Chalk Talk Discussion: Should the NFL Change Practice Squads?

[KDawg]

When discussing other sports, namely hockey and baseball, there is a very large pool of prospects developing at any given time for each team. A young hockey prospect, though younger than a young football prospect may be (they're eligible to play in the NHL at 18 years old), has plenty of time to fine tune their craft. Many prospects aren't ready until they're around 25 years old. Even for a senior collegiate football player, that's an extra three years to learn the system.

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as football minor leagues (unless you count the NCAA). So what's the solution? Sometimes, you draft a guy and believe they can develop over time, but you simply don't have the space for them, so you're forced to cut them during the middle of their development.

One simple solution is expanding practice squads.

Make the practice squad much larger (say, 20 players, or larger) and anyone on their rookie contract or getting back from a prolonged injury (3+ weeks) is eligible.

By allowing anyone on their rookie contract to be eligible, it gives you a full window to view a prospect that you think may be developing slowly. And although these guys aren't accruing game experience, they will learn your team's playbook and be ready to immediately fill a void on the 53-man roster should injuries occur.

This accomplishes a few things:

1) Opens more jobs for players.

2) Allows for call ups due to injuries instead of signing a guy off the streets who might not know your system

3) Allows for football fans to follow young players and watch their development over the course of a rookie deal

4) Gives the opportunity for more "diamonds in the rough" to shine

Negatives:

1) Means more money paid by NFL owners (though, a practice squad player could be paid significantly less)

So, what do you think about expanded practice squads?

[PortisBetts]

I like the idea, but good luck convincing an owner to open their wallet.

[KDawg]

I like the idea, but good luck convincing an owner to open their wallet.

It may not be as hard as you might think. If you made practice squad guys paid very modestly, but enough to make a living, the players would probably be open to it. (If they get promoted, they have a set amount their paycheck will increase, possibly just league minimum).

But it gives a teams fans someone that they recognize out there, and it may cause fans to still shell out the cash to go to games despite injury ravaged seasons. It also opens up trade possibilities quite a bit. And the ability to sign someone familiar with your locker room and your team's playbook is a major positive effect on the team.

But the owners would be the biggest obstacle.

[BringEmBacktoDC]

Interesting idea, but yes, it would cost money and the owners aren't spending anymore unless it pays off immediately or they are directed to by the league.

[DC9]

I love the idea, but I think 20 plus players is asking a bit much. For me, if they did that they'd have to change the rules a bit.

For instance (<--- this is a start of a hypothetical for all of the Rob Jackson haters out there ) say you have 20 players on your PS... the NFL would have to allow you to designate like 8 of them as "exclusive rights" guys that can't be poached by other teams without giving up a 7th round pick or something close. The other 12 would fall under the current rules.

Basically, they'd have to offer up more protection to the players who are fringe developmental/ready to go during an injury period type guys.

Now, if we get an 18 game regular season in the next couple of years, this is definitely a fantastic "meet me in the middle" for the NFLPA and NFL owners on expanding the roster. If you don't get to expand the 53 or the game day 46 (or whatever it is) then you should be able to have active and inactive rosters more similar to baseball and hockey where you can bring guys up and down from that pool of players.

Definitely an interesting topic, KD.

[KDawg]

I love the idea, but I think 20 plus players is asking a bit much. For me, if they did that they'd have to change the rules a bit.

For instance (<--- this is a start of a hypothetical for all of the Rob Jackson haters out there ) say you have 20 players on your PS... the NFL would have to allow you to designate like 8 of them as "exclusive rights" guys that can't be poached by other teams without giving up a 7th round pick or something close. The other 12 would fall under the current rules.

Basically, they'd have to offer up more protection.

Now, if we get an 18 game regular season in the next couple of years, this is definitely a fantastic "meet me in the middle" for the NFLPA and NFL owners on expanding the roster. If you don't get to expand the 53 or the game day 46 (or whatever it is) then you should be able to have active and unactive rosters more similar to baseball and hockey where you can bring guys up and down from that pool of players.

Definitely an interesting topic, KD.

Yeah, I didn't touch on the rights thing. As anyone can sign anyone off of someone's practice squad. I would change that rule, obviously, and do it the exact opposite as you!

You have eight players who can be signed off of your squad at any time. The rest are exclusive rights.

Either that or eliminate the ability to just sign guys off of practice squads. I think that's silly, anyways.

(And that would encourage team to team interaction and trades, which NFL fans seem to love )

[DC9]

Either that or eliminate the ability to just sign guys off of practice squads. I think that's silly, anyways.

(And that would encourage team to team interaction and trades, which NFL fans seem to love )

I think a good way to do that is to expand the draft to 10 rounds, or back up to 12. Win win for everyone. (more picks to trade)

I'm digging this idea, a lot.

Look at Coach out here trying to get all of the NFL level guys to earn their paychecks and develop players, go ahead KD.

[Shiv]

I don't see any reason against it. That said I do see college ball as these kids practice. There are some big differences between hockey baseball and football. A lot of football players come out of college already older than 21. Also their careers are much shorter. That shorter timeframe coming out of college doesn't give them a lot of time to develop. I think a more interesting idea would be for the nfl to expand across the United States instead of Europe. Godell has it all wrong. They should set up a minor league in smaller cities without big college programs. They could play on Thursday nights and get rid of Thursday night football which is a sham and sucks.

[cphil006]

practice squad players do make very little money (compared to min salary for NFL), but more than the average person... and they don't necessarily travel with the team. Probably good to double. Is it 8 right now? How about 16 players? and Expand the eligibility.

[DC9]

I don't see any reason against it. That said I do see college ball as these kids practice. There are some big differences between hockey baseball and football. A lot of football players come out of college already older than 21. Also their careers are much shorter. That shorter timeframe coming out of college doesn't give them a lot of time to develop. I think a more interesting idea would be for the nfl to expand across the United States instead of Europe. Godell has it all wrong. They should set up a minor league in smaller cities without big college programs. They could play on Thursday nights and get rid of Thursday night football which is a sham and sucks.

Getting reps in a minor league system is a more detrimental than getting developed on a practice squad.

Plus if you get banged up in that league you are pretty much done. If I am a player, I'd rather be developed on a PS than be getting reps behind a porous offensive line, etc.

I'd also like to enter the USFL and UFL into the record as exhibit A and A1 that the NFL is king and no other professional football will suffice in this country.

EDIT: Plus if it's an official minor league team of the NFL, I think you'd have a hard time with benefits packages and a whole lot of other things that rhyme with money.

[KDawg]

Getting reps in a minor league system is a more detrimental than getting developed on a practice squad.

Plus if you get banged up in that league you are pretty much done. If I am a player, I'd rather be developed on a PS than be getting reps behind a porous offensive line, etc.

I'd also like to enter the USFL and UFL into the record as exhibit A and A1 that the NFL is king and no other professional football will suffice in this country.

EDIT: Plus if it's an official minor league team of the NFL, I think you'd have a hard time with benefits packages and a whole lot of other things that rhyme with money.

This is honestly the EXACT response I was going to give. Thanks for doing it for me

As far as development goes, I'm aware of the difference in body types/size. Having said that, a college player can come out at 20 years old. The oldest is 22/23 (except for your oddities like Weinke and Weeden). Getting 3-5 years to develop is HUGE, ESPECIALLY when dealing with a quarterback. A 25 year old is certainly still young enough to contribute for a decent period of time. And keep in mind, they aren't getting the weekly wear and tear on their bodies.

[pjfootballer]

Expand it to 10 players and you keep their rights the whole season to develop them and nobody can poach them off your practice squad. Doesn't help to develop a player if they keep getting plucked off of squads.

[Mad Mike]

I like it.

I've been saying for years that teams need a few more roster spots to help diminish the impact of injuries during the season. While it's fair to say that all teams have to deal with injuries, the product we as fans are sold is diminished when one or two injuries can derail a season.

Seems to me that your plan would help address that issue with added benefits as well.

[@DCGoldPants]

the whole practice squad thing is nonsense. But this is the league that felt minor league NFL would work in Europe but don't want to try spring ball in the U.S..

Get rid of the squad and the active roster limits. This is a multi-billion dollar league. Increase overall roster to around 70. You could keep young guys to develop and also have your special teams loaded with guys who only do that.

[dcdiscokid]

I like this idea, I would think 22 ought to be the number, that way you can have a body to fill every position on the team if you wanted to.

[Symbol]

I still think the NFL should bring back something like they had with NFL Europe, only keep it within the U.S. This way you can actually have players develop while gaining game experience. The NFL would make some money, plus they could have football going during the NFL's off season.

[TSO]

I've always wanted preseason games to increase more so than regular season games. Yes, the season is too short but there's already enough injuries every year to make it longer. But, my idea was always that, in order to enjoy more NFL football, we'd have preseason games beginning in like May where only rookies and developmental players on the practice squad would be allowed to participate.

This idea of expanding the practice squad as mentioned by Kdawg would be perfect for this. How fun would it be for us to get to watch the Skins play in preseason games while enjoying the development of fringe and rookie players?

[Shiv]

Getting reps in a minor league system is a more detrimental than getting developed on a practice squad.

Plus if you get banged up in that league you are pretty much done. If I am a player, I'd rather be developed on a PS than be getting reps behind a porous offensive line, etc.

I'd also like to enter the USFL and UFL into the record as exhibit A and A1 that the NFL is king and no other professional football will suffice in this country.

EDIT: Plus if it's an official minor league team of the NFL, I think you'd have a hard time with benefits packages and a whole lot of other things that rhyme with money.

It goes both ways I guess. If I was a player and I was told I wasn't developed enough to play in the NFL, I'd want a chance to prove myself to all 32 NFL teams, not just the one whose practice squad I was on. How many players on your 20 man practice squad do you think actually have a chance to make it?

Also it would give me a chance to do what I actually want to do, play football. We talkin' about practice? Evaluating players in practice is dangerous, paging Taylor Jacobs.

This wouldn't operate as an independent league. I'm thinking 8-12 teams owned and operated by private owners that want a SMALL slice of the NFL pie, who knows, maybe it leads to bigger things for them in the future. Maybe your minor league team can get bonuses for NFL teams signing players that developed in the minor league.

[Major Harris]

Just here looking for chalk

[bowhunter]

I like your thinking KDawg. Especially with the prospect of exclusive rights, and trades from the PS. I think this would be a great way to develop a team without having to throw a young guy straight into the lions den. Maybe a rule that if talent was drafted they couldn't be plundered from your squad by another team, but UDFAs are eligible to be stolen. (possible exception to 2 UDFAs especially desiginated as untouchable for 1 year.) I also agree that it should help preserve a teams season from an injury to a position where they don't have a lot of depth.

[Conn]

the whole practice squad thing is nonsense. But this is the league that felt minor league NFL would work in Europe but don't want to try spring ball in the U.S..

Get rid of the squad and the active roster limits. This is a multi-billion dollar league. Increase overall roster to around 70. You could keep young guys to develop and also have your special teams loaded with guys who only do that.

This was going to be my suggestion. Smaller roster limits mostly eliminate pure ST's specialists who don't also contribute on O or D, and that robs the game of a lot of potential excitement. ST's specifically is treated like a less important facet of the game, the way rosters are structured (and with rules like the new kickoff spot, but that's another discussion) but its still a 3rd of the game. The field position battle is being slowly phased out by offense-friendly rules, but roster spots that could be dedicated to pure ST's players might help. There are tons of talented guys out there who don't fit a traditional role or position, because of size, tweener status, or just lack of traditional offensive/defensive skills. There's a whole subset of athletic freaks out there who could serve to make the game more exciting if there was a role for them, and add to the chess match that is ST's play and the field position battle.

After a certain point, great players can no longer be risked on ST's. So most of these roles go to developing rookies, potentially ill-fitting backups, or versatile, journey-man talent-level type veterans who excel in their ST's role. The NFL is missing out on an opportunity to make ST's a bigger, more specialized part of the game where guys are household names precisely because of their excellence on ST's, guys besides historically good returners like Devin Hester, where their career accomplishments in that area are not considered to be warm-up experience for a role on offense or defense. Guys like Lorenzo Alexander, H.B. Blades, and Niles Paul, players who are/were known by fans mostly because of their tireless ST's work, are kind of a dying breed across the NFL, and mostly only known by their own teams' fans. And even these guys, when they don't meet expectations at their "real" position, or demand too much money for "just" a ST's role, are usually phased out and let go. Because there is not roster space or salary cap space for long-term, career specialists like this to be properly groomed, appreciated, and paid. If there was roster space for guys to make a living just being ST's standouts, with no further expectations or duties, I think the game we love could become much more dynamic.

[Burgold]

I think this is a very good idea. In the 'skins glory years, there were how many rounds of the NFL draft? 10, 15? Clearly, there is more than 7 rounds worth of talent out there and too many people esp. from small schools that can't get a chance with the limited window granted these days.

Bring more in and hire an extra coach or two also to work exclusively with these guys. Maybe even have a protected class of PSers that other teams can't steal from.

[Captain Injury]

While I lived in New Zealand I got a chance to watch a lot of Super Rugby (professional) and was playing amateur. I played on the same team as professional players and international reps. The system worked like this:

All-Blacks (international)

Crusaders, Blues, Highlanders, etc... (pro franchises)

Canterbury, Auckland, Tasman (all-star geographical)

Club (amateur)

If you were an elite player at the club level, you could represent your area at "rep", or all-star, level. If you shined there you may earn a pro contract. The best of the pros were the international side, the All Blacks. However, if there was no international game the All-Blacks may show up in their pro team's game. If there was no pro game, the professional players would play club. It was all under a fluent system and lasted much of the year (the various levels of play overlapped a little, but of course gave preference to the top tier of play.) I see no reason there can't be an elite-amateur football league underneath the NFL where clubs serve as tributaries to an ultimate standard of play. I think the difference is that people in Europe and Aus/NZL/RSA play sports as adults. It's a community. We kind of stop playing sports seriously here after college. I see no reason why we can't do something similar.

Redskins (pro)

Washington (rep)

Potomac, Arlington, DC, Bethesda, etc... (club)

Also would give guys who can play but aren't in college a chance to yes, learn a system, put some tape together and have a really good time even if they're never selected to be paid. People would love playing for their city's nfl-official representative amateur team.

[DC9]

I think this is a very good idea. In the 'skins glory years, there were how many rounds of the NFL draft? 10, 15? Clearly, there is more than 7 rounds worth of talent out there and too many people esp. from small schools that can't get a chance with the limited window granted these days.

Before Robert, our last "franchise QB" was Ryp. He was a 6th round pick if memory serves and got some time to be seasoned. Without that time he wouldn't have been close to as successful as he was. We've definitely gotten away from that side of the game.

[Dan T.]

It seems to me the league will have to go to some kind of roster expansion if they extend the regular season, which was a hot topic this past year. Whether it's the active roster or a larger practice squad, I see roster expansion going hand-in-hand with an expanded regular season.