The Chicago Bears are taking full advantage of the terms of the NFL's collective bargaining agreement which states teams with a new head coach can begin offseason workouts on April 1.

The team announced on Friday their offseason program will begin on April 2 with non-field activities and a voluntary veteran minicamp will be held from April 16-18 in order for new Bears coach Marc Trestman to get a better feel for veterans on the roster prior to the start of the NFL draft on April 25.

Teams that did not make an offseason head-coaching change cannot start their offseason work until April 15.

A rookie minicamp will be held after the draft from May 10-12 with full-squad organized activities set to commence the day after the conclusion of the rookie camp on May 13 and run until June 6. Teams can only hold a certain amount of OTA workouts and coaches tend to spread those dates out over the course of several weeks.

The Bears will conclude their offseason with a veteran mandatory minicamp from June 11-13 before the team takes time off in advance of training camp which typically starts in late July on the campus of Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Ill.