Two years of largely successful efforts to play through the Pandemic have been halted by the suspension of all leaguewide COVID-19 protocols.
The decision was based on the current encouraging trends regarding the prevalence and severity of the coronaviruses.
By the end of the 2021 season, many of the league's most severe protocols had been dropped.
The earliest that football can be played at club facilities is April 4 for teams that have hired new coaches. The change on Thursday will affect coaches and other staff members who are attending the scouting combine in Indianapolis and who work in local markets. The employees will no longer have to go through the testing.
The memo allows teams to impose their own mask policies if they so choose, but it also allows for reverting to a level of protocols if necessary.
Should there be a reason to reimpose aspects of the protocols or to take other measures, we will work closely with clubs, the NFLPA and our respective experts, and local, state and federal public health officials to continue.
Any state and local public health regulations still need to be complied with by teams.
The NFL canceled its 2020 training and preseason because of the Pandemic, but has played all of its regular-season and playoffs since. The regular season and playoffs were expanded in 2020.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health institutions rely on the work of the NFL to inform their decisions. The vaccination rates for players and other football staff members were 98% and 98%, respectively, for the season.
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