Agreed. It's actually partially why I like the idea of the AAF that is coming up soon because that will be a good way to get the younger players developed a bit more quickly. Alternatively though, in English and European football, players can be sent on loan to other clubs around the world. For example, I'm an AFC Bournemouth supporter, but I'll use a more well-known EPL club. Let's say a young English player is signed by Chelsea at the age of 18 out of the academy (in Europe, the football players go through a football academy, as opposed to regular school, to develop as well as the loan programme I'm talking about). Chelsea can opt to loan out the player to a team such as MK Dons. The player would then play on that squad for however long Chelsea wants, and they can recall the player when they feel he's developed enough to play on their squad. Additionally, MK Dons can request to transfer the player to them if they wish for an agreed fee that is paid to Chelsea. However, usually the loaned player returns to his original squad.
The reason I say all this is that there are a lot of global American football leagues that I've noticed. Perhaps the NFL, instead of using the practice squad system (I took some flack for this on the old forum, but I still argue for it) which doesn't give the players the needed development, can use a loan system and loan the players to other leagues. I know the other leagues aren't exactly on par with the NFL, but then, neither are clubs like MK Dons compared to the EPL as they play in the lowest division of the FA. That way, the young player is developing by playing with a proper professional club, while Chelsea is competing for its title. I could see an arrangement being made with leagues like the German Football League or the Japanese X League if the NFL wanted to arrange that. It would be worth a go, and I've long thought that the practice squad is quite useless compared to actual in game experience.
