Reports: NFL to Cancel Half of Preseason and Supplemental Draft

There are some reported changes to the NFL calendar this evening.

Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reports the NFL is set to cancel the first and fourth week of the 2020 preseason.

The Jets’ preseason games against the Giants and Eagles would be cancelled.

Here is the rationale according to Florio:

The move was driven by two primary factors. First, teams who will be playing preseason games on the road won’t want to move that many people. Second, given that no teams had on-field practice sessions in the offseason, coaches would rather have the extra time to work with their teams, and that will happen if they don’t have to worry about two extra preseason games.

Another report anticipates the potential for the entire preseason to be cancelled.

Additionally, Tom Pelissero reports the NFL will not hold its annual Supplemental Draft this year.

Each year the NFL holds a second Draft. You are likely familiar with the annual televised event each April or May.

In the late spring or early summer the league typically conducts a second Draft that receives far less attention. Few players declare for it. Frequently these are players who experienced a sudden change in their college eligibility. In the Supplemental Draft teams are allowed to bid a pick on each player in a silent auction. The team that has the highest bid gets the player and loses the corresponding pick in the next year’s NFL Draft. For example, one team might bid a second round pick on a given player, while another bids a third round pick. The team that bids the second round pick would get the player and lose its second round pick in the next year’s Draft.

We will do our best to keep you up to date as other developments emerge.