[Burt the Butcher]

Based on the rules - Not sure why its not more straight forward - I guess that is where you come in John ;-)
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The deadline for the announcement of the length of the contracts of players picked up in free agency or the rookie draft will be August 15th each year by midnight (the night before the start of the In-Season Free Agency period which begins on August 16 each NFL season). No player can be traded unless his contract years are declared BEFORE the trade is announced.
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The In-Season Free Agency period begins at 12:00am ET the same evening the Off Season UFA period ends
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Monday August 29 at 11:59pm - this will be a flexible date each year that basically commences the day after the 3rd pre-season games end (4th for the few teams that play 5). This will be approximately 7-10 days before the NFL regular season kicks off - 2005 Off-Season Free Agency ENDS

Tuesday August 30 (flexible date to be the day after contracts and DS are declared) - opening of 2005 In-Season Free Agency

So taking all this into account, the 3rd pre-season week ends Sunday August 29th, Contract Declarations are due by Midnight Eastern, Sunday August 29th