Forget everything you know about the NFL’s old practice squad rules. Those days are gone in 2020. The NFL and NFLPA made some serious changes to the practice squad to help teams adapt to football life in the time of the coronavirus.
From number of players a team can carry to who is eligible, so much has changed with NFL practice squads. Some of the key changes:
Teams can now carry up to 16 players. There was already set to be a bump from the traditional 10 to 12 this year, but the NFL and NFLPA agreed to raise the limit to 16 for the COVID-19 impact
Four of those 16 players are allowed to be protected each week. The Lions will be able to designate four players each week that other teams cannot sign away, not even to their active rosters as in past years. Those four players can change from week to week.
Vested veterans are now eligible. In the past, players were only eligible for the practice squad if they had three years or less of NFL experience, including years on the practice squad. Now teams can carry up to six players who have four or more years in the books, the qualification for a vested veteran status. For the Lions, that means a player like Miles Killebrew can stick on the practice squad when he previously could not.
Claiming players comes with a cost. Teams can still sign players from other team’s practice squads, provided they’re not protected. But the COVID-19 protocols change the dynamic. Any player signed from the outside has to first go through two full days of COVID-19 testing. So if the Lions want to poach a player from the coming week’s opponent, the earliest he could join the team is for Thursday’s practice — waiver claims are not processed until Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET. Expect that to put a severe damper on the claim process.
Two practice squad players are eligible to be active on game days. The 53-man roster limit has changed, but just for game days. Two players who spent the week on the practice squad can be designated active for that week’s game. In addition, when those players go back to the practice squad, they are immune from having to pass through waivers the first two times they are called up.
As an example, the Lions could keep CB Mike Ford on the practice squad during Week 2 but make him active to face the Packers on Sunday. Ford could then go back to the practice squad after the game and not be subjected to waivers, which normally happens to any player transitioning from the active roster to the practice squad.
Here’s some of the exact nomenclature from the NFL, for those who like to read the actual fine print:
Beginning in the 2020 League Year, the Practice Squad shall consist of the following players: (i) players who do not have an Accrued Season of NFL experience; (ii) free agent players who were on the Active List for fewer than nine regular season games during their only Accrued Season(s); (iii) a maximum of four free agent players per Club who have earned no more than two Accrued Seasons, with those four players to have no limitation as to the number of games on the game day Active List in either of those seasons; and (iv) a maximum of two free agent players per Club with no limitations as to their number of earned Accrued Seasons; provided, however, that the NFL shall increase the maximum number of players in category (iv) above from two players to four players for the 2022-30 League Years.
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