NFL coaches, officials pessimistic about 2020 season starting on time over coronavirus: report
As coronavirus worsens, NFL officials begin to doubt the 2020 season will begin on time.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell offered a stern warning to those who criticize his decision to hold the draft at its scheduled dates despite the coronavirus pandemic’s effect on preparation.
Goodell made the announcement the draft would still be held despite New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis and Denver Broncos team president John Elway saying publicly they believe having the draft at its current state puts teams at a disadvantage.
NFL KEEPING ITS DRAFT IN APRIL AS SCHEDULED
Goodell addressed the criticism in a memo to teams Thursday.
“Clubs have already reached out to us to discuss particular issues, and we encourage clubs with questions or concerns to continue to raise them with me, members of the CEC, or our staff. The CEC was also clear, and I share the Committee’s view, that public discussion of issues relating to the Draft serves no useful purpose and is grounds for disciplinary action,” Goodell wrote.
Loomis and Elway were two front-office officials who put their names on their concerns about having the draft.
Loomis told “The Peter King Podcast” on Wednesday the team has not been able to go through the usual things it does when preparing for the draft. Loomis and other teams have been handcuffed because of safety precautions surrounding physicals and workouts due to the pandemic.
“I'd be personally in favor of delaying the draft, so that we could get some of the work done that our scouts and personnel people ordinarily do. And then just the logistics of trying to conduct the draft with not having access to your draft rooms and your offices creates a lot of logistic problems,” Loomis said.
“This is not a fantasy draft that you conduct out there with just a list of things on a piece of paper. There's a lot of things that go into it to prepare, and there’s a lot of work that is done during the draft," he added.
SAINTS GM MICKEY LOOMIS WANTS LEAGUE TO CANCEL THE DRAFT OVER CORONAVIRUS' IMPACT
Elway has been working with a limited staff per the NFL’s guidelines that only essential personnel is able to go to team facilities, telling the Broncos’ website on Wednesday that the college scouts' ability to get to know the players has been essentially nonexistent because of travel limitations.
“Our scouts haven't been here and they've been off the road, so there's a lot of information on the college side that we have not been getting," he said. “For the most part, the staff on the pro side has been in the office and so we're able to start this free-agent period, and we're excited about where we sit right now having it started a couple weeks ago and to be where we are right now, we're excited about it.”
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The league canceled public events surrounding the draft, which was set to take place in Las Vegas next month before the coronavirus spread through the U.S.