News: BTB: 2016 NFL Practice Squad Primer: Rules, Size, Eligibility, Salary

[NewsBot]

Since the NFL recently changed the practice squad rules, here's a short primer on how the practice squad process works.

Over the summer, the NFL made minor headlines when it was announced that NFL and NFLPA had agreed once again to a 10-man practice squad for NFL teams. In 2014, the two sides had already agreed to expand practice squads from eight to 10 players for the 2014 and 2015 seasons, but the agreement was limited to the past two years, so a new agreement was necessary.

And the new agreement also brought other changes for the practice squad, which may be just as important as the expanded number of players.

First, the league will now allow four players per practice squad to have two accrued seasons, making it easier for teams to have experienced players on their practice squad. In the previous agreement, only two players with two accrued seasons were allowed to be on a practice squad.

An accrued season means a player was on full pay status for more than eight regular season games on the 53-man roster or on IR. Previously, a player who had earned one or more accrued seasons would not be eligible for a practice squad unless the player spent fewer than nine games on a club’s 46-player active list in each of his accrued seasons.

This is an important change, as it covers basically the entire rookie classes of 2014 and 2015, both drafted and undrafted players, regardless of how many NFL games they played. The Cowboys are not going to attempt to smuggle their top draft picks onto the practice squad, but it could be an opportunity for fringe players with two accrued seasons like LB/FB Keith Smith or CB Deji Olatoye, or an as yet unsigned two-year veteran.

Second, and this is a carry-over from the previous agreement, a player must now have a minimum of six games – up from the current three games – on a practice squad in order for that season to count as one of the player’s three permissible seasons of practice squad service.

Ultimately the changes mean that teams can keep more players, and more experienced players, on their practice squads than before.

Practice squad basics

• Each NFL team can have up to 10 players on its practice squad.
• Practice squad players ... practice with the team. They do not play in games.
• Not all players are eligible to be signed to NFL practice squads (see new rules on eligibility above).
• Practice squad players are paid per week and can be released at any point during the season.
• Practice squad players are free to sign with other NFL teams, but they have to be signed to the 53-man active roster of the acquiring team. A practice squad player cannot be signed to another practice squad unless he is first released.
• A practice squad player can not sign with his team's upcoming opponent, unless he does so six days before the upcoming game or 10 days if his team is currently on a bye week.
• If a practice squad player is signed to the active roster, he will receive a minimum of three weekly paychecks, even if he is released before spending three weeks with the new team.
• In order to be signed to a practice squad after being released, a player must first clear waivers, and is subject to waiver claims by other teams

Salary


Practice squad players earn significantly less than players on the active roster, but they still take home a solid weekly paycheck. NFL practice squad players make a minimum of $6,900 per week that they are on the practice squad.

If a player remains on the practice squad for an entire regular season (at a minimum salary of $6,900 per week), he would earn a minimum of $117,300 over the full regular season if he keeps his spot on the practice squad. If a team makes the playoffs, these payments continue for as long as the team is in the playoffs.

To protect their players from other teams, or because they really like the potential of a given player, some teams pay their roster squad players significantly more. There is no limit to how much a team can pay a player on the practice squad, although the practice squad contracts do count against the salary cap.

The Patriots for example are one NFL team that consistently goes above and beyond the minimum practice squad rate. At certain points, the Pats have paid their entire practice squad weekly rates above the minimum salary. In 2015, the Rams paid supplemental draft pick OT Isaiah Battle $25,588 per week, which adds up to last year's $435,000 rookie minimum over 17 weeks, the highest amount ever paid to a practice squad player.

The upside of the practice squad is that if a player is called up to the 53-man regular roster, either by his own team or by another team, he automatically signs a contract with the $450,000 minimum NFL salary. And because three weeks of that contract are guaranteed, even if that player is released, waived or traded before the three weeks are up, being called up comes with a $79,411 guarantee (3/17th of $450,000).

At the end of the day, every Cowboys player has to pass through waivers before the Cowboys can re-sign him to their practice squad, which always carries the risk of that player being picked up by another team.

First roster cuts to 75 players are due next Tuesday, final roster cuts to 53 players have to be done by Saturday, Sept. 3, 4:00 pm ET, and teams can begin signing players to their practice squads on Sunday starting at noon ET.

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