The NFL’s collective bargaining agreement calls for a 12-man practice squad in 2021, but the league’s 2020 COVID-19-induced expansion is expected to remain in place this coming season.
Sixteen-man practice squads are likely to stay for 2021, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter). In addition, the 2020 modification that allowed teams more injured reserve flexibility is on track to return as well. Both teams and players supported these tweaks last year, creating momentum for their returns in 2021.
It was not too long ago that an IR designation meant a player was out for the season. The league has slowly allowed loosened the reins in this area, creating multiple IR-return slots during the 2010s. The pandemic, however, prompted the NFL and NFLPA to implement a policy that permitted teams to return players from IR to active rosters after just three weeks. Teams enjoyed an unlimited number of IR transactions in 2020, creating roster flexibility instead of a setup in which certain players needed to remain on IR despite having recovered from their respective injuries.
The CBA was set to expand practice squads to 12 last year and to 14 by 2022, but with the pandemic creating rampant uncertainty regarding player availability, the league’s taxi squads jumped from 10 to 16 from 2019-20. It appears fringe roster candidates will have more opportunities to develop on practice squads again this season.
The league and union remain in negotiations on the coming season’s COVID protocols, Pelissero tweets. The sides gave up on negotiating an offseason program, however, creating a muddled setup for OTAs and minicamps. But the sides appear to be in lockstep on certain fronts, allowing for rare cooperation.
I hope they also retain the ability to keep veterans on the practice squad. That seems good for everybody.
At first I would agree, but the fringe young guys might lose out on that. Maybe a veteran limit, like one or two players, could work. Most of the veteran were for rehab or learning stints anyway, like AAA assignments for MLB players returning to the fold. I am glad that they kept expanded practice squads though.
Good point, and completely agree with limiting the number. Two works for me…
Goodell never passes on an opportunity to boast about the steps the league has taken to improve player safety yet teams can now rush a player off the IR after just 3 weeks. Seems to be a bit of a disconnect there.
It is football not baseball, where a ‘tweaked’ hamstring takes 8 weeks to heal. If a player has an ankle sprain or tweaked hamstring 3-4 weeks should be enough to get them right. Rather than deactivating them or rushing back before they’re 100% because they are needed on the rooster. This way a player can go to IR, heal up and another healthy player can take his spot. It’s a win win for the team and for the players.
We can only generalize about injuries since every players experience is unique but we know older players usually take longer to recover. Hamstring injuries can be deceivingly tricky. I recall the Vikings kept trying to rush Adam Thielen back from one in 2019 and he simply never got the needed rest to get back to 100% health.
He produced in the playoffs after almost all of the starters were held out of the last game of the regular season. He caught 12 passes on 16 targets for a combined 179 yards over the two playoff games, playing over 80% of the offensive snaps in both games.