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Let the countdown begin!
The Pittsburgh Steelers are back for the nextt step of the 2023 NFL offseason with the start of Phase III of offseason workouts which consists of OTAs. With even more offseason events sprinkled over the next several months, we can officially count down the number of days to key offseason dates.
1 day: OTAs (Phase III)
OTAs are scheduled to begin tomorrow, Tuesday, May 23, 2023. There is no live contact allowed, but teams can do 11-on-11 drills. The 10 days have already been announced by the Steelers and are as follows:
Tuesday, May 23 – OTA #1
Wednesday, May 24 – OTA #2
Thursday, May 25 – OTA #3
Tuesday, May 30 – OTA #4
Wednesday, May 31 – OTA #5
Thursday, June 1 – OTA #6
Monday, June 5 – OTA #7
Tuesday, June 6 – OTA #8
Wednesday, June 7 – OTA #9
Thursday, June 8 – OTA #10
22 days: Mandatory Minicamp (Phase III)
Mandatory Minicamp is set to begin on Tuesday, June 13, 2023. Much like OTAs, there is no live contact allowed, but teams can do 11-on-11 drills. It should be noted that the Steelers cancelled the Mandatory Minicamp portion of Phase III last offseason because they had so much participation in OTAs they claimed to have got in all the work. The 3 days of Mandatory Minicamp have already been announced by the Steelers and are as follows:
Tuesday, June 13– Day 1
Wednesday, June 14 – Day 2
Thursday, June 15 – Day 3
56 days: Franchise Tag Signing
In past seasons, any player who was designated with a franchise tag must have a signed contract by 4 PM on July 15. Since the usual date of July 15 is a Saturday, the date was pushed back to the next Monday, June 17. After this date, the player can only play under the tag for the season.
~65 days: Training Camp
Although the Steelers have not officially announced the start date of training camp, they generally report the middle of the final week of July. With the Steelers not playing in the Hall of Fame Game, the fist day of training camp will not be earlier than the rest of the NFL and looks to be about July 26, 2023.
73 days: Hall of Fame Game
This date won’t be as significant to the Steelers for 2023 as they are not playing in the Hall of Fame Game, which kicks off the weekend on Thursday August 3, 2023 featuring the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns. The Hall of Fame activities will be over the course of the weekend from the game Thursday through Sunday with the 2023 enshrinement scheduled for Saturday.
81 days: First Week of Preseason Game
The first weekend with a full slate of NFL preseason games will occur the second weekend in August. With the first game sets to be on Thursday night, the Steelers travel to Tampa Bay to face the Buccaneers on Friday, August 11, 2023. There will also be other NFL preseason games on Saturday as well as one game on Sunday.
89 days: Home Preseason Game
With the Steelers having nine home contests this season, they only have one preseason game for 2023. On Saturday, August 19, 2023, the Steelers will face the Buffalo Bills at 6:30 PM at Acrisure Stadium in the first contest before their home crowd of the 2023 season.
94 days: Last Preseason Game
Although steelers.com has the day and time TBD for the Steelers final preseason game, the Atlanta Falcons website has the game scheduled for Thursday, August 24, 2023 at 7:30 PM. With the Steelers playing their final preseason game on Thursday, they will have even more of an extended time to prepare for their Week 1 matchup.
99 days: 53-man Rosters
This season the NFL is returning to having one roster cut down day on Tuesday following the final preseason games. The official date is Tuesday, August 29, 2023 where as many as 1,184 players will be released assuming all teams are still at the 90-man limit.
108 days: NFL Kickoff Game
Thursday, September 7, 2023 will be the first game of the NFL season. The game will be played in Kansas City in the home of the previous Super Bowl champion as is the recent tradition outside of a scheduling conflict or additional celebration. The Chiefs will be hosting the Detroit Lions.
111 days: Steelers Week 1 game
The Steelers are opening at home for the first time since the 2014 season. The Steelers will face the San Francisco 49ers at 1 PM on Sunday, September 10, 2023, at Acrisure stadium.
215 days: Steelers home finale
With the Steelers opening this season with two home games, they finish on the road the final two weeks of the 2023 season. For this reason, the Steelers final home matchup for the regular season comes two days before Christmas on Saturday, December 23, 2023 at 4:30 PM against the Cincinnati Bengals.
229-230 days: Steelers final 2023 regular season game
The steelers finish up their regular season schedule in Baltimore on either Saturday, January 6 or Sunday, January 7. The exact day and time of the game will be determined by the NFL a week before games are to be played in order to have games affected by the outcome of others happening at the same time as much as possible.
265 days: Super Bowl LVIII
Super Bowl LVIII is scheduled to be played on February 11, 2024 at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada.
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