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2013 NFL League Calendar: Franchise tag, combine, free agency and more

USA TODAY Sports

The NFL offseason is about to officially begin with the franchise tag period opening up on February 18th, which means teams can apply the franchise tag to players they deem worthwhile. It also means many more offseason events are on the horizon, so here is the current schedule of the important dates going forward.

NFL Scouting / Regional Combines

Many think of just the NFL Combine, but there are actually many other smaller regional combines for players who weren't able to participate in the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.

Date Location Facility
February 9-10 Los Angeles Orange Coast College-Lebard Stadium
February 16-17 Houston Methodist Training Center
February 17 Cleveland Cleveland Browns Training Facility
February 20-26 Indianapolis Lucas Oil Stadium (NFL COMBINE)
March 2-3 New York/New Jersey Atlantic Health Jets Training Facility
March 9 Tampa Bay One Buccaneer Place
March 10 Chicago Walter Payton Center
March 16-17 Atlanta Atlanta Falcons Training Facility
March 23-24 Seattle Virginia Mason Athletic Center
March 23-24 Baltimore Under Armour Performance Center
April 6-8 Dallas Cowboys Stadium (SUPER REGIONAL)

Franchise Tag, Free Agency, and NFL Draft Dates

Here are some other important league dates (for the year 2013) to be aware of:

  • February 18th: Teams can begin applying the franchise tag to players on their team.
  • March 4th: The final day to declare a franchise player.
  • March 9th - March 11th: Teams can begin entering contract negotiations with players who will be unrestricted free agents. Qualifying offers to restricted free agents who the team wants to retain should also be made during this stretch. This is the first season win which teams will be allowed a 3-day negotiating window with unrestricted free agents from other teams, though a contract cannot be signed or submitted to the league until the start of free agency.
  • March 12th: At 4:00 PM ET, free agency officially begins, and teams may begin signing players or trading players who are still under contract. Additionally, all teams must be under the salary cap at this time.
  • March 17th - March 20th: Annual League Meeting, Phoenix, AZ
  • April 25th - April 27th: NFL Draft, New York City, NY
  • May 20th - May 22nd: NFL Spring League Meeting, Boston, MA