An even bigger expansion of the practice squad could be coming for the Green Bay Packers and the 31 other NFL teams in 2020.
According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, the league is talking about increasing the size of each team’s practice squad to 16 players this season. The idea would be to have bigger practice squads to help teams handle possible positive coronavirus cases during the 2020 season.
Practice squads were allowed 10 players in 2019. The NFL was already planning on increasing the size of the practice squad to 12 players in 2020.
All coaches and teams want an opportunity to keep more players, allowing for a higher retention percentage of offseason rosters and more developmental time within the team structure for young players.
As Garafolo notes, the NFL Players Association must agree to the change, but four more players keeping a job per team – and four times 32 teams is 128 total players – is a strong incentive for the union to implement the idea.
A bigger practice squad in 2020 could allow the Packers to stash a few more young players from the team’s 15-player undrafted free agent class. The team also drafted nine players. The addition of four new slots could be huge for rookies, especially after dealing with a virtual offseason and the potential of playing only two preseason games.
Of the Packers’ original 10 players on the team’s practice squad to start the 2019 season, four ended up on the 53-man roster, including breakout receiver Allen Lazard.
