A source at the highest level has reportedly told Adam Schefter of ESPN that the timeline for transactions will include teams being able to sign their players today, Monday July 25th, with the league year starting officially next Tuesday, August 2nd.
Note: This is, of course, a best case scenario situation, as a timeline can't really be solidified until they have a deal of some kind officially in place.
Per Schefter, while a lot of things won't truly take effect until next Tuesday, we'd be looking at the following general timeline.
• Teams can sign their own free agents and begin talking with other unrestricted free agents Monday afternoon.
• Teams can begin signing unrestricted free agents Tuesday at noon ET but those contracts would not take effect until Aug. 2.
• Teams can begin talking trades Monday afternoon. Any trades would become official on Saturday, July 30.
This is great news, as it means teams will have a slightly (note:very slightly) more structured timeframe than the zoo that many of us expected.
The NFLPA is scheduled to start meeting at 11am ET, and the NFL is likely to have a press conference announcing things this afternoon.
Football is nearly back, and as soon as the players officially agree, you can rest assured that Windy City Gridiron will be the place to be to keep track of the NFL's comings and goings.