Teams can begin signing free agents on Wednesday, March 15 at 4 p.m. ET when the new league year begins. That’s also when free agency officially opens.
But on Monday, a 52-hour negotiating period begins, which is the unofficial start of free agency. It’s widely known as the legal tampering period, though the NFL has renamed it the “negotiation period” because, well, it just sounds better than legal tampering.
The negotiation period begins on Monday, March 13 at 12 p.m. ET and runs until 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday when the new league year begins. During this period, teams are permitted to talk to the agents of unrestricted free agents, not the players themselves. And they can agree to terms of a contract, but they can’t actually sign them until the new league year begins.
Here are some of the rules and info to know for the next two days.
- March 13 at 12 p.m. ET to March 15 at 4 p.m. ET
- Teams can talk to agents of unrestricted free agents, not restricted free agents or the players themselves.
- Teams can negotiation and discuss terms of contracts during this period but they cannot sign any deals.
- If a player is his own agent, he can talk to other teams.
- Players cannot visit teams during the negotiation period, but they’re permitted to when the new league year begins on Wednesday.
Teams that violate these rules could be subject to fines or loss of draft picks, so it’s important that they follow the guidelines laid out by the NFL.
In the next two days, we’ll hear about a lot of contracts being agreed to and we’ll find out the terms of those deals but there’s always a chance they’ll fall through before they can be signed on Wednesday afternoon.
