The NFL Management Council and NFLPA have agreed to a new rule that will be beneficial to the Kansas City Chiefs during the playoffs.
According to NFL Network reporter Tom Pelissero, the NFL and NFLPA recently agreed to remove the two-game restriction from practice squad standard elevations. Previously, players could only be activated to the 53-man roster from the practice squad twice without those players needing to clear waivers to return to the practice squad. Now, the NFL is allowing practice squad players to be elevated an unlimited number of times during the course of the playoffs.
This new rule will go into effect at the conclusion of Week 17 and the start of the wild card round.
The NFL Management Council and NFLPA agreed to unlimited practice-squad elevations without a player having to clear waivers during the 2020 postseason, per source.
Previously, a player could only be moved to the active roster twice for a game under the standard elevation.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 29, 2020
So why will this rule be beneficial for the Chiefs? They already have several players on the practice squad who had exhausted their two standard elevations for the season Players like WR Gehrig Dieter, CB DeAndre Baker and DB Chris Lammons each would be ineligible for standard elevation under the old rule. Should those three players be needed in the playoffs, the team won’t have to risk losing them on waivers or make a move to sign them to the 53-man roster unless absolutely necessary.
Unfortunately, this rule wasn’t in place a few weeks ago. Perhaps it would have influenced the decision of WR Marcus Kemp, who signed with the Miami Dolphins practice squad knowing that he no longer had the ability to be elevated to the Chiefs’ 53-man roster.
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