GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The confused looks almost made the inconvenience worth it. Almost.
When the NFL and NFL Players Association ratified a new collective bargaining agreement during summer 2011, among the changes implemented the following spring was a more structured approach to the so-called voluntary offseason workouts. Not only did it mean a later start to the offseason program than in prior years, but also stricter rules on what teams could ask players to do.