Roster rule changes for 2020

[dcat]

I copied this from another source.  Interesting rule changes for 2020 rosters:

Though the roster limit will continue to be 53 for 2020, two players from the practice squad may be brought up to increase roster sizes to 55 on gameday, with those two players reverting back to the practice squad after gameday. Practice squads will also be increased in size from 10 players to 12 beginning this season.

Active gameday rosters will also grow from 46 to 48, provided one of those extra players activated is an offensive lineman

ALSO: You can only elevate the same player from the Practice Squad to the active roster 2 times per season

AND: You can have 4 players on the Practice Squad with ANY number of seasons

There are 3 obvious implications of this IMHO

1. A team can keep a QB with a ton of NFL experience on the Practice Squad as an emergency QB and put them on the active roster 2 times without any problems
2. Teams will probably carry 3 or 4 offensive linemen and make each active for 2 games over the course of the season to backfill for injuries
3. 4 decent vets at any position can be stashed on the practice squad - they'd have to be waived and brought back after the final cut, tho. Assuming 1 will be a QB, that's 3 other veterans 

[dcat]

I just have to.  One of the responses to the new roster rules was this.  I spit my coffee.

Quote

Belichick: "Yeah, #65 seems a bit undersized to play guard, given that he's 6'2 205, but he's a very versatile player, with a really strong arm.  Which is why in practices he's taking all of his snaps at QB...  But we definitely think of him as an offensive lineman."

[Dome]

Looks like good rule changes for teams and for players, from what I can see 

[ninjapirate]

38 minutes ago, Dome said:

Looks like good rule changes for teams and for players, from what I can see 

yeah should be good for late bloomer types to be able to stick around with organizations an extra year or two

[JaguarCrazy2832]

How would you be able to tell 1 of the extra 2 players was an OL?

[buno67]

4 hours ago, dcat said:

I copied this from another source.  Interesting rule changes for 2020 rosters:

Though the roster limit will continue to be 53 for 2020, two players from the practice squad may be brought up to increase roster sizes to 55 on gameday, with those two players reverting back to the practice squad after gameday. Practice squads will also be increased in size from 10 players to 12 beginning this season.

Active gameday rosters will also grow from 46 to 48, provided one of those extra players activated is an offensive lineman

ALSO: You can only elevate the same player from the Practice Squad to the active roster 2 times per season

AND: You can have 4 players on the Practice Squad with ANY number of seasons

There are 3 obvious implications of this IMHO

1. A team can keep a QB with a ton of NFL experience on the Practice Squad as an emergency QB and put them on the active roster 2 times without any problems
2. Teams will probably carry 3 or 4 offensive linemen and make each active for 2 games over the course of the season to backfill for injuries
3. 4 decent vets at any position can be stashed on the practice squad - they'd have to be waived and brought back after the final cut, tho. Assuming 1 will be a QB, that's 3 other veterans 

If you are down to say your 4th QB of the seasons and you are resorting to PS VET QB, wouldnt rather just use that time to develop a young guy anyways. He could turn into a suprise starter some day or at least traded for a draft pick. Also if you are down to that PS Vet QB, It would mind someone is lost for the year and is placed on IR, so you could just sign another vet QB. As as the Vet QB, do you think they would really want to run the scout team for the defense. You prolly want a young QB who is going to want make plays at all costs on that scout team. 

Also any decent vet is going to want a vet contract, not a practice squad contract

[MWil23]

2 hours ago, JaguarCrazy2832 said:

How would you be able to tell 1 of the extra 2 players was an OL?

I’d be interested to see if it was an NFL mandated OL Jersey # (50-79). 

[Shanedorf]

1 hour ago, MWil23 said:

I’d be interested to see if it was an NFL mandated OL Jersey # (50-79). 

They have to have 8 OL active to get the extra roster spot and I'm guessing you're right on the jersey numbers

[Shanedorf]

7 hours ago, dcat said:

There are 3 obvious implications of this IMHO

1. A team can keep a QB with a ton of NFL experience on the Practice Squad as an emergency QB and put them on the active roster 2 times without any problems
2. Teams will probably carry 3 or 4 offensive linemen and make each active for 2 games over the course of the season to backfill for injuries
3. 4 decent vets at any position can be stashed on the practice squad - they'd have to be waived and brought back after the final cut, tho. Assuming 1 will be a QB, that's 3 other veterans 

Here's the new practice squad eligibility rules with 2 categories added

https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2020/5/5/21246410/understanding-the-nfls-new-roster-rules-beginning-in-2020

Practice squad eligibility

"As you’ve probably heard, the new CBA allows an expansion of team practice squads from 10 players to 12 in 2020. But eligibility rules have been substantially relaxed. Players who can be on practice squads now fall into four groups:

1. Players with less than one accrued NFL season (six games on an active roster)
2. Players who have been on an active roster for fewer than nine regular-season games during their only accrued season(s)
3. Players who have earned no more than two accrued seasons with any number of games
4. Players with any number of accrued seasons

If you think the 3rd and 4th groups are a departure from the old rules, you’re right. It is.

But both of them have a limitation: a team may only have four practice-squad players whose eligibility is based on Group 3 — and only two based on Group 4. Starting in 2022 — when the squad size increases to 14 players — four Group 4 layers will be allowed."

[Malfatron]

It has to be a convoluted rule, doesnt it?

Couldnt just increase the active roster to 55

[Nabbs4u]

6 hours ago, Malfatron said:

It has to be a convoluted rule, doesnt it?

Couldnt just increase the active roster to 55

Never understood why this hasn't always been the case. You had a 53 man roster, why limit the amount on game day when you might suffer numerous injuries to where the bottom 4-5 players could actually be utilized or contribute? If they're not, who does it honestly hurt being active? 

Only thing I can fathom is money somehow and the owners wallet.

Edited June 14, 2020 by Nabbs4u

[theJ]

For those thinking this will be exploited: it probably will in a select few cases.  However, i think mostly teams are going to use this when they have injury issues.  If they have a healthy 48 on the 53, they're not going to pull up a PS guy.  Those guys on the PS for a reason: they're generally not good enough to play in the NFL.  Maybe they have 1-2 guys who could contribute in a limited role, and those guys will get called up.  But since they can only be called up twice, you're probably only going to see it when injuries dictate it.

[theJ]

17 hours ago, Nabbs4u said:

Never understood why this hasn't always been the case. You had a 53 man roster, why limit the amount on game day when you might suffer numerous injuries to where the bottom 4-5 players could actually be utilized or contribute? If they're not, who does it honestly hurt being active? 

Only thing I can fathom is money somehow and the owners wallet.

I don't know the genesis of the rule, but i imagine that a team back in the day had a bunch of injuries and was playing a pretty healthy team.  They got beat, and petitioned for this rule so that "it was more fair".

That's how i imagine it went down.

[Shanedorf]

1 hour ago, theJ said:

I don't know the genesis of the rule, but i imagine that a team back in the day had a bunch of injuries and was playing a pretty healthy team. 

The "taxi squads" started back in the 1940s under Paul Brown and then the rules for practice squads and active rosters evolved over time
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Practice_squad

There were 2 reasons given for the roster at 53 while only 46 actives - and you nailed the first one. It was about competitive balance on game day and the owners wanted to ensure a level playing field. The other reason for only 46 active players on Sunday is that the league didn't want teams to have gimmick players as part of the game. They didn't want 400lb fullbacks who could plunge in from the 1 yd line, they didn't want 7 foot TE's who would only block FGs, they didn't want Olympic sprinters who just ran really fast. They wanted to keep the gimmick guys out of the game and by limiting the active players, they accomplished that goal

There is a $$ component to it as well, but the other reasons were a bigger deal when those rules were enacted

[MWil23]

1 minute ago, Shanedorf said:

The other reason for only 46 active players on Sunday is that the league didn't want teams to have gimmick players as part of the game. They didn't want 400lb fullbacks who could plunge in from the 1 yd line, they didn't want 7 foot TE's who would only block FGs, they didn't want Olympic sprinters who just ran really fast. They wanted to keep the gimmick guys out of the game and by limiting the active players, they accomplished that goal

I guess I personally never understood this line of thinking. I always love(d) that potential aspect. Who wouldn't want to see Usain Bolt return a kick? What about Minut Bol block a kick a few times a game? I think that nuance would be intriguing. 

Imagine, a team has to decide to go for it on 4th and 2 from the 40 because Bol has already blocked 5 FG in the last 6 games.