{"id":281309,"date":"2026-05-01T09:30:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T13:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=281309"},"modified":"2026-04-30T23:37:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T03:37:34","slug":"2026-nfl-offseason-dates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/05\/01\/2026-nfl-offseason-dates\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 NFL Offseason Dates of Importance: Contracts, Training Camps and More"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Important Offseason Dates for NFL Teams<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><strong>May 1: Fifth-Year Option for Players Selected in First Round<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deadline for teams to sign first-round draft picks from the 2023 Draft to a fifth-year option. This allows teams to gain an additional year of service from first-round picks before they are eligible for free agency.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/04\/28\/nfl-draft-team-grades-as-awarded-for-14-teams-nailing-the-draft\/\" target=\"_self\">NFL Draft Team Grades: A&amp;#8217;s Awarded for 14 Teams Nailing the Draft<\/a><\/p>\n<h3><strong>May 1-4 or 8-11: Post-Draft Rookie Minicamps<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/04\/USATSI_26690046.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"5540\" height=\"3695\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-281560\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/04\/USATSI_26690046.webp 5540w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/04\/USATSI_26690046-768x512.webp 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/04\/USATSI_26690046-600x400.webp 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/04\/USATSI_26690046-1200x800.webp 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 5540px) 100vw, 5540px\" \/><br \/>\nTeams are allowed to conduct a three-day rookie minicamp, either Friday-Sunday or Saturday-Monday, on either of the two weekends following the draft.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>May 11: Rookie Football Development Programs Begin<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All NFL rookies are introduced to the resources the NFL and the NFL Players Association provide. Mandatory topics include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A video introduction to the NFL and league policies<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Player benefits and benefit resources<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Player expectations, including the importance of sportsmanship, respect in the workplace, and media responsibilities\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social responsibility for players, which covers league policies and the ramifications of issues like driving under the influence, or committing acts of domestic violence or sexual assault.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maintaining strong mental health and fitness<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Introduction to the health and safety resources available to players and their families<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rule changes from college to the pros<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>May 13\/14 NFL Schedule Release<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The NFL hasn\u2019t announced the exact details, but the league\u2019s schedule for the 2026 season will be announced on one of these dates.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/07\/14\/top-5-nfl-training-camp-headlines-for-fantasy-football\/\" target=\"_self\">Top 5 NFL Training Camp Headlines For Fantasy Football<\/a><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">May 13-17\u00a0 <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/nflpa.com\/partners\/rp\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NFLPA Rookie Premiere<\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\nThe NFLPA Rookie Premiere is an annual event for the league\u2019s top marketable rookies. This began as a trading card event and has now evolved into a five day event that allows rookies to connect with business opportunities and partners developed by the NFL Players&#8217; Union.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>May 19-20 Spring League Meeting<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The NFL\u2019s\u00a0 May meeting takes place in Orlando, Florida. Owners discuss proposals to rule changes and other items.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>June 1 \u201cJune 1 Tender\u201d Date<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is the deadline that allows teams to release or trade players with contract stipulations that require significant salary cap penalties over the next two seasons. Waiting until June 1 gives teams the flexibility to avoid the entire salary cap \u2018hit\u2019 for the 2026 season.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>June 15 \u201cJune 15 Tender\u201d Date<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Teams must meet this deadline to retain exclusive negotiating rights for free agents who previously received qualifying offers. They must submit a contract worth 110% of the player\u2019s 2025 salary. This rule lets teams keep negotiating control while giving them the chance to reach a long-term agreement if both sides agree.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>July 15 Franchise Player Contract Deadline<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Teams that have used a Franchise Player designation for free agents have until this date to sign the player to a multiyear contract or extension. After this date, teams may only sign the player to a one year contract, and the contract CANNOT be extended until the last date of the 2026 regular season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>July 22 Unrestricted Free Agent Deadline<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is the date the signing period ends for unrestricted free agents who received the \u201cUFA\u201d tender offer from their 2025 team. Following this date and until the 10th week of the season, the team has exclusive negotiating rights.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Main Image: Jeff Lange \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Important Offseason Dates for NFL Teams May 1: Fifth-Year Option for Players Selected in First Round This is the Deadline for teams to sign first-round draft picks from the 2023 Draft to a fifth-year option. This allows teams to gain an additional year of service from first-round picks before they are eligible for free agency. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4925,"featured_media":281558,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[33950],"class_list":["post-281309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","tag-2026-nfl-offseason"],"modified_by":"Mike Roberts","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4925"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281309"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":281561,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281309\/revisions\/281561"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}