The NFL offseason schedule has kicked into high gear for 2014 and now that the scouting combine is over, free agency is set to start on March 11 and that date is one to watch, as is May 8, which is when the NFL draft begins at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
This offseason has a number of important dates coming up and the biggest one is that March 11 date, as free agency begins and teams must have their cap numbers correct by 4 pm on that day. That will cause some teams to cut players leading up to that date and some names will be looking forward to hitting the market, including players like Justin Tuck, Darren McFadden, Knowshon Moreno, Ben Tate and Greg Hardy.
The combine went from February 19 to the 25 in Indy and now March 11 is the next big date on the calendar, as teams have until that day to submit qualifying offers and salary tenders for restricted free agents. After March 11, there are some other important dates before the draft, including April 7, which allows teams with a new head coach to start offseason programs, and May 2, which is the deadline for restricted free agents to sign offer sheets and that will be interesting to see as well.
The draft starts May 8 and continues through the weekend on the 10 and ends on Saturday after opening with the first round on Thursday night. Those are all the next important dates on the NFL calendar.