Skylar Thompson's Roster Spot With Dolphins Could Be In Jeopardy

A new quarterback rule the NFL owners approached this week could motivate teams to stop carrying a third quarterback on the 53-man roster

Miami Dolphins v Jacksonville Jaguars / Perry Knotts/GettyImages

The NFL just changed a rule that could alter how many quarterbacks teams keep on the 53-man roster during the season.

The Buffalo Bills propose expanding the standard elevation rules to allow clubs to elevate a third player from the practice squad who is a “bona fide quarterback” to be an emergency third quarterback, and the measure passed.

In 2023, teams were allowed to designate an emergency third quarterback on game day after the San Francisco 49ers were left without a healthy quarterback during the 2022 NFC Championship Game. The emergency third quarterback counted as one of the game-day inactives and could play only if the top two quarterbacks were injured.

However, the emergency third quarterback had to be on the 53-player roster, which motivated most teams to keep three quarterbacks on their active roster.

The Bills’ proposed bylaw change would allow most (if not all) teams to carry only two quarterbacks on their active roster, and place the third on the practice squad. since that third would be eligible to play in all 17 games.

DOLPHINS COULD GAIN EXTRA ROSTER SPOT

What that would mean is teams like the Miami Dolphins could exit training camp with only two quarterbacks on the 53-man roster, and the third (in this instance it would be Skylar Thompson) would be one of the 16 players on the practice squad.

Practice squad players are viewed as developmental prospects, and they make significantly less than players on the active roster.

The minimum salary for NFL practice squad players is $12,000 per week, but that figure i negotiable. If a player has accrued at least two seasons, their minimum salary is $16,100 per week and maximum salary is $20,600 per week. 

The minimum salary for the 2024 NFL season is set at $795,000 for players with less than one year of experience, and $915,000 for someone with more than one years experience.

 THOMPSON'S EXPERIENCE NEEDS TO SHOW

Thompson, a former Kansas State standout the Dolphins selected in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL draft, has spent the past two seasons on Miami’s 53-man roster being developed. He started two regular season games and a playoff loss for Miami in the 2022 season when both Tua Tagovailoa and Teddy Bridgewater, his primary backup at the time, were sidelined by injuries.

With the new rules, unless the Dolphins view it paramount to carry three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster, in order to safely make it onto the 53-man roster there would need to be an injury concern with one of the top two passers.

Or Thompson would either need to beat out Mike White for the No. 2 spot in training camp, and the exhibition season. Or  the Dolphins could simply decide it’s better to carry a third quarterbacks on the 53-man roster instead of addressing another need.

Teams will still have the opportunity to elevate two players up from the practice squad for each game, but those players can’t be promoted more than three times per season.