While tremendous progress has been made in the United States with vaccines, we are still in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and the more transmissible Delta variant may yet have an impact throughout the country (particularly in regions with lower vaccination rates).
With the NFL preseason less than two months away, the league has confirmed that players can still voluntarily opt out of this season for COVID-related concerns. Contracts will toll over into next season as was the case in 2020. What’s different this year is that voluntary opt outs will no longer receive a stipend.