NFL allowing teams to announce free agency agreements

The NFL has changed course and will be allowing teams to announce signings they have reached with free agents, as well as trades, when all paperwork is filed

The NFL has changed course and will be allowing teams to announce signings they have reached with free agents, as well as trades, when all paperwork is filed.

Though the league’s business year began Wednesday the NFL instructed teams to hold back direct confirmations of those transactions because they are not official until contracts are signed and players have taken physicals. The agreements and trades leaked out anyway.

On Thursday the NFL sent a memo to the 32 teams telling them it has clarified its policy.

Once teams make official any signings that are listed on the daily transactions that the league provides, there is no prohibition on announcing those moves. Those contracts must be agreed upon and submitted to all parties, including the player and agent. Similarly, trades can be announced once the paperwork has been submitted.

The league has barred travel by players to team facilities and also halted club personnel traveling to meet with free agents as a safeguard against the new coronavirus.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.

So far, the agreements between the Buccaneers and Tom Brady, or between Amari Cooper and the Cowboys, have come from anonymous sources. Such as when Denver waived 2013 Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco on Thursday, it was attributed to a person familiar with the move who spoke anonymously because the Broncos have said nothing.

But the Ravens confirmed their trade for veteran defensive end Calais Campbell.

Flacco had lost his job to rookie Drew Lock and also has neck issues that could affect if he continues playing.

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