NFL Practice Squad
Each NFL team may keep up to eight members on their “practice squad” in addition to their 53-member main roster.
(a.) The practice squad shall consist of the following players, provided that they have not served more than two previous seasons on a Practice Squad: (i) players who do not have an Accrued Season of NFL experience; and (ii) free agent players who were on the Active List for fewer than nine regular season games during their only Accrued Season(s). An otherwise eligible player may be a practice squad player for a third season only if the Club by which he is employed that season has at least 53 players on its Active/Inactive List during the entire period of his employment.
(B.) A player shall be deemed to have served on a Practice Squad in a season if he has passed the club’s physical and been a member of the club’s Practice Squad for at least three regular season or postseason games during his first two Practice Squad seasons, and for at least one regular season or postseason game during his
third Practice Squad season. (A bye week counts as a game provided that the player is not terminated until after the regular season or postseason weekend in question.)
They consist mostly of rookies who were cut in training camps and borderline NFL-caliber players. Both rookies and young veterans are eligible for the practice squad. However, a player cannot participate on the practice squad for more than three seasons. Practice squad players practice alongside regular roster players during the week; however they are not allowed to play in actual games. They can be paid considerably less than active squad players: the minimum salary from 2008 to 2010 is $5,200 per week (2008-2010) for 17 weeks, or $88,400 per season, in comparison to the NFL minimum rookie salary of $285,000. (Some practice squad players are paid considerably more, however: in 2006, the New England Patriots paid third-year player Billy Yates the full $425,000 he would have earned on the active roster.)
They are also ineligible for many fringe benefits such as service time, pensions, and the like. They hope to be promoted to the active roster either by their current team, or by another team who is scouting them. They retain free agent status and may sign with any team they wish without compensation to the original team.
PUP List – Physically Unable to Perform
The PUP list is similar to MLB’s 60 day disabled list. Players receive full salary but are not allowed to play or practice. They may attend team meetings.
Players on the reserve/PUP list cannot be placed on the active roster during the first six weeks of the season. After that time, they are eligible to practice with the club for up to three weeks.
If a player is activated from the reserve/PUP list to the active roster, a subsequent roster move must be made to maintain the 53-man active roster limit.
Injured Reserve
Injured reserve seems to have two functions: to force owners to pay players to do nothing, and to prevent fans from seeing players who sustained injuries, then recovered. Gentlemen on injured reserve still count against the salary cap, so teams get no financial benefit from moving them to the IR list. From the team’s perspective, players are placed on injured reserve solely in order to open a roster spot for a healthy player.
Players placed on IR cannot return, because being placed on injured reserve means the player is done for the season. Those on injured reserve receive full pay for the season, but are forbidden to dress again that season regardless of whether they recover.
Franchise tag
Every year each National Football League team is allowed to designate a player who is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent as a franchise player. This designation is applied to a player through the use of the franchise tag. Each team has access each year to only one franchise tag (of either the exclusive or non-exclusive forms) or one transition tag. As a result, each team may only designate one player each year as that team’s franchise player.
Usually designated for players of great skill or of high importance to the team, a franchise tag allows a team’s manager the privilege of strategically retaining valuable free-agent players while seeking talent through the NFL draft or other acquisitions without exceeding the League’s salary cap.
If the designated franchise player elects to play for the team that designated him with the franchise tag, and does not negotiate a contract with another team his one year salary is guaranteed.
If a club withdraws their offered contract the player immediately reverts to an unrestricted free agent.
Types of franchise tags
There are two types of franchise tag designations: the exclusive rights franchise tag, and non-exclusive rights franchise tag:
* An “exclusive” franchise player must be offered a one-year contract for an amount equal to or greater than the average of the top five salaries at the player’s position as of a date in April of the current year in which the tag will apply, or 120 percent of the player’s previous year’s salary, whichever is greater. Exclusive franchise players cannot negotiate with other teams.
* A “non-exclusive” franchise player must be offered a one-year contract for an amount equal to or greater than the average of the top five salaries at the player’s position in the previous year, or 120 percent of the player’s previous year’s salary, whichever is greater. A non-exclusive franchise player may negotiate with other NFL teams, but if he signs an offer sheet from another team, the original team has a right to match the terms of that offer, or if it does not match the offer and thus loses the player, to receive two first-round draft picks as compensation.
It is the team’s choice whether it uses an exclusive or a non-exclusive franchise tag. While it may seem that a team would always choose the exclusive option, there are two reasons a team might prefer the non-exclusive option instead. The first is that the salary is based on the top 5 salaries of the previous year instead of the current year, which could be a significant difference. The second reason is that a team may want the opportunity for the two first-round draft picks they would receive if they lost their player.
2008 franchise-tagged players
* Arizona Cardinals – Karlos Dansby LB (Non-exclusive)[1]
* Baltimore Ravens – Terrell Suggs LB (Non-exclusive)[2]
* Carolina Panthers – Jordan Gross OL (Non-exclusive)[3]
* Cincinnati Bengals – Stacy Andrews OL (Non-exclusive)[4]
* Dallas Cowboys – Ken Hamlin SS (Non-exclusive)[5]
* Green Bay Packers – Corey Williams DT (Non-exclusive)[6]
* Indianapolis Colts – Dallas Clark TE (Non-exclusive)[7]
* Kansas City Chiefs – Jared Allen DE (Non-exclusive)[8]
* Oakland Raiders – Nnamdi Asomugha CB (Exclusive) [9]
* Philadelphia Eagles – L.J. Smith TE (Non-exclusive)[10]
* Seattle Seahawks – Marcus Trufant CB (Non-exclusive)[11]
* Tennessee Titans – Albert Haynesworth DT (Non-exclusive)[12]
2008 exclusive franchise player costs by position
| Position | Cost |
|---|---|
| Quarterback | $10.730 million |
| Offensive Linemen (includes Offensive Tackle, Offensive Guard, Center) | $7.455 million |
| Defensive End | $8.879 million |
| Wide Receiver | $7.848 million |
| Cornerback | $9.465 million |
| Safety | $4.396 million |
| Linebacker | $8.065 million |
| Running Back (includes all Fullbacks and Halfbacks) | $6.538 million |
| Defensive Tackle | $6.363 million |
| Tight end | $4.522 million |
| Punter or Kicker | $2.514 million |
Transition tag
A transition tag is a tool used by National Football League teams to retain unrestricted free agents. It guarantees the original club the right of first refusal to match any offer the player may make with another team. The transition tag can be used once a year by each club unless they elect to use a franchise tag instead. Transition tags can be rescinded, however, teams that rescind a transition tag cannot use it again until the next season.
If a player signs a contract after receiving the transition tag, his original team can not use the tag again on any player until the contract has expired. The exception is if the player first signs a transition offer sheet, which is a one-year contract equal to the average salary of the top ten players in the league at the player’s position, or a twenty percent salary increase, whichever is greater. This contract was not historically guaranteed, however, it will be guaranteed starting in 2007 per the collective bargaining agreement agreed to by the NFL owners and the NFLPA on March 8, 2006. If the player signs the offer sheet prior to a long-term contract, the player’s team can then use the tag the next year.
If another club offers a contract to a transitioned player, his original club has seven days to decide whether the original club will match that offer or not. If the original club agrees to match, the player is forced to sign with the original club at the terms agreed to in the offer by the other club. If the original club declines to match, the player signs with the other team, and the original team is offered no compensation, as they would be if the player had received the franchise tag.
History
The transition tag was born in 1993, following the advent of free agency in the NFL. Teams were afraid of losing their best players to free agency, which was not a concern previously. The NFL granted each team two transition tags, each of which they could only use once and never again. The system has been since changed to allow each team to use a transition tag each year it is available to them.
Disadvantages
The transition tag is rarely used by NFL franchises. There are two reasons for this. The first is that the one-year transition offer is typically a large amount, which could provide the club with difficulties while attempting to keep the team’s aggregate salaries under the salary cap. The other is that players often react badly to receiving the tag, because it limits their ability to negotiate with other teams and therefore hinders their chances of receiving the largest possible contract. Players sometimes counter the tag by holding out, or refusing to play for the club, creating distractions and headaches for the club.
“Poison Pills”
The transition tag is currently at the center of a controversy regarding its potential usefulness in light of the contract offered by the Minnesota Vikings to Steve Hutchinson, an offensive guard who had received the transition tag following the 2005 season from the Seattle Seahawks. The contract was for $49 million over seven years, $16 million of which was guaranteed. However, the Vikings added a “poison pill”: The entire $49 million contract was guaranteed if Hutchinson was not the highest paid offensive linemen on the team he signed with. Since Hutchinson’s salary was less than that of the Seahawks’ Walter Jones, an offensive tackle, his contract would have been guaranteed by the Seahawks, while the Vikings, having no offensive linemen averaging more than Hutchinson’s proposed salary, would only be obligated to pay the guaranteed $16 million. The Seahawks filed a grievance with the NFL league office, claiming that the poison pill was illegal under the collective bargaining agreement in that the Seahawks would have to pay significantly more than the Vikings despite matching with the exact same contract. An arbitrator ruled in favor of the Vikings, and the Seahawks were essentially unable to match and received no compensation.
In an act of apparent revenge, the Seattle Seahawks included their own “poison pills” when signing restricted free agent wide receiver Nate Burleson. The total contract was seven years and $49 million – not coincidentally the exact amount of the contract Hutchinson received from the Vikings. The first poison pill stipulated that the entire contract would be guaranteed if Burleson played five or more games in the state of Minnesota during any year of the contract. This of course would be impossible as a member of the Seahawks, but an inevitability as a member of the Vikings, who play their home games in the Metrodome in Minnesota. The second provision would guarantee the full contract if Burleson is paid more on average per year than all of his team’s running backs combined. At the time of his signing, the averages of the Vikings’ tailbacks fell well shy of the $7 million average of the Burleson offer sheet. However in Seattle, running back Shaun Alexander alone makes an average of over $7 million per year.
Future uses of the transition tag could result in the club losing their transitioned player in similar fashion, rendering the transition tag effectively useless. This has caused some, including former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, to believe the collective bargaining agreement must be amended to prevent this from happening again in the future.
Free Agent Definitions
TRANSITION PLAYER: Each team may name two Transition Players and that label must remain with them until their contracts expire or until they are released. They will be paid at least the average of the top ten highest paid players at his position. A Transition Player may sign an “Offer Sheet” with any other team, but his original team has seven days to match any offer he receives. If the original team declines to match the offer, no compensation will be awarded.
FRANCHISE PLAYER: Each team may name one Franchise Player and that label must remain with him until his contract expires or until he is released. He will be paid at least the average of the top five highest paid players at his position. He may sign an “Offer Sheet” with any other team, but his original team has seven days to match any offer he receives. If the original team declines to match the offer, compensation in the form of two first round draft picks in consecutive years will be awarded from the signing team.
RESTRICTED FREE AGENT (RFA): A player whose contract has expired and has fewer than four tenured years in the league. He may sign an “Offer Sheet” with any other team, but his original team has seven days to match any offer he receives. If the original team does not match the offer, compensation will be awarded in the form of draft picks from the signing team. The round and quantity of picks are determined by the “Qualifying Offer” made by the player’s original team. If a RFA is tendered a minimum qualifying offer the compensation is the equivalent of the round in which that player was originally selected. If that player was originally a rookie free agent, no compensation is awarded.
UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENT (UFA): A player whose contract has expired and has four or more tenured years in the league. He may sign with any other team with no restrictions. If a team loses more UFAs than it signs, they will be awarded “Compensatory Draft Picks” from the league. The value of the pick is determined by the difference of the contracts signed by the players lost and those acquired. If a team has signed an equal number or more UFAs than it has lost, no “Compensatory Picks” will be awarded.
EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS FREE AGENT (ERFA): A player whose contract has expired and has three or fewer tenured years in the league. His original team must make a contract offer by the league imposed deadline or the player becomes an unrestricted free agent. No compensation is awarded for losing EFAs.
COMPENSATORY DRAFT PICKS: Compensation awarded by the league to teams who lost more UFAs than they signed. Compensation is in the form of extra draft picks added to the end of rounds three through seven. The quantity of picks is equivalent to the difference of UFAs signed to UFAs lost. For example, if a team loses 4 UFAs and signs 1 UFA, they will receive three Compensatory Selections. The value of the picks is determined by the difference of the contracts signed by the players lost and those acquired. The highest possible compensatory pick is the 31st of the third round (91st overall). If a team has signed an equal number or more UFAs than it lost, no “Compensatory Picks” are awarded.
OFFER SHEET: A contract offer from another team signed by a RFA, Transition Player, of Franchise Player. The player’s original team has seven days to match the offer and retain the player.
QUALIFYING OFFER: An initial contract offer made to RFAs. This offer determines what type of compensation the player’s original team receives if the RFA signs with another team. The original team is awarded draft choices from the signing team. The highest compensation is a package of 1st and 3rd round picks. Players tendered minimum offers carry compensation equivalent to the round in which they were originally drafted. For instance, a RFA was originally a 6th round pick, and is given a minimum tender “Qualifying Offer.” If he signs an “Offer Sheet” with another team and the original team declines to match the offer, the original team will receive the signing team’s 6th round pick. Players who were originally rookie free agents carry no compensation if a minimum qualifying offer is tendered.
Important related definitions:
* Accrued NFL Season:
6 or more regular-season games in one season in which a player is on the 53-man protected roster, IR list or PUP list
* PUP list: Physically Unable to Perform -
this List designates players with serious injuries that will keep them from being able to start a season on the 53-man protected list but may be able to return to the roster during the regular season. The players must be placed on this roster at or before the league-wide 65-man summer roster cutdown to be eligible for this designation, and they must stay on this list for at least the first six weeks of the regular season. After this time teams have 3 weeks to evaluate such players after which each such player must be placed on the 53-man roster, season-ending Injured Reserve (IR) or waivers.
* Injury Settlement:
Occasionally a team has a player on IR but agrees with that player to a cash settlement in exchange for releasing that player. The team benefits by limiting further financial responsibility and player carrying costs while the player benefits both by receiving cash and by becoming eligible to sign with another team and begin playing as soon as physically capable (perhaps even during the same season)
* Practice Squad “Season”:
Consists of three or more weeks during a single season on a team’s PS
Other Player Designations:
Teams may protect their rights to given players even if those players are not on the 53-man roster in these designations:
* PUP list
* IR list
* League Suspension list
* Retired list
These rules are important in understanding how to manage an NFL roster over the course of the pre-season and regular season. They lay the groundwork for decision-making with respect to each team’s roster.
