Teams will be allowed to keep 10 players on their practiced squad in 2014 and 2015 thanks to the owners passing a measure that was presented to them by the NFL Competition Committee.
Below is a copy of the release of the agreement between the NFL and the NFLPA and it means that 64 more players will have work throughout the season. You will also note a few changes as it relates to what counts as a year being served on the practice squad as far as eligibility goes.
While this new agreement only runs through the 2015 season, it’s hard to see it not becoming permanent in the future.
As far as what this change means for the Pittsburgh Steelers, you now have to think that third-string quarterback Landry Jones is a serious candidate for the 2014 practice squad. Jones has had a miserable showing so far during the preseason and it’s hard to envision any team wanting to claim him off waivers in order to stash him on their 53 man roster as a developmental quarterback.
The NFL and the NFL Players Association have agreed to expand NFL Practice Squads for the 2014 and 2015 seasons. Absent an extension of the agreement, the current rules will be reinstated beginning with the 2016 season.
Under the agreement, 2014 and 2015 Practice Squads will increase from the current maximum of eight players to 10 players.
In addition, the criteria for Practice Squad eligibility has been expanded in two respects.
First, a player must 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.
Second, each club will be permitted to sign a maximum of two Practice Squad players who have earned no more than two accrued seasons of free agency credit. Absent this exception, a player who has 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.
All other practice squad rules under Article 33 of the 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement will remain in effect during the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
