As the 2020 season quickly approaches, the NFL and the NFLPA are continuing to make official agreements that will help the league deal with the COVID-19 outbreak.
This latest agreement is especially important.
According to NFL Network, the NFL and the NFLPA have agreed to three significant changes to the rosters for the 2020 season.
They are:
** Teams can now carry a 16-man practice squad, with up to six of those players having no limit on accrued seasons. In other words, six of the players on the practice squad can be whoever a team wants, including veterans.
** Teams can protect up to four practice-squad players each Tuesday.
** Starting 4 p.m. EST on September 6, unlimited players can return from injured reserve after spending 3 weeks on the sideline.
These rules will impact every team, and should allow them to better deal with a potential COVID-19 outbreak.
Considering how the past few seasons have went, they are especially noteworthy for the Eagles.
Let's start with the practice squad.
Perhaps no team in the league got more use out of their practice squad last season than the Eagles, as they moved up receivers, cornerbacks and running backs from the squad that ended up helping the team make a playoff run. Now, the Eagles will have an expanded practice squad to work with, and can keep veteran players in the building that they wouldn't have been able to otherwise. It would not be surprising to see the Eagles add veteran players on cut-down day to their practice squad, especially along the offensive line.
Being able to protect practice squad players is an important change. In the past, teams could just sign players off the practice squad by giving them a spot on their 53-man roster. The Eagles usually had a chance to offer, but in theory, were helpless to stop it from happening. In the past, the Eagles have had to move players up from the practice squad to prevent them from leaving — like quarterback Nate Sudfeld and offensive linemen Sua Opeta. To do so the Eagles had to give them spots on the 53-man roster that they otherwise wouldn't have. Now, the Eagles can simply block/protect four players from the practice squad from leaving.
The new rules surrounding a player returning from injured reserve is also important. In the past, teams have been able to only bring back two players from the injured reserve list, and each player had to miss at least eight weeks. Now, the team can bring back as many as they want, while also only having those players miss three weeks instead of eight.
For a team that has been ravaged by injuries the last few seasons, this is a rule change that would have benefited them in the past — but hopefully is not one they have to utilize much this season.
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!
