What Are the NFL Practice Squad Rules?

Ryan Phillips | Aug 30, 2024

Aug 24, 2024; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; General view of the NFL logo on a goalpost during warmups prior to the game between the Baltimore Ravens and Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports / Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

As the 2024 NFL season gets ready to kick off, teams around the league are busy locking in their rosters and practice squads. This season the rules around practice squads have changed.

While they are often overlooked, practice squads are an important part of an NFL roster. They provide practice bodies, much-needed depth and players who are familiar with team concepts who can be added in an emergency situation.

The NFL has adjusted the number of practice squad players franchises can retain for the 2024 season. What follows is a look at NFL practice squads and how many players each team can sign to them.

How many players are on NFL practice squads?

The NFL expanded practice squads from 10 to 16 during the COVID-impacted 2020 season. After that campaign, the league decided to make the expanded practice squads permanent. They have been expanded again in 2024, but only by one player and with a special rule attached.

Teams can now sign 17 players to their practice squads if one of those players is a member of the NFL's International Pathway Program. Of the other 16, 10 must be rookies or second-year players, while there are no restrictions on the other six.

Can practice squad players participate in games?

Teams can make as many as two practice squad players available to participate in regular-season games. On game days, NFL teams can increase their 53-man rosters to 55 players by elevating practice squad players. Only 48 of those players can participate in a game, which means seven must be declared inactive approximately 90 minutes before kickoff.

But each player can only be elevated to the roster a maximum of three times. Before being made available for a fourth game they must be added to the active roster.

How much do NFL practice squad players get paid?

Practice squad players are separated into two tiers for salary purposes. Players with two or fewer seasons of service time are placed in one salary group, while players with more than twi seasons played are in another. The structures of the salaries for each group are locked in through 2030 when the league's current collective bargaining agreement expires.

Players with two or fewer seasons will be paid $12,500 per week during the 2024 season. That number will steadily increase through the 2030 season.

Year	Weekly Salary
2024	$12,500
2025	$13,000
2026	$13,750
2027	$14,500
2028	$15,250
2029	$16,000
2030	$16,750

Veterans with more than two seasons of experience are treated considerably differently than less experienced players. They are given a salary range and can negotiate more lucrative deals. For the 2024 season, that range is between $16,800 and $21,300 per week.

Year	Minimum Weekly Salary	Maximum Weekly Salary
2024	$16,800	$21,300
2025	$17,500	$22,000
2026	$18,350	$22,850
2027	$19,200	$23,700
2028	$20,900	$25,400
2029	$20,900	$25,400
2030	$21,750	$26,250

When are teams allowed to sign players to practice squads?

The day after roster cutdown day, players who clear waivers may be signed to practice squads. In 2024, NFL teams had to cut their rosters from 90 players to 53 by 4 p.m. ET on August 27. Teams were allowed to begin signing practice squad players at noon ET on August 28.

Can teams sign players from other practice squads?

Teams can sign players from another team's practice squad, but only to add them to their active roster. They can't sign another team's practice squad player to their practice squad.

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