NFL announces start date for Commanders’ offseason workout program

Anyone else feel like the offseason is flying by? It feels like yesterday the Washington Commanders wrapped up their season with a win over the New York Giants, and now we’re counting down the days until the draft.

The first wave of free agency is in the rearview, and before you know it the Commanders’ 2022 draft class will be reporting for rookie minicamp.

That’s the great part about the NFL offseason. While there’s technically no football going on, there’s only about a two-week lull after the conclusion of the Super Bowl where the news cycle isn’t impossible to keep up with.

With the offseason moving at an incredible pace, we now know the Commanders’ full offseason workout program schedule. Like several other teams around the league, Washington’s program will get started on April 18.

Here’s the Commanders’ offseason workout program schedule.

The Commanders’ offseason program will begin on Monday, April 18, and conclude in mid-June, so bookmark your calendars accordingly. The voluntary nine-week program consists of three phases. Let’s break those down, shall we?

The first phase takes up the first two weeks of the programs. Activities are limited to team meetings, weightlifting (strength and conditioning) and physical rehabilitation (stretching, recovering from injuries, etc).

Things get a little more intense in Phase 2. While no live contact or offense vs. defense drills are permitted, Washington can conduct on-field workouts in the form of individual or group instruction drills or what the NFL referred to as “perfect play drills.” For the safety of players, any team offense vs team defense drills must be performed at a walk through pace.

In the third phase, Washington can hold up to 10 days worth organized team practice activity, otherwise known as OTAs. Again, no live contact is allowed, but 7-on-7, 9-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills are fair game.

For the Commanders, their organized team activity will fall on the following dates: May 23-26, May 31-June2 and June 6-8. That’ll be followed by mandatory minicamp, which is slated to run from June 14-16.

No contact is allowed at minicamp, but players are permitted to practice at full speed, which gives players on the outskirts of the roster — including new draftees — to stake their claim for a spot heading into training camp.

Speaking of new draftees, each team can hold a rookie development program for a seven-week period beginning on May 16. Additionally, teams can hold a post-draft rookie minicamp, which will take place on either the first or second weekend following the draft. The NFL will reveal the start dates closer to the draft.

That leads us right up to training camp. We won’t get too into the weeds with that given it’s still four months away, but just to give fans a ballpark as to when they can expect it to start, the team reported on July 27 last year.

The Commanders were one of a handful of teams to hold training camp at two different locations: Bon Secours WFT Training Center in Richmond, VA, and the INOVA Sports Performance Performance Center in Ashburn, VA.