Super Bowl 48 is only hours old and the NFL's offseason is in its early stages. For NFL teams, though, the offseason is not a time to sip on umbrella drinks while floating in the Caribbean. The offseason is a time to look to the future, to patch up holes in the roster, and to build momentum for upcoming season. That process begins to go full-steam ahead now.

As of today (Monday, February 3), the NFL's waiver system begins for 2014. From this point forward through the 2014 season, generally a 24-hour claiming period will be in effect for players with three or fewer pension-credited seasons whom are released from their teams (there are various times where waivers timelines are adjusted). Players with at least four pension-credited seasons whom a club desires to terminate are not subject to the waiver system until after the trading deadline.

In simple terms, teams can now release/waive players from their roster. They cannot sign unrestricted free agents; the free agency period begins on March 11.

As a refresher, here are a few important dates coming up in the offseason.

Also, here is a list of the Vikings scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency on March 11:

DE Jared Allen
OL Joe Berger
LB Desmond Bishop
QB Matt Cassel
CB Chris Cook
DT Fred Evans
QB Josh Freeman
RB Toby Gerhart
DE Everson Griffen
OL Charlie Johnson
LB Marvin Mitchell
WR Jerome Simpson
OT J'Marcus Webb
WR Joe Webb
DT Kevin Williams

-- LB Larry Dean and CB Marcus Sherels are scheduled to be restricted free agents.