Yahoo! Sports - NFL - Bears/NFL 2005 Offseason Schedule

Yahoo! Sports - NFL - Bears/NFL 2005 Offseason Schedule: "A look at the major events happening in the world of the NFL and the Bears during the offseason"

2005 OFFSEASON SCHEDULE

Feb. 6 Super Bowl
Super Bowl XXXIX, Jacksonville, Fla. (FOX).

Feb. 13 Pro Bowl
AFC-NFC Pro Bowl, Honolulu, Hawaii (ESPN)

Feb. 11 NFL Europe Allocation
NFL Europe League NFL Allocated Player Draft.

Feb. 23-March 1 Scouting Combine, Indianapolis, Ind.
Coaches, scouts and other personnel evaluators analyze NFL prospects.

Feb. 22 Franchise and Transition Player Designation Date
Deadline for clubs to designate franchise and transition players.Clubs that execute a multi-year contract with their franchise players will not be deemed to have used their franchise designation for 2005.

Feb. 25 NFL Europe Camps
NFL Europe League training camps open, Tampa, Fla.

March 1 Minimum Salary Offer
Deadline for clubs to make minimum salary offer to retain exclusive negotiating rights for players with fewer than three years of free agency credit whose contracts have expired.

Contracts Expire
Expiration date of all player contracts due to expire in 2005.

Qualifying Offer Deadline
Deadline for submission of qualifying offers to restricted free agents whose contracts have expired and to whom they desire to retain a right of first refusal.

March 2 Free-Agent Signings
Veteran free-agency signing period begins.

Trading Period
Trading period begins.

March 20-23 NFL Annual Meeting
NFL owners meeting in Maui, Hawaii.

Late March/
Early April NFL Schedule Announced
Full NFL and Bears schedule announced shortly after owners meeting. Exact date TBD.

April 2 NFL Europe Begins
NFL Europe League's opening weekend.

April 15 RFA Signing Deadline
Signing period ends for restricted free agents.

April 22 First-Refusal Deadline
Deadline for old club to exercise right of first refusal to restricted free agents.

April 23-24 NFL Draft
Annual player selection meeting, New York.

April 29-May 1 Bears Minicamp
Tentative dates for the first official minicamp for Bears. Closed to the public.

May 25-26 Spring Meeting
NFL spring meeting, Jacksonville, Fla.

June 1 Qualifying Offers
Deadline for old club to send tender to its unsigned restricted free agents or extend qualifying offer to retain exclusive negotiating rights.

Tenders to UFAs
Deadline for old club to send tender to its unsigned unrestricted free agents to receive exclusive negotiating rights for the rest of the season if player is not signed by another club by July 22.

June 4 NFL Europe Ends
NFL Europe League's last weekend of the regular season.

June 11 World Bowl
World Bowl XIII, LTU Arena, Dusseldorf, Germany.

June 15 Qualifying Offer Withdrawls
Deadline for old clubs to withdraw original qualifying offer to unsigned restricted free agents and still retain exclusive negotiating rights by substituting tender of 110 percent of previous year's salary.

July 22 Tendered UFA Signing Ends
Signing period ends at 4 p.m. ET for unrestricted free agents who received June 1 tender.

Some dates tenative and subject to change.

- Slim Tim