Though it’s a holiday weekend for some, it’s a working weekend for the rookies of four NFL teams.
The Cardinals, Dolphins and 49ers kick off their rookie minicamps on Friday, with the Chiefs commencing their rookie workouts on Saturday. The practices will span three days for all four clubs.
According to the collective bargaining agreement between NFL owners and players, minicamp practices are non-contact workouts. Though players can wear helmets, they cannot wear pads.
The rookie workouts are a chance for teams to put their first-year players through the paces before vaulting into the teeth of the offseason workout program, with the bulk of organized team activities (OTAs) to come for all teams and 31-of-32 clubs to hold a mandatory minicamp later in the offseason.