ which would obviously have to be done at a later date amidst the concerns.
#NFL telling all employees to work from home starting Friday, per NFL Network. Free agent deals can be agreed upon, but would be pending physicals so could be problematic w travel involved. Also, there is perception issue of conducting business given context. Is it appropriate?
— Troy Renck (@TroyRenck) March 12, 2020
The 2020 offseason, which was already going to be a wild one, has become even crazier for the Buccaneers.
Next. Potential options at RB for Tampa Bay in 2020. dark
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