Owners will consider resolution for NFL players to participate in 2028 Olympics

We might soon find out if active NFL players will participate in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

The NFL announced on Thursday that next week at the spring league meeting, owners will consider a resolution allowing for the league’s athletes to play flag football during the event in Los Angeles in a few years.

While the resolution allows for a player under contract to try out for an Olympic flag football team, it limits the participation to no more than one player from the roster of each club for each team participating. The exception would be for each team’s designated international player to play for his own country.

The resolution also provides injury protection and a salary cap credit for a player who’s injured while participating in the Olympics, as well as an agreement that there will be standards for medical staff and field surfaces. It also notes that the schedule for Olympic flag football games and events shouldn’t unreasonably conflict with a player’s NFL and team commitments.

While there has been some stated player interest, it’s unclear if owners will feel incentivized enough to allow active players to participate in the event on the world stage. The 2028 Olympics are scheduled to run from July 14 to July 30, making it reasonable to think that the training camp conflict for that season would be minimal, if not non-existent.

We’ll see what the owners decide at next week’s meeting in Minnesota.