© Taya Gray/The Desert | 2020 Feb 28
It would appear Gavin Newsom’s decision making in the coming weeks will have repercussions far beyond the state he’s governing. According to a report by Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports, a decision by the California Governor to allow “full team” operations for the three NFL teams in the state by June, would likely allow NFL mini-camps to start in mid-June as is typical.
One league source told Yahoo Sports that a declaration from California Gov. Gavin Newsom will serve as the key hurdle in whether the NFL can pull off a fully operational minicamp in June. If Newsom opens the way for full team operations (without any fan attendance), the league could then give NFL franchises the option of holding a minicamp sometime in June, before breaking once again and setting dates for the opening of training camps.
“If California is open for [team] operations soon, minicamps can still happen in June — probably late June, I’d think — but maybe even mid-June,” the league source said.
A resumption of activities would also have to be approved by the player’s union, something Cleveland Browns center J.C. Tretter, head of the player’s union, spoke on Tuesday:
Players: our union has not agreed to any reopening plan. Any reports about coming back to work are hypothetical. You will hear from the NFLPA when there are new developments.
— JC Tretter (@JCTretter) May 26, 2020
Newsom hinted that the state would begin moving towards reopening procedures as early as June.
“A number of other sectors of our economy will open up again if we hold these trend lines in the next number of weeks,” Newsom said on May 18.