Sep nine, 2020

  • Dan GrazianoESPN Staff Writer

    Shut

    • Joined ESPN in 2011
    • New Jersey native and writer of two published novels

The 2020 NFL flavour is near to start, which, for those of the states who feel we've spent the past 8 months writing well-nigh aught but collective bargaining understanding talks and COVID-19 protocols, is a startling realization.

Don't become me wrong -- I'yard as excited about the start of actual football game games as you are, if not more. It has ever been my wish to eventually transition back from reporting on contracts and side letters and negotiations to reporting on touchdowns and tackles and wins and losses.

But in that location was a lot that changed this offseason, get-go with the new CBA the players and teams agreed to in March and and then with the new, 2020-specific rules brought on by the COVID-nineteen pandemic. Now that the season is starting, you're going to encounter a lot of roster movement that you haven't seen in past years. Changes to the sizes of game-solar day rosters and exercise squads and the fashion players are moved on and off rosters will be a large part of this season.

And then, as we go ready to kicking things off with the Chiefs and Texans on Thursday dark and the rest of the league on Sunday and Monday, nosotros thought we'd offer a quick refresher on some of the changes. Some of these are CBA changes that were in identify back earlier we knew in that location would need to be COVID-19 protocols. Others are directly tied to the league's efforts to execute a total season during the pandemic. We'll help you keep rail of which is which, and please feel gratuitous to bookmark this story for reference during the season -- information technology could go confusing:

Expanded rosters

New CBA rule: Starting this season, game-24-hour interval agile rosters, which used to be express to 46 players per team, tin can include up to 48 players, provided that at least eight of those 48 are offensive linemen. (If not, the game-solar day roster size is limited to 47 players.)

New CBA rule: Additionally, according to the new CBA, a squad tin carry up to 55 players on its roster during the week -- upwardly from 53 in by years -- past elevating one or two players from its practice squad before 4 p.grand. ET on the twenty-four hour period before that squad's game. This volition allow teams a larger puddle from which to select their 47 or 48 game-solar day active players. Any player elevated from the exercise squad for this purpose will immediately revert to his team's practice squad on the 24-hour interval after the game.

No player may be activated under this rule for more than than two games per season, either regular-season or postseason games. If a role player has already been elevated twice under this rule, and the team wants to add him to the roster, it must terminate his practice-squad contract and sign him to an NFL contract, as has been the case with practice-team players in years by.

Expanded practice squads

Combination of new CBA rules and COVID-nineteen rules: The new CBA expanded the size of exercise squads from 10 players per team to 12 for the 2020 and 2021 seasons, and to xiv players per team beginning in 2022. All the same, for 2020 -- and for 2021 if whatsoever COVID-19 protocols remain in place for that season) -- practise squads can include up to 16 players per team. Of those 16, as many as six can exist players with more than two accrued seasons in the NFL. The new CBA immune for two practice-squad players per team with an unlimited number of accrued seasons, but the COVID-19 amendments expanded that number to six.

COVID-19 dominion: After iv p.yard. ET on the Tuesday of a game week (not a bye calendar week), a team may designate upwards to 4 of its do team players as "protected," meaning they are not immune to sign with another squad until afterwards their electric current team plays its next game.

Replacing players on the reserve/COVID-19 list

COVID-19 dominion: The NFL has instituted a reserve/COVID-19 list for 2020, which is for players who either exam positive for the coronavirus or take been potentially exposed to someone who has had information technology. A player who tests positive for COVID-19 will be eligible for placement on this list whether he is symptomatic or non. The league will administer COVID-19 tests to players and other essential employees every mean solar day of the regular season except game day.

To replace that role player during the calendar week, the team is allowed to make any motility it wants: sign a gratuitous agent, sign a player from its or another team's practice squad or drag a actor from its own practice squad as outlined in a higher place.

COVID-xix rule: If a team learns after 4 p.k. ET on the day before a game that a role player has to be placed on the reserve/COVID-nineteen list, either considering of a positive diagnosis or demand for preventative quarantine, that team may elevate a player from its practise squad to replace that player at any time upwardly to 90 minutes earlier scheduled kickoff. Whatever elevation under this rule would not count every bit ane of the two elevations we referenced at the end of our "expanded rosters" section to a higher place.

Injured reserve

COVID-19 rule: In 2020, a thespian going on injured reserve is allowed to render after missing simply three weeks, and teams may return an unlimited number of players from injured reserve throughout the year. In a normal year, a player tin can't return from injured reserve unless he has missed at least half dozen weeks' worth of practice and eight weeks' worth of games, and teams are limited to two players per year that they can return from injured reserve.

This year, a histrion on injured reserve can return to do after iii weeks. Once a team activates a player from injured reserve, it has 21 days to return him to the active roster. Reserve/COVID-xix is separate than injured reserve. Players on that listing may render whenever they clear the testing protocol.

Accrued season calculation

COVID-19 dominion: In 2020, whatsoever role player who is on a team'due south Week 1 roster will receive 1 accrued season as long as he is on total-pay status for at least one regular-flavour game. In a normal yr, the CBA specifies that a player must be on full-pay status for at least six regular-season games in order to accrue a full flavour toward gratis agency.

Players must have at least 3 accrued seasons to be eligible for restricted free bureau and at least 4 to be eligible for unrestricted free agency. Then for someone like, for instance, Saints running back Alvin Kamara, who has iii accrued seasons and ane year left on his deal, this rule would allow him to be an unrestricted free amanuensis next March instead of a restricted one, provided he was on full-pay status for at least one game.

Player pay for a canceled flavour

COVID-nineteen rule: At present that the final roster cutdowns have taken place, if the season is cancelled at whatsoever signal, whatever role player on a roster at the time of counterfoil will receive a $300,000 stipend -- offset by any bacon earned to that point -- and his regular NFL player health insurance for the year. What do we hateful by "starting time?" Well, if a role player has earned $500,000 in salary before the flavour is canceled, he wouldn't get a stipend. If he has earned $150,000 before the season is canceled, he'd get a $150,000 stipend. If the season is canceled earlier he has earned any money, he gets the full $300,000.

Exercise-squad players are bailiwick to the aforementioned dominion, except their stipends would be $100,000 minus any they had already earned.