San Francisco 49ers players are taking part in organized team activities over the next three weeks. After that, there will be a mandatory three-day minicamp. Then the team will break until training camp begins at the end of July.
Now, we know when training camp will begin. According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, 49ers players will report back to the Santa Clara facility on July 27. Practices will begin four days later, on July 31.
However, this offseason, those are the start dates for 29 NFL teams, not just the 49ers. The league wants everyone to begin at the same time. The start of training camp is yet another example of the NFL seeing an opportunity to promote an event, and it plans to do so.
For the first time, the NFL will have a unified start to training camp, with 29 teams set to report Tuesday, July 27 -- 47 days before the Sunday of Week 1, as allowed by the CBA -- and plans for league-wide practices and fan events Saturday, July 31.
Midsummer Madness, anyone?
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) May 25, 2021
The three teams with different training camp start dates are the Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Cowboys and Steelers can report on July 21 because they will participate in the Hall of Fame Game, and the Buccaneers on July 24 because they open on a Thursday night against the Cowboys.
The #Cowboys and #Steelers can report as early as July 21 because of the hall of fame game. The #Bucs can report July 24 because of a Thursday opener. Players from the other 29 teams are required to report July 27, per the CBA.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) May 25, 2021
It's unknown exactly what the NFL has in store for "fan events."
The 49ers plan to open at least some training camp practices at the SAP Performance Facility or Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara to fans, as they have done in pre-COVID-19 offseasons.
Levi's Stadium will also welcome back fans at full capacity after not being allowed to have fans in attendance for games last season. However, that doesn't mean things will be back to the pre-COVID-19 status quo. There could be mask requirements, temperature checks at the gates, and potential COVID tests and vaccine passport requirements to gain access, per a report from Bay Area News Group.
"So we're going to have to be doing a lot of things and a lot of hand-holding with our fans and just know it's going to be a little different than the 2019 season and all the seasons pre-COVID," team CEO Jed York recently said.