EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. —The boys are back in town.

The energy level will ramp up at Winter Park, as the Vikings begin their voluntary offseason program on Monday. This means many Vikings players will be in and around Winter Park for the next couple months preparing and training for the 2017 season.

The Vikings nine-week voluntary offseason program begins Monday and runs into the middle of June, ending with a mandatory minicamp from June 13-15; Organized Team Activities occur in Phase 3, which is currently slated to begin in late May.

Under provisions and rules set forth by the CBA, the Vikings offseason program will consist of three phases, with each phase governed by a different set of rules that will regulate the players' interaction with coaches, contact during workouts and drills, and more.

Here's a breakdown of those phases as well as additional important dates during the offseason program:

Phase One

-- First two weeks of the offseason program

-- Limited to strength and conditioning, and physical rehab

-- Strength and conditioning coaches only; no position coaches permitted to participate

-- No footballs, exception being quarterbacks may throw to uncovered receivers

-- No helmets permitted

Phase Two:

-- Next three weeks of the program

-- All coaches permitted to participate

-- No live contact and no individual or team offense vs. defense

-- "Perfect Play," individual player instruction drills, special teams drills on a "separates" basis

-- No helmets permitted

Phase Three

-- Next four weeks of the program

-- 10 Organized Team Activities (OTAs) practices permitted

-- One mandatory minicamp during week three or four

-- No live contact allowed, but 7-on-7, 9-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills are permitted

-- All coaches permitted on field

-- No individual offense vs. defense permitted

-- Kicking team vs. return team and team offense vs. team defense permitted

-- Helmets permitted

Important Dates

Phase 1 Begins: April 17

NFL Draft: April 27-29

Phase 2 Begins: May 1 

Vikings Rookie Minicamp: May 4-7

Phase 3 Begins/Organized Team Activities (OTAs): May 23-25; May 30-June 1; June 5-8

Mandatory Minicamp: June 13-15

*All dates are subject to change