Taxi Squad Increased to 10 Players

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ProFootballTalk ‏@ProFootballTalk 35m
NFL announces expansion of practice squads to 10 players http://wp.me/p14QSB-9xRl

Plus, there were some eligibility changes:


And it isn’t just players previously eligible for the practice squad either. The league also announced that each team will be able to sign two players “who have earned no more than two accrued seasons of free agency credit.” Otherwise players who have earned one or more accrued seasons would not be eligible for the practice squad unless they spent fewer than nine games on the 46-man gameday roster during those seasons.

One other change will allow players to hold onto practice squad eligibility longer. Players now need to have a minimum of six games on the practice squad, up from three, for the year to count as one of the three that they are eligible to be placed on the practice squad.

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Jason La Canfora ‏@JasonLaCanfora 1h
So you could now have a player with 32 reg season games over 1st 2 seasons eligible still for practice squad in 3rd year...

[smuggler]

That's a pretty big change. Good job.

[Harlan Huckleby]

I'm for a larger roster size. This is a tiny change in that direction, a good idea.

[Harlan Huckleby]

That's a pretty big change. Good job.

10 instead of 8 practice squad players is pretty minor. Maybe the other changes matter more, but I don't have the patience to figure them out.

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Because Patler will need the details to prove me wrong in the future, here is a fairly clear write-up of the changes courtesy Jason Wilde:


On Tuesday, the NFL expanded its practice squads from eight to 10 players, but the league also added another significant wrinkle: Teams can use the two extra spots to sign veteran players who have earned no more than two accrued seasons of free agency credit. Previously, a player who spent more than eight games in a single season on his team’s game-day active roster lost his practice-squad eligibility.

In addition, players must spend six weeks on the practice squad for it to count against the three three seasons they’re allowed to spend there. The previous requirement was just three weeks.

http://www.espnwisconsin.com/common/page.php?feed=2&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&id=15331&is_corp=1

[run pMc]

10 instead of 8 practice squad players is pretty minor. Maybe the other changes matter more, but I don't have the patience to figure them out.

I agree it's pretty minor -- for this year. It really benefits the team longer term where they can stash a player they want to develop (like an Dietrich-Smith or Tramon) and give a fair shake to next year. Maybe that Vujnovich or whatever becomes the swing tackle of the future.

With the folding of NFL Europe there really isn't a developmental league and with all the injuries GB has had I like it. Gives young players a chance to learn without being thrown in the deep end and killing a team.