New Orleans Saints players begin Offseason Workout Program

New Orleans Saints players began their voluntary offseason workout program Monday.

The programs are intended to provide training, teaching and physical conditioning for players.

As per Article 21 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, each club's official, voluntary nine-week offseason program is conducted in three phases:

Phase One consists of the first two weeks of the program with activities limited to strength and conditioning and physical rehabilitation only.

Phase Two consists of the next three weeks of the program.  On-field workouts may include individual player instruction and drills as well as team practice conducted on a "separates" basis.  No live contact or team offense vs. team defense drills are permitted.

Phase Three consists of the next four weeks of the program.  Teams may conduct a total of 10 days of organized team practice activity, or "OTAs".  No live contact is permitted, but 7-on-7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 drills are permitted.

Article 22 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement stipulates that clubs may hold one mandatory minicamp for veteran players.  This minicamp, noted below, must occur during Phase Three of the offseason program.  Head coaches hired after the end of the 2013 season are also entitled to conduct an additional voluntary veteran minicamp.

Each club may hold a rookie football development program for a period of seven weeks, which in 2014 may begin on May 12.  

During this period, no activities may be held on weekends, with the exception of one post-NFL Draft rookie minicamp, which may be conducted on either the first or second weekend following the draft.  The dates of the post-draft rookie minicamps will be circulated at a later date.

Below is a collection of tweets from Saints players about starting offseason workouts:

What you put in, is what you will get out! Great 1st day of work, with the fellows. #grinding #whodat #letsgetachampionship — Curtis Lofton (@CurtisLofton50) April 21, 2014

Great 1st day of work today! #WhoDat — Terron Armstead (@T_Armstead72) April 21, 2014

1st workout was great today back with Da Team...time 2 go train @ Da #BOOM — SACKMAN (@JuniorG93) April 21, 2014

Gettin back to the grind today... #whodatnation first day back liftin lets get it today http://t.co/o7laQNesNg — cameron jordan (@camjordan94) April 21, 2014

First day of @Saints off-season, Excited to meet my new teammates and prepare for the 2014 season #WhoDat — Thomas Morstead (@thomasmorstead) April 21, 2014

First day back at the office for the 2014 season. Let's get it started! #WhoDat — Benjamin Watson (@BenjaminSWatson) April 21, 2014