NESN

Report: NFL Proposes Pushing Back Offseason Schedule, Moving Draft to May in Hopes of Longer Regular Season

The NFL scouting combine is finally under way in Indianapolis this week in preparation for April’s NFL draft. But the draft process may not get under way so early in years to come.

The NFL is proposing pushing back its offseason schedule in the near future, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, likely making way for an eventual 18-game schedule.

The newly crafted calendar would push the NFL combine back to sometime in March and move the draft into May, where television sweeps usually take place and higher ratings would likely be waiting. The revised schedule would also move the start of free agency to April and attempt to have all 32 teams open training camp on the same day.

NFL is proposing to overhaul its calendar, pushing back the combine to early March, free agency to early April, and the draft to early May.

—
Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 22, 2013

Idea of overhauled calendar is to lengthen NFL off-season and make football relevant over longer period with one big event each month.

—
Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 22, 2013

Moving the offseason schedule back opens up more opportunity for games at the end of the NFL season and for a late-February Super Bowl. Such a schedule shift would offer the owners a chance to propose their long sought-after 18-game regular season and get away from the four-game preseason.

In order for any of these changes to take place, though, both the NFL and NFL Players Association would have to agree.

Have a question for Luke Hughes? Send it to him via Twitter at @LukeFHughes or send it here.