2026 NFL Calendar: Important deadlines and dates for the offseason

The Super Bowl is almost here, but for fans of the 30 NFL teams not participating in that game, the 2026 offseason is already underway. Coaching changes are in full swing, and in just a few weeks the big events that kick off free agency and NFL Draft preparations will take place.

But exactly when are all of the important dates and deadlines, you ask? We’re here to provide those answers. Here is a detailed look at all of the critical events throughout the 2026 offseason, broken down by category and then put into chronological order.

Let’s take a spin through the NFL calendar over the next six months.

Free Agency / League BusinessFeb. 17 — Mar. 3: Franchise & Transition Player window

Each team can assign the Franchise or Transition tag to one player during this time period. The tag is a one-year contract tender at a specific price based on the player’s position while ensuring that the tendering team has the right of first refusal for any contract offer sheet that the player would sign with another team (Franchise tags also would require a signing team to send the tagging team two first-round draft picks). Tag numbers are based on the confirmed salary cap number for the upcoming season and will be finalized when the final cap number is announced.

Mar. 9 — 11: Free Agent Early Negotiation Period

Often referred to as the “legal tampering period,” this two-day period ahead of the start of the new league year allows agents of players who will be unrestricted free agents to begin contract negotiations with all teams around the league. No player may officially sign a contract with a new team during this period, but many contracts are agreed to in principle.

March 11, 4:00 PM ET: 2026 League Year Begins

This is the big one. As of this date and time, unrestricted free agents players can begin officially signing contracts with new teams. This is also a key deadline for a number of other business items to be executed:

All teams must be compliant with the salary cap (using the Top 51 highest-value contracts on the roster) prior to this time.

This is the deadline for submitting tenders to Restricted and Exclusive-Rights free agents.

After this time, teams can execute any trades that were agreed upon previously.

Mar. 29 — Apr. 1: Annual NFL Meeting

The NFL’s top brass get together for a few days to discuss rules changes and other various league business. This year’s meetings will be held in the Phoenix, Arizona area.

April 17: Deadline for Restricted Free Agents to sign offer sheets

This is the final day that tendered RFAs can sign an offer sheet with a different team. The tendering team then has five days from the signing of the offer sheet to choose to match the offer sheet to retain the player.

May 1 — 5th-Year Option Deadline for 2023 First-Round Draft Picks

This is the last date on which teams can exercise a fifth-year option on players drafted in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. For the Green Bay Packers, this decision will be incoming on one player: defensive end Lukas Van Ness.

May 19 — 20: Spring League Meeting

Closing out any business left unfinished from the earlier meeting, top league officials will get together for the spring meetings in Orlando, Florida in May.

June 1 — Free Agency Deadlines

After this date, players who are released by a team with multiple years remaining on their contracts will have only any dead money split up on the cap over the 2026 and 2027 seasons, rather than all guaranteed or paid money being put on the 2026 cap only. This also is the time at which cap space for players designated as “post-June 1” releases is shifted to 2027 and becomes available in 2026.

Additionally, this is the deadline for a team to issue a “June 1 Tender” to any tendered Restricted free agent who has not yet signed their RFA tender. This is required for a team to later submit a June 15 Tender to that player.

June 15 — RFA Tender Deadline

If any Restricted free agent still remains unsigned at this date, a team can withdraw their original RFA tender to that player and substitute a June 15 Tender. This is a one-year contract worth 110% of the player’s previous year base salary, and it gives the team exclusive negotiation rights with the player for the remainder of the season.

July 15 — Franchise & Transition Player Contract Deadline

4:00 PM ET on this date is the deadline for a player who has received a Franchise or Transition tag to sign a long-term contract extension. If no extension is reached by this date, the player can only sign the tag or some other one-year contract, and then cannot sign a contract extension before the end of the regular season.

2027 NFL DraftFeb. 23 — Mar. 2: NFL Scouting Combine

The top prospects for the 2026 NFL Draft, NFL scouts, and the media will descend upon Indianapolis for a week of workouts, medical evaluations, and interviews. On-field workouts will take place over four days from Thursday, Feb. 26 to Sunday, March 1.

Apr. 15: Last day for in-person meetings with draft prospects

Teams are allowed to bring draft prospects in to the team facilities for official meetings after the NFL Combine and up until this date.

Apr. 22: Last day for off-site meetings with draft prospects

This makes sense — the day before the NFL Draft is the last day that teams can conduct any meetings with draft prospects outside of team facilities. Late workouts and testing this week usually are the result of injured players getting in final Pro Day tests at their college facilities.

Apr. 23 — 25: 2026 NFL Draft

This year’s NFL Draft will be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the home of the Steelers. As usual, the event will consist of Round One taking place on Thursday, Rounds 2 & 3 on Friday, and Rounds 4 through 7 on Saturday.

May 1-4 or May 8-11: Rookie Minicamp

Teams can hold rookie minicamps on one of these two weekends. Players eligible to participate in rookie minicamps include any rookies under contract, players on futures contracts who do not have an accrued season of NFL experience, and tryout players.

Offseason Workout ProgramsApril 6: Start of offseason program for teams with new head coachesApril 20: Start of offseason program for teams with returning head coaches

These are the dates that players can return to team facilities for formal workouts as part of the offseason workout program. The program functions as follows:

Phase 1: Consists of strength & conditioning work, dead-ball periods (QBs throwing to receivers and special teamers working on their own), and off-the-field meetings only. Phase 1 runs through May 3.

Phase 2: Consists of non-contact walkthroughs and individual on-field workouts. Phase 2 runs May 4-24.

Phase 3 (Organized Team Activities & Minicamp): The final four weeks of the program are for full-team on-field practices, though they must remain non-contact and without full pads. Three weeks consist of voluntary OTA practices, while one week is designated for mandatory minicamp (which must be either the week of June 8-12 or June 15-19).

2026 NFL Calendar: Important deadlines and dates for the offseason

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