This is the time of the season when teams develop an idea of how they would like to line up and play in their “In a perfect world” scheme. Each team will look at each position to determine the type of player and skill set required to play their scheme.

Evaluations of the current roster will determine where upgrades and replacements (in the case of departing players) need to be made. Determinations will be made as to which current players need to be re-signed and for how much (more on this later).

The search begins for players with the skills the team needs to fill positions in their scheme. Free Agency, trades and the Draft are all tools to find these players. I will get into each of these areas in the future, providing details on each area.

The NFL Scouting Combine is February 27th to March 1st. This is a very large part of the Draft. The Packers have 10 picks in this years draft.

Teams have to place Franchise and Transitional Tags on their player between February 25th and March 10th.

Free Agency begins with the Legal Tampering period March 16th to March 18th. On the 18th FA contracts can be signed. Additionally the 18th is the deadline for teams to make qualifying offers to Restricted Free Agents on their roster. At 3 p.m. the 2020 Salary Cap goes into effect. Teams will have to be under the Cap on the top 51 highest paid roster spots. The 2020 Trading period begins at 3 p.m. on the 18th as well.

April 23rd to April 25th is the NFL Draft from Las Vegas.

This has just been an overview of the start of the NFL season. I will delve into each area and players involved as the season moves forward. This “Start” to the season is vitally important to the team. As I stated earlier, each team has scheme it wants to run on Offense, Defense and Special teams. Now is when they can come up with the perfect roster on paper. “If I had a player like X at position X it would allow us to to do this and that”. After Free Agency and the Draft the roster is 90-95% complete. It’s at this time the team try’s determine what they truly have at each position. Instead of finding players for their scheme they will now have to begin adjusting their scheme to the players they have.

GO PACK GO !