The NFL Announced The Lions Offseason Workout Program Dates Today.

Each team has nine weeks of activity during the offseason. There are three phases of the offseason schedule. The first phase is a two-week stint of strength and conditioning. The Second is a three week long non-contact,  on-field workout series. Phase three consists of four total weeks of organized team activities.

Teams can not engage in physical contact plays, but 7 on 7, 9 on 9, and 11 on 11 drills are allowed. One mandatory mini-camp is allowed for each team prior to the start of training camp itself. There is also a seven-week rookie football development period, which must still give rookies all but one weekend off.

The Detriot Lions Offseason Schedule

• April 17: the beginning of the Lions offseason schedule is their strength and conditioning phase. This concluded before the draft. The team took the opportunity to see if any of their players were eating themselves out of the league.
• May 12-14: the team’s rookie class will be in town for a rookie minicamp. The team usually parades their new crop of NFL hopefuls in front of the press, and the interviews these players give are among the most honest they will ever give.
• May 23-25: Lions players will participate in an OTA off-season workout. This is the first of four OTA periods, and we will begin reading which players have greatly improved in the offseason from the Lions PR staff.
• May 30-31, June 1: a second OTA workout series occurs.
• June 5-6: the team gathers for its penultimate OTA workout series of 2017.
• June 8-9: the final OTA workouts of the 2017 off-season begin. By this point, the Lions will be relatively aware of how much development last year’s players have made in the offseason. There is usually significant churning of the team’s roster after this workout series.
• June 13-15: the Lions mandatory minicamp occurs. If players under contract do not show up for this minicamp, they open themselves to fines. It is rare for a happy player to avoid Mandatory minicamps. The Lions should have all hands on deck for this minicamp.