49ers players: Many will skip offseason workouts over COVID

The 49ers’ players joined a chorus Saturday from around the professional football world, announcing through the NFL Players Association that many of them won’t be involved in the team’s voluntary offseason program.

The Niners’ players cited the coronavirus pandemic as a reason to hold a virtual offseason rather than in-person workouts this spring and summer.

“We are apprehensive about taking avoidable risks in the spring as we prepare to perform at the highest level in the fall,” the statement read, adding “[M]any in our locker room have chosen not to attend some or all phases of the voluntary in-person workouts.”

The Denver Broncos’ players were the first group to release such a statement, but now half of the NFL’s teams — including the Raiders — have seen their players announce plans to skip workouts that are voluntary by name, but carry the expectation of attendance.

“I think what a lot of players have said that they’ve heard from their coaches is that they need to show up,” NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith told ESPN on Saturday. “We’ve known for years that this is a voluntary workout where a lot of coaches put their finger on the scale and, while they call it voluntary, they expect players to show up.

“I think that what you’re seeing now is for the first time players exercising their voice … to say ‘no.’ And frankly it’s probably one of the few times that coaches have ever heard players say ‘no.’ And for some players, it’s probably the first time they’ve said ‘no’ to their coach.”

Last offseason’s program was entirely virtual as it was still the early months of the pandemic. It was also last offseason that saw a new collective bargaining agreement, giving the league the right to add a 17th game to the season, which it will do this fall.

A statement from the San Francisco 49ers players: pic.twitter.com/Z68yByOgdc

— NFLPA (@NFLPA) April 17, 2021

The league reportedly sent a memo this week to teams saying that the first four weeks of the voluntary offseason — which starts Monday — would be virtual, then teams would transition to in-person work.

The NFL also strongly encouraged players this week to get vaccinated and issued a mandate that staffers must have “bona fide medical or religious grounds” for opting not to receive the COVID vaccine, otherwise they won’t be allowed to enter football-only areas.

The 49ers’ statement noted that the players remain dedicated to “our club, our teammates and our community. Those of us who prepare elsewhere will hold ourselves to our club’s high standards.”

The 49ers’ statement and others like it have not said all players will skip the offseason program. Some players have financial incentives in their contracts tied to attendance at offseason activities.