49ers offseason calendar: 2014 OTAs, minicamp dates set

The San Francisco 49ers have announced the next important set of dates for the 2014 offseason. The team announced this morning their schedule for OTAs and mandatory minicamp. The schedule is set up as follows:

OTAs: May 27-29, June 2-3, June 5, June 9-10, June 12-13

Mandatory Minicamp: June 17-19

OTAs and minicamp are all part of the broader offseason workout program. I've posted the CBA breakdown of all that down below. The offseason workout program actually begins April 21, and builds up to the OTAs and minicamp. The program is broken into three phases:

Phase 1: Two weeks of strength and conditioning work, as well as rehabilitation work for injured players
Phase 2: Three weeks of individual player instruction and team practice, but no live contact or offense vs. defense drills
Phase 3: Four weeks including the OTAs and mandatory minicamp. No live contact, but you can have various unit vs. unit drills

There will likely be some players who stay away from much of the offseason workout program, electing instead to work out at home. Jonathan Goodwin and Tarell Brown did that last year, which also led to Brown's contract issue with his salary de-escalation.

2014 draft picks can begin to take part once their school has held graduation. For many schools that is not a huge deal, but for those on the quarter system, it can lead to delays. I recall some Pac-12 schools dealt with the quarter system, and that led to LaMichael James being unable to attend any of the offseason workout program his rookie year.

ARTICLE 21
Section 2
(i) Phase One. Phase One shall consist of the first two weeks of the Club's offseason workout program. Subject to the additional rules set forth in Section 5 of this Article, Phase One activities shall be limited to strength and conditioning and physical rehabilitation only. During Phase One, only full time or part-time strength and conditioning coaches, who have no other coaching responsibilities with the Club, shall be allowed on the field; no other coaches shall be allowed on the field or to otherwise par­ticipate in or observe activities. No footballs shall be permitted to be used (only "dead ball" activities), except that quarterbacks may elect to throw to receivers provided they are not covered by any other player. Players cannot wear helmets during Phase One.

(ii) Phase Two. Phase Two shall consist of the next three weeks of the Club's offseason workout program. Subject to the additional rules set forth in Section 5 of this Article, during Phase Two all coaches shall be allowed on the field. On-field wor­kouts may include individual player instruction and drills, as well as "perfect play" drills (e.g., offense or defense only, but not offense vs. defense), or special teams drills on a "separates" basis (e.g.., kicking team or return team only, but not kicking team vs. return team). No live contact or team offense vs. team defense drills are permitted. No offense vs. defense drills are permitted (e.g.., no one-on-one offensive linemen vs. defensive linemen pass rush or pass protection drills, no wide receivers vs. defensive backs bump­ and-run drills, and no one-on-one special teams drills involving both offense and defense are permitted.) Players cannot wear helmets during Phase Two.

(iii) Phase Three. Phase Three shall consist of the next four weeks of the Club's offseason workout program. Subject to the additional rules set forth in Subsec­ tions 5(a) and 5(c) of this Article and Appendix G to this Agreement, during Phase Three each Club may conduct a total of ten days of organized team practice activity ("OTAs" or "OTA days"). The restrictions set forth in Subsection 5(b) of this Article shall not apply to OTA days. The Club may conduct a maximum of three days of OTAs during each of the first two weeks of Phase Three. A maximum of four days of OTAs may be conducted during either the third week or the fourth week of Phase Three, with the Mandatory Veteran Minicamp (Article 22, Section 2) to be held during the other week. During weeks in which the Club conducts only three days of OTAs, the Club may also conduct a fourth day of non-OTA workouts, but such activities shall be subject to the rules governing Phase Two workouts, as set forth in Subsection 2(b)(ii) of this Ar­ ticle. During Phase Three, all coaches shall be allowed on the field. No live contact is permitted. No one-on-one offense vs. defense drills are permitted (i.e., no offensive linemen vs. defensive linemen pass rush or pass protection drills, no wide receivers vs. defensive backs bump-and-run drills, and no one-on-one special teams drills involving both offense and defense are permitted). Special teams drills (e.g., kicking team vs. return team) are permitted, provided no live contact occurs. Team offense vs. team defense drills, including all drills listed in Appendix G to this Agreement, are permitted, provided no live contact occurs. Clubs may require players to wear helmets; no shells are permit­ ted during Phase Three of the Club's offseason workout program or any minicamp.