A lot of you have been asking what the difference is between minicamp and OTA’s. The answer is not much. But the difference that exist are important.
For the players, OTA’s are voluntary while minicamp is the one event of the entire offseason that is mandatory. If a players misses the first day it costs him $10,000. Missing the second day will cause his check to get docked an additional $20,000. If the player’s vacation continues into Day 3 he had better be having a good time since that one day off will reduce his check by $30,000. Doing the math, that’s 60 grand for a three-day vacation. Needless to say, most players show up.
The days are longer and a bit more intense during minicamp. It’s the final look before training camp, the last chance for the players, about 50 of them, who are on the bubble when it comes to making the team to make a good impression. They want to have the coaches remember them fondly during the 40-day break between the end of minicamp on Thursday and the start of training camp on about July 26 (the exact training camp schedule has yet to be announced).
Minicamp is more like training camp for the media in that we can attend all three practices. Only one OTA per week is open to us. Going for three straight days gives us the opportunity to look beyond the headline players (although RG3 will still be under the microscope) and see how some of the other players are doing.
If you have any players you’d like to me keep an eye on over the next few days, let me know via email or on Twitter @Rich_Tandler.
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