4 dates to look forward to during the NFL's "slow" season
You won't have to wait too long for your next football fix.
I don’t remember who said it and when — I think it was someone on NFL Network during the draft, but that whole weekend is always a blur. I’m confident that whoever said it was a man because, well, most of the people who work in sports media are men.
Anyway, a nameless man on an NFL-themed broadcast recently expressed his worry that we’d have nothing to talk about in the world of football for a while. The draft has come and gone, and the Aaron Rodgers and Lamar Jackson sagas are mercifully over.
His co-host (?), also a man of course, tried to reassure him: This is the NFL, so there is always something happening. We’ll be fine!
In the week and a half since the draft ended, both have been right. Yes, it’s been pretty uneventful around the league, but it won’t stay that way for long.
I would suggest enjoying the relative quiet. Right now, I’ve been glued to the NBA playoffs (while also checking in with NHL playoffs), engrossed in a new book (I Have Some Questions For You), and trying to keep up with the many prestige TV shows (Succession, Barry, Dave, Ted Lasso, etc.) that are wrapping up before the end of the month so that they’ll be eligible for this year’s Emmys.
But if you can’t go cold turkey on the NFL like that, then I think I can help. I’ve identified four upcoming dates, all in the next month, that can offer temporary relief during one of the slowest periods on the NFL calendar.
May 11: The NFL schedule release party
OK, so it’s not technically a party. But the NFL does turn the annual schedule release into a week-long extravaganza. I mean, they even turned the announcement to the announcement into a thing. And just like last year, select matches will be revealed before Thursday’s primetime special dedicated to laying out all 18 weeks and 272 games of the season.
We’ll have the complete picture later in the week, once all the dates, times, and bye weeks are released. Right now, we only have the vague outline, a couple pieces in their rightful place while the rest of the puzzle is scattered around.
We know every team’s opponents. We know the season starts on Sept. 7, and that as the defending champs, the Chiefs will host the kickoff game. We know that two teams will face off on Black Friday. We know the Bills, Titans, and Jaguars will all play “host” in London.
And a few other rumors have leaked, including that the Patriots-Saints and Chiefs-Bears will square off in Germany and there will be a tripleheader on Christmas Day.
Although I normally wouldn’t recommend paying much attention to the dying platform that is Twitter, be sure to check out each team’s social media accounts on Thursday night. This is their time to shine!
May 13: The second-ever XFL Championship
Even if you haven’t been following the XFL at all, this weekend is the perfect time to check out the re-reincarnation of the league. On Saturday, for only the second ever, the XFL will crown a champion.
The DC Defenders, the best team during the regular season, will take on the underdog Arlington Renegades, who upset the Houston Roughnecks in the semifinals.
The Defenders are led by XFL Offensive Player of the Year Jordan Ta’amu, a 25-year-old quarterback who bounced around the NFL, mostly on practice squads, the past couple of years. The Defenders had a league-high eight players named to the 2023 All-XFL Team, while the Renegades only had one.
On paper, this matchup might seem like a dud, but judging by the last time these two teams met, the championship game should be anything but. A few weeks ago in DC, the Renegades rallied back from down 17 in the fourth quarter to force overtime.
The XFL’s overtime rules are much different from the NFL’s, almost like penalty kicks in soccer: each offense gets three tries to convert a two-point attempt, and the side that completes the most is the winner. In their previous meeting, the Defenders went 1-of-3 and the Renegades went 0-for-3 for the home team’s 28-26 win. Cue the beer snake.
I think you can enjoy the XFL for what it is. It’s still professional football, with more innovative rules, and even if it doesn’t boast the same talent level as the NFL, it also doesn’t take itself quite as seriously either. But if you are looking for an NFL connection, you can find that too. Both rosters feature players who spent time in the big leagues — yes, some only had a cup of coffee there, like Ta’amu and Renegades quarterback Luis Perez. Others, such as D. J. Swearinger and Marquette King, had lengthy careers in the NFL.
It’s also possible that a handful of XFL players could end up in the NFL next season. So far, 38 of them have been invited to minicamps this summer. After Saturday, more names could be added to the list.
And if you’re still jonesing for football after the XFL title bout, you can always get your fix with the USFL, which runs every weekend until the July 1 championship.
May 22-24: More rules incoming
At the end of March, the NFL owners and coaches met up in Arizona to discuss the state of the league, vote on some proposals, and take the most anticipated photo of the year. In all, 15 rules, bylaws, and resolutions were approved, including allowing players to wear the number “0” on their jersey, expanding the definition of what illegal use of the helmet means, and condensing preseason roster cutdown days into one deadline.
However, the NFL isn’t done adding new entries to its rulebook just yet. A few other proposals were tabled until the fourth week of May, when the owners reconvene for the spring league meeting.
A sampling of what the owners might vote on: the third-quarterback rule (proposed by the Lions and shockingly, not the 49ers); what to do about the hip drop tackle; and spotting the ball at the 25-yard line after a kickoff if the returner fair catches it inside that marker.
For now, though, it doesn’t seem like the QB sneak push is on the agenda, so the Eagles and Broncos can celebrate.
June 2: The fourth (?) wave of free agency
The draft is over. The start of free agency is long over. But every roster is far from settled, especially with so many big-name veterans still available.
Several of them could end up signing a new deal relatively soon. On June 2, any player who was deemed a post-June 1 release will no longer fully count against his former franchise’s salary cap. With the additional cap space, a team might look to the free agent market to bolster a position that it didn’t address in the draft.
More often, these vets find a new home closer to the season, either due to training camp injury or younger players not coming along fast enough. Yet June is usually a somewhat active month on the transaction wire, so we should see at least a few of those names off the market before July.
Besides, I’m not sure if the Cowboys can wait until the preseason to bring back Ezekiel Elliott. I don’t know for sure that they will, but Jerry Jones is open to it, Dak Prescott wants it to happen, and Emmitt Smith really wants it to happen:
https://twitter.com/usatodaysports/status/1654172787932819456?s=20
I’ll stop short of predicting the reunion will transpire, though, because my attempts at prophesying this offseason have been way off the mark.