At 9:00 AM PT, teams can start negotiations. Then what? We will be tracking rumors, news, and transactions as they come in.
Welcome to NFL free agency! Today begins the madness of teams backing up the Brink’s trucks for players and players fighting for every last cent.
Things kicked off early this year with Antonio Brown being traded to the Oakland Raiders on Saturday. While it was a trade and not a free agent signing, it certainly felt like free agency with the leverage Brown had in the deal.
Everything begins today at 9:00 AM PT with the open negotiation period. Teams are allowed to contact and discuss contracts with the agents of NFL players. Teams cannot formally offer a contract of any sort, but clearly contacts are discussed. Keep in mind, if a player does not have an agent, he cannot begin negotiations at this point.
Sure, teams probably have already had discussions. The NFL Combine just happened and odds are some scenarios were floated around between teams and players’ representatives. Also, don’t assume teams haven’t been talking before that time either. This is just the time where it’s “allowed.”
The best example already is the 49ers reportedly pursuing Bucs linebacker Kwon Alexander. They technically cannot pursue him prior to Monday morning, but clearly negotiations are underway. Contracts cannot be formally executed until 1 p.m. PT on Wednesday, at which point teams will make news official about signings.
Additionally, that is when trades can be formally executed. NFL teams cannot make trades from the October trade deadline until the start of the new league year. That means on Wednesday, the Antonio Brown trade and contract restructuring will become official, as will the all the Denver Broncos trade for Joe Flacco/Case Keenum trades, and plenty of other deals that have been reported.
The 49ers begin the opening negotiation period having signed offensive guard Mike Person to an extension. The extension will keep the 2018 offensive line solidified for 2019. The 49ers could look for some depth at guard, especially with the status of Joshua Garnett up in the air, but it’s been awhile since this line has seen stability.
As the formal negotiation period gets started, we’ll be keeping track of all the news and rumors here. We’ll have individual posts for notable news, but this will serve as our first open thread of the free agency period. We’ll pin this to the top of the page so people have a broader free agency open thread. As this gets loaded with comments, we’ll have a new one in the coming days (maybe even later today, depending on how busy things get).
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