Battle Red Blog
Almost time to get back to work...
As fans count the minutes for next week’s NFL Draft, all 32 franchises are preparing for the off-season workout and training programs. OTAs and minicamps (for both rookies and veterans) mark the 1st opportunity the coaching staffs have to teach their 2025 playbooks to the team. And your Houston Texans have a lot of work to do.
With a new offensive coordinator in Nick Calley, a reshuffled offensive line coached by Cole Popovich and a handful of new players, there’s a lot of work to do between now and September 4th. And that’s just one facet of the team.
NFL Communications
NEW YORK — April 3, 2025 — Voluntary offseason workout programs are intended to provide training, teaching and physical conditioning for players. The calendar for 2025 is below.
As per Article 21 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, each club’s official, voluntary nine-week offseason program is conducted in three phases:
Phase One consists of the first two weeks of the program with activities limited to meetings, strength and conditioning, and physical rehabilitation only.
Phase Two consists of the next three weeks of the program. On-field workouts may include individual or group instruction and drills, as well as “perfect play drills,” and drills and plays with offensive players lining up across from offensive players and defensive players lining up across from defensive players, conducted at a walk-through pace. No live contact or team offense vs. team defense drills are permitted.
Phase Three consists of the next four weeks of the program. Teams may conduct a total of 10 days of organized team practice activity, or “OTAs”. No live contact is permitted, but 7-on-7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 drills are permitted.
Article 22 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement stipulates that clubs may hold one mandatoryminicamp for veteran players. This minicamp, noted below, must occur during Phase Three of the offseason program.
New head coaches are entitled to conduct an additional voluntary veteran minicamp. Any voluntary minicamp for veteran players must be conducted prior to the NFL Draft (April 24-26), but no earlier than week three of the club’s offseason workout program and after at least one week of the two weeks of Phase One activities that the clubs may hold pursuant to Article 21. This year, five clubs will hold voluntary veteran minicamps, as noted below.
Each club may hold a rookie football development program for a period of seven weeks, which in 2025 may begin on May 12. During this period, no activities may be held on weekends, with the exception of one post-Draft rookie minicamp, which may be conducted on either the first or second weekend following the draft. The dates of each club’s post-draft rookie minicamps will be circulated at a later date
First Day: April 21
OTA Offseason Workouts: May 28-30, June 2-3, June 5
Mandatory Minicamp: June 10-11
Soon...
