Adam Schefter tweeted something today that seemed to confuse many of his followers. The man who has broken news time and time again, providing us with new information on the daily and getting to the NFL scene before many other reporters, seemingly stated the obvious. There’s no official announcement, and discussions are ongoing, but multiple people expect that the next time NFL players show up at teams’ training facilities will be for training camp, whenever that begins, per sources.— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 3, 2020It’s okay if you’re like the many followers who were confused. And given the headline of this article, it may not seem immediately obvious why I mention it even if you do understand the implications of the tweet, so bear with me. The first reason this isn't an obvious statement is because NFL players haven’t been able to enter team facilities due to the pandemic for a prolonged period of time. This isn’t normal. The Giants and Jets literally just reopened their facilities on Wednesday, according to NFL writer Nick Shook, but not for players or practices. And that’s the other thing that’s important to know about Schefter’s tweet. His tweet implies that there may be no OTAs or minicamps. The Jets have already announced that they’re not going to hold a mandatory minicamp, even if it’s allowed (via Darryl Slater of NJ Advanced Media). Coronavirus is scaring people off, for good reason, and it’s drastically changing the way things will be done. Former NFL general manager Michael Lombardi views Schefter’s tweet and the various developments around the league as a scary sign for things to come, especially when money comes into the equation. All this limited travel dictates that the league is "tightening up", as Lombardi framed it, and this could translate into playing without fans. And playing without any fans leads to a major decline in league revenue. Teams like the Cowboys and the Patriots would lose a massive amount of income without any fans. Though this is all hypothetical for now, Lombardi doesn’t see league finances, especially the salary cap, as an exception to what the NFL will need to “tighten up” for the 2020 season and beyond. Schefter had already strongly hinted that the salary cap could take a massive hit in 2021 due to the absence of fans and the subsequent lack of any stadium revenue. Based on various estimates, he shared on his podcast and on the My Sports Update podcast that the figure could be anywhere from a $30 million to an $80 million cap hit across the league. Lombardi fears the worst if this is the case. “This salary cap issue that’s going on, because of the lost revenue, it could be a huge shortfall and I think it’s going to take some time to get it back,” Lombardi said on the latest episode of The GM Shuffle, available as part of RADIO.COM's vast selection of podcasts. “I think that what we’re headed for next offseason is a huge, huge problem because if Schefter is right… the cap will go down. “This is going to cause complete panic. This is going to have an unemployment rate in the NFL of quality players beyond anything you’ve ever seen [sic].” Lombardi pointed to the Eagles as an example. Under normal circumstances, they’re already in a dicey situation, as the team’s current payroll puts them $50.7 million over the salary cap in 2021. But Lombardi suggests that you could cut ties with aging receivers DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery after the season, and Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap explained that restructuring some of the team’s larger contracts, such as Carson Wentz’s, could easily free up the space needed. No problem, right? Wrong. These aren't normal circumstances, and Lombardi puts us in the worst case scenario, which takes into account the $30 to $80 million extra that could be decreased from the league salary cap. “If you’ve got to cut [$50 million) plus another 70, you’ve got to cut $120 million off your cap,” Lombardi said. “Good luck. They’re not going to have a team, and you could say, ‘well the owners need to make concessions.’ No, because the owners and the players are partners in this. How do you make a concession when it’s your partner?” So, what, are the Eagles just going to vanish? I sure hope not as a Philadelphia native. But it goes back to Lombardi’s previous point of seeing an especially high unemployment rate for quality players. A team like the Eagles can restructure contracts in all the fancy ways they want, but $120 million is a monster that’s going to be tough to take down. You could see guys who are fully deserving of jobs under normal circumstances getting released because the money just isn’t there. Lombardi turns to the Rams as the next example, seeing as they’ve already moved a significant chunk of Todd Gurley’s dead cap into their 2021 payroll. “Say [the cap] is $80 million less than it was this year,” Lombardi said. “You can forget Andrew Whitworth, you can forget Leonard Floyd, you can forget (A’Shawn) Robinson and (Rob) Havenstein and (Michael) Brockers. You can forget them all.” Getting released for financial purposes is harsh reality of the NFL, sometimes necessary even without an unprecedented drop off in the salary cap. Now, especially, these cuts could come frequently, which is what Lombardi fears for teams like the Rams. “It only does you good to trim the guys who have some meat on the bone,” Lombardi said. “The Rams are just going to keep going from bad to bad to bad. What’s going to be left is (Jared) Goff, (Aaron) Donald and a bunch of rookies.” And that doesn’t even get into the problem of teams looking to sign long-term deals or extensions with stars. Three eminent quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, and Dak Prescott, all face these contractual concerns with varying levels of urgency. Lombardi finds the situation with all three of those guys “very complex” and thinks it will largely be a strategic war between the players’ respective agents. While MLB has stolen the show during this extended offseason as the league most affected financially -- MLB insider Jon Heyman says that the owners' latest proposal would result in an ‘absolute war’ with the players -- Lombardi’s gloomy outlook shouldn’t leave football fans feeling much better. “I think we’re headed into the abyss,” Lombardi said. “I think it’s going to be apocalyptic in terms of where this league is going. “Someone is going to pay a price for not having fans in the stands and it’s not going to be the owners. It’s going to be their partners (the players), and I don’t think people understand that.” LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COM SportsTwitter | Facebook I Instagram

As talks progress about the potential 2020 MLB season, the league may soon have some precedent on how to deal with a potential in-season outbreak of COVID-19 courtesy of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. Kyodo News reports that the Yomiuri Giants called off a scheduled NPB preseason game against the Seibu Lions on Wednesday after two players, catcher Takumi Oshiro and shortstop Hayato Sakamoto, tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Polymerase Chain Reaction tests administered following the two teams’ first exhibition game on Tuesday. Oshiro and Sakamoto were reportedly two of four Giants to test positive for coronavirus antibodies in tests administered last week – the group comprising the first players to test positive since three Hanshin Tigers players did so back in late-March – so they were given PCR tests following Tuesday’s game. Both players have been hospitalized to be re-tested, but according to the team, they showed only traces of the virus and have both been asymptomatic. The Giants plan to test anyone who came into contact with Oshiro or Sakamoto on Thursday morning, but a league medical advisor believes they pose a low infection risk to the rest of the team. "The two players had recovered from their infections, and it appears a significant amount of time had passed,” epidemiologist Mitsuo Kaku, who has advised both NPB and J-League soccer on COVID-related matters, told Kyodo News. "For that reason it appears there is not a high risk they would expose others around them." Perhaps even better news: the Seibu Lions do not plan to test their players, and NPB secretary general Atsushi Ihara said that, “under the circumstances, I don't think this will have any effect on us." NPB began its preseason schedule on Tuesday after deciding last week to play an abbreviated 120-game season beginning behind closed doors on June 19. LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COM SportsTwitter | Facebook I Instagram

With Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association negotiating return-to-play scenarios, an 82-game season, a 114-game season, and a 50-game season have reportedly been floated. Of those three, which is most likely? Or is at least closest to what the final number will be? “I think the 82 games will be [closest],” MLB Network insider Jon Heyman said on Tiki & Tierney. “That said, I don’t think that sliding scale is going to work. I do think that concept makes some sense, but the pay cuts were just way too drastic for the players. I think they need to negotiate that.” As for the 50-game scenario, Heyman doesn’t put much stock in it. “The 50 games, I think, is a negotiating tactic,” he said. “Just saying we can start at 40 or 50 games, that would result in an absolute war. The players obviously do not want to come back and play for less than one-third of their pay if it’s 50 games. I just don’t think he would do that. I think Rob Manfred is understanding that he needs the players, he needs to work with the players, the players are the game, and they need to work it out.” Manfred, 62, has at least one thing going for him: he has worked for MLB for over 20 years, and there has never been a work stoppage on his watch. “I think his track record suggests they will get it done,” Heyman said. “The owners may not be thrilled. In the end, they’re going to lose money. If they cancel the season, they’re going to lose a ton of money. If they play and pay [the players] a reasonable rate, they’re still going to lose a lot of money. But for the good of the game, I think most of them understand that they need to play.” While some owners are reportedly open to canceling the 2020 season, Heyman believes that is a small minority. “I bet there’s one or two or three that feel that way, but it would take eight to feel that way for the season to end,” he said. “I do think the vast majority of owners want to play and they have to know they’re going to lose money either way. That’s just the way it goes. It’s a pandemic. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, hopefully.” Ultimately, Heyman believes there will be baseball in 2020. “I believe they will figure it out – someway, somehow – because they know the alternative is terrible for the game,” he said. “You got to play, and they understand that. That said, we know there hasn’t been any progress to this point, and that’s a little disappointing.” LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COM SportsTwitter | Facebook I Instagram

Pedro Martinez has never been shy when it came to offering his opinions. You also won't find too many people who are more passionate about the game of baseball. So when Martinez made his feelings clear regarding the importance of getting the Major League Baseball players back on the field when appearing on NBC Sports Network's "Lunch Talk Live" with Mike Tirico it shouldn't have come as a surprise. Martinez's message to the owners and the players: Figure it out. "I'm hoping that both sides actually stop thinking about their own good and start thinking about the fans," Martinez said. "I think this is a perfect time to have their baseball teams out there and try to have the people forget a little bit about what's going on. It's not only the pandemic, it's everything that's going on. People need something to actually do and find a way to relax. I hope that the Players' Association and MLB realize how important it is to bring some sort of relief to people." While there was seemingly some movement toward a compromise between the two sides Monday, there remains the pessimism that comes with back-and-forth haggling over finances. Martinez has lived in that world. But he also sees the big picture damage that prolonged bickering will do to his sport. "The economics is the dark part of baseball. The business part of baseball is dirty. It's dark," Martinez said. "And I hope that they take into consideration who pays our salaries, what the people do for us, how important the people are, and forget about or at least bend your arm a little bit to find a middle ground for the negotiations."  

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