Bengals face critical offseason dates to know in July

The Cincinnati Bengals have some important dates for fans to know as the calendar turns to July.

Both the NFL and Bengals issued the following key dates for July:

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• July 15 (4 p.m. ET) — Deadline for franchise-tagged players to sign multi-year extensions.
• Mid-July — Preseason training camp for rookies can begin seven days before mandatory report dates for veterans.
• Mid-July — Veteran quarterbacks and injured players can report no earlier than five days before mandatory report dates for veterans.

That first date is obviously most important for the Bengals. Tee Higgins signed his franchise tag earlier than expected, signaling he’ll be at training camp. But so far, there hasn’t been much in the way of rumblings that the early signature means a long-term extension might happen before July 15.

Otherwise, these are standard dates, with the first training camp practice open to the public occurring on Monday, July 29.