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As the NFL prepares to take 32 teams of up to 90 players each to training camp in a pandemic, a lot of conversation has erupted about using smaller rosters. The NFL Players Association, which in theory should want as many jobs as possible during camp, has expressed a desire to cut the rosters by 10 per team, from 90 to 80.
That’s a maximum of 2,560 players in the entire league, 320 fewer places than league teams would have in any other year.
The teams would presumably be allowed to have even less than 80, if they so choose. The list size has always been a maximum, not a minimum.
The union also wants no more than 20 players in a given facility at the same time during the initial acclimatization period (training and conditioning) that covers the first 21 days of camp. The number doubles to a maximum of 40 during the next phase of 10 days of contactless practice.
So basically teams would have to operate multiple shifts during the first 31 days of camping, if the NFLPA recommendation is accepted. The last two weeks of preseason preparation, involving 10 practices (eight padded) would involve the entire list.
Given this proposed formula, the union’s reasoning for opposing any preseason game becomes more obvious.
None of this becomes official until the two sides agree. But this is another example of the many issues on which agreement will be needed before the camps can open, and the clock is ticking. Loud.
