Takeaway No. 4: Bigger rosters and practice squads
This new CBA will expand the regular season roster from 53 players to 55, while also allowing the gameday roster to increase from 46 to 48.
Additionally, practice squad rosters will increase from 10 to 14, and the pay for a practice squad player will increase to $10,500 per week, a jump of $2,500 dollars weekly.
This rule likely had a huge part in the CBA passing. Most NFL players are fringe roster candidates who don’t get paid the millions of dollars that top-tier players do – so they voted in their self-interest.
By increasing roster size and practice squad size, while also agreeing to more pay for those players, it will help a lot of fringe roster candidates with job security and financial security in the short term.
Regardless, the NFL and the Player’s Association now have 10 years of labor peace and can turn their attention to the start of free agency – which is set to begin on Wednesday but could be delayed thanks to concerns over the coronavirus.
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