As camp approaches, how will NFL handle players opting out?

The 60-game mini-season Major League Baseball assembled this summer was still long enough that a dozen or so health-concerned players, even a few stars, decided to skip it.

The NFL's player pool is more than twice as big as MLB's, groomed for fundamental extreme-contact activities of blocking, tackling and covering that are as inherently ripe for virus spread as any in sports. If the 2020 season can get off the ground this fall amid the global paralysis of the COVID-19 pandemic, players opting out will be a sure bet.

For those who choose to sideline themselves with a medically approved high-risk condition, will they continue to receive their salary and benefits and accrue a season toward free agency eligibility? Who will sign off on the categories and the diagnosis?

As with the rest of society in the fight against this unseen, fierce and unprecedented foe, the list of questions is far longer than the answer key.

“I just pray that everybody can be safe. A lot of people have families. People have kids,” Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry said.

With the targeted July 28 start for training camp for most teams fast approaching, the owners and the players have a lot of health-related protocols to establish so this precarious season can even kick off. Testing frequency is at the top of the list. The practice schedule and necessity of exhibition games are also major points of negotiation. Then there's the issue of opt-out clauses.

One potential point of lingering contention between the league and the NFL Players Association is whether COVID-19 will be categorized as a “non-football injury." Players on the reserve non-football injury list are not required to be paid.

In baseball, high-risk individuals were allowed to opt out with pay. San Francisco Giants...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/As-camp-approaches-how-will-NFL-handle-players-15417291.php