AsylumGuido

NFL reportedly proposes expansion of practice squad and here are the details

NFL practice squads have already expanded from 10 to 12 players for the 2020 season as part of the league's new collective bargaining agreement and could be increasing even more.

Per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, the NFL has proposed to the NFLPA an expansion of the practice squad from 12 to 16 players. The practice squad rules would look a bit different than in previous seasons.

Practice squad jumps from 12 to 16 players, increasing overall roster size from 67 players (55 active roster, 12 practice squad) to 71.

Up to six members of the practice squad will have no limitation on number of accrued seasons (basically a team can have veterans on the practice squad, no matter how many years they played).

In the event of an outbreak, the minimum amount of six practice-squad players that can be promoted would be removed. An unlimited amount of players from the practice squad would be eligible for promotion to the active roster, at any point up to 90 minutes before kickoff.

For practice squad players to get promoted immediately, the positive diagnosis of COVID-19 must occur after the 4.p.m. ET roster transaction deadline. Teams can adjust their rosters to compensate for the positive test accordingly.

Here are the current practice squad rules in place, set by the new CBA earlier this year:

Practice squad eligibility rules include players with less than one accrued NFL season (six games on an active roster), players who have been on an active roster for fewer than nine regular-season games during their only accrued season(s), players who have earned no more than two accrued seasons with any number of games and players with any number of accrued seasons.
A team may only have a maximum of four players on the practice squad based on the third category and a maximum of two players based on the fourth.

Active rosters were expanded from 53 to 55 this season, with 47 being allowed to dress on game day. That number increases to 48 if a team dresses an eighth offensive lineman. Those rules could be altered in the coming weeks, especially with COVID-19 protocols headlining the NFL season.

“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” — Winston Churchill

AsylumGuido

These were the same proposals that were being tossed around on NFL Radio's Moving the Chains over the past month.

The season is coming closer to taking place!

19-0 Baby!

jeanpierre

Wouldn't mind seeing a true National Minor Football League whereby teams would have affiliate teams in other cities...

vpheughan

Each team used to have a farm team. The Saints' farm team was the Richmond Roadrunners, coached by J.D. Roberts, who in 1970's would replace Tom Fears, becoming the Saints' second head coach. Mecom shipped the entire batch of black helmets to Richmond, and the Saints were back in their familiar gold helmets for the 1969 opener against Washington.

Rugby Saint II

Next man up out of quarantine come on down to play.

AsylumGuido

Yeah. Pretty much, but I think some people will be surprised at how few cases will arise. There will most likely be quite a few when players first report ... which means they should be immune prior to the season starting ... but once the season starts and they are within the protocols they should be sporadic at the most.

I know several people who have been infected, but none of them were really being careful or hanging around others that were being careful.