NFL Moves Free Agency Deadline To May 12th

The NFL is still making changes on this year and its seems will continue to until the start of the season. The competition committee has made a change to the free agency deadline. THey have moved it up from June 1st to May 12th.

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The move brings the end of free agency to just a week and a half after the NFL draft. In the past, the June 1st deadline has been used primarily for teams that are in cap trouble and are looking to cut veteran players for some cap relief. What this does is it will allow for half or more of the cap hit to be used in the following year.

A couple of years ago, the NFL added to the deadline, allowing teams to cut up to 2 veteran players with a June 1st designation. But recently, there has not been a need for teams to really looking into the cap relief program and designate players for the June 1st deadline.

It has turned into a different type of deadline rather than for cap relief. The June 1st deadline, or now the May 12th deadline, has had its significance still be for compensatory picks. Players that are signed after the deadline are not counted against the formula for the compensatory picks that teams will receive in the following year.

This does also count for players that are released as well, after the deadline, it will not be counted into the formula to determine what teams will receive the coveted compensatory picks.

"The shift gives free agents more of an opportunity to participate in the offseason program. It also gives teams reason to wait on adding some of the currently available free agents, in order to avoid reducing their potential haul of compensatory picks.PFT.com"

The Buffalo Bills are set to possible be in the mix, for next year to receive compensatory picks and we might see some additional action, to fill some depth spots after the draft occurs, if they don’t get the depth that they want during the draft. Either way, it won’t affect their chance for those compensatory picks.

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