Patriots become 5th NFL team to skip offseason workouts

The New England Patriots are the latest team who plans to skip out on offseason workouts.

On Wednesday afternoon, the New England Patriots become the fifth NFL team that will not take part in in-person voluntary organized team activities this offseason.

The Patriots join the Denver Broncos, the Seattle Seahawks, the Detroit Lions and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in this decision. Given that the Patriots had by far and away the most amount of players who opted out of the 2020 NFL season, their decision to not take part in voluntary OTAs in-person comes as a surprise to absolutely no one. Expect even more teams to follow suit here.

Here is the Patriots’ official statement on the matter by way of the NFLPA.

New England Patriots will not take part in voluntary OTAs this offseason

While the world is getting on its way to getting back to normal, the NFL and its players are at a crossroads when it comes to this part of the offseason program. Last offseason was done entirely virtual out of necessity. Though it is understandable for the teams to want to do more work in-person this year, anything besides being required to be at the team facility will be scoffed at.

As with the Seahawks, the Patriots’ decision to go in this direction is not the least bit shocking. Seattle has a culture built on being incredibly outspoken under head coach Pete Carroll. While the Patriots mantra of “do your job!” echoes firmly out of Foxborough, no organization had more opt-outs than New England a season ago. The precedent for taking the virus seriously has been set.

The Patriots becoming the fifth team to not take part in voluntary OTAs means more are coming.