Practice Squad eligibility - who can we stash?

by KiwiSteelerFan on Sep 4, 2009 11:35 PM EDT Comment 22 comments

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. 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.) and who did not dress for more than eight (8) regular season games during their only accrued (i.e., on the 53 man roster for at least 6 games) season.

Just looking at who would in this case still be Practice Squad eligible of the cuts, any CBA lawyers wanna help out that would be great, :

Dallas Baker - I think is still eligible as I think despite being on the 53 man roster for 9 games last year he was inactive for one game.
Jason Capizzi - Doesn't have an accrued NFL season and has done 2 years on the Practice Squad. Should be eligible.
Piotr Czech - eligible
Bruce Davis - I think he's eligible... only dressed for 5 games last year (his only accrued season) so I think he fits the rule.
Tyler Grisham - eligible
Sonny Harris - eligible
Tom Korte - eligible
Roy Lewis - eligible. Doesn't have an accrued season, though he was on the active roster for a couple of games last year
Anthony Madison - not eligible. Has more than 1 accrued season on an NFL active roster
Steve McClendon - eligible
Jeremy Parquet - ineligible - has more than 1 accrued season (2005 with KC and 2008 with us)
Scott Paxson - eligible I think. May not even have one full accrued season but even if he does he wasn't dressed for 9 games so he should get one more shot on the PS
Isaac Redman - eligible
Mike Reilly - eligible
Andrew Schantz - eligible
Dezmond Sherrod - eligible
A.Q. Shipley - eligible
Justin Vincent - eligible
Brandon Williams - ineligible I think, I believe he has more than 1 accrued season
Donovan Woods - eligible. 2008 was an accrued season for him (on active roster for more than 6 games) but dressed for less than 9 so he remains PS eligible

Did I miss anyone? TO sum up, including that not dressed for more than 9 games, a lot more guys are eligible than I thought. I think 17 of our cuts may be Practice Squad eligible. So who will the 8 be?

Capizzi, Shipley, Woods, Reilly, Davis, Harris, Baker, Roy Lewis perhaps?

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Very good post!

As for the final 8, I some drama will be had there this year! Shit I just hope Redman makes it to the PS because otherwise we’ll never hear the end of it!

Seriously, how about :

C-Shipley
T-Capizzi
RB-Redman
WR-Baker or Grisham
DL-Harris
DL-McClendon
LB-Woods
DB-Roy Lewis

by Steelfrog on Sep 5, 2009 12:14 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

That’s the same projected eight that I have, but maybe they need to keep Reilly around for a while as an extra arm in practice.

by steeler.lifer on Sep 5, 2009 12:29 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

One confusing point

Something that has been discussed earlier is the confusion about active and inactive players on the 53-man roster. It’s my understanding that neither Bruce Davis nor Tony Hills are eligible for the practice roster because they spent a full season on the 53-man roster and therefore accrued a full season of NFL experience. Here is the Wikipedia explanation (though of course they could be wrong too): “A player cannot participate on the practice squad for more than three seasons, or if he has accrued a year of NFL experience (six or more games on a club’s 53-man active roster or official Injured Reserve list.).” The actual contract language quoted in your original post makes a reference to “free agent players” and perhaps that is a reference to players who have already been cut by another team or who were activated from the team’s practice roster (as was the case last year with Baker and Bailey). Anyway, all will be clear soon!!

by steeler.lifer on Sep 5, 2009 12:22 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

yeah I'm no lawyer...

but once a player clears waivers he is a free agent I believe? The quote in my original post though is taken directly from the latest CBA agreement (the extension they reached a couple of seasons ago)

I think they may still be eligible. In looking back at player histories for this post I looked at Jeremy Parquet. He was on KC’s active roster all of his rookie year but he was only dressed for 2 games. He was on a practice squad the following year without any problems. This is the difference in the language between the Active roster (which is the 53 man full roster) and the Active List which is the players who dress on game day. I could very well be wrong on Bruce Davis, as I said I’m no lawyer but there certainly seems to be precedence with at least one guy there who has been on an active 53 man roster for a whole season but still went on a practice squad the following year.

Check out Parquet’s bio on steelers.com, see what you think.
http://news.steelers.com/team/player/85660/
it’s slightly different in that he was on KC’s active 53 man roster all year in 2005 but ended up on St Louis’ Practice Squad in 2006. I would think if he was eligible for 1 team’s PS he’d have been eligible for all 32 teams’ practice squad?

Of course it may all be academic if they think even sticking Davis on the PS is a waste of space!

by KiwiSteelerFan on Sep 5, 2009 12:29 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I see your point

Not a lawyer either and it does seem to make the case that Davis might be eligible. That bio has Parquet being on a 53-man roster for a total of 19 games in Kansas City in 2005 and 2006 before being cut, then in 2007 was on the Rams and later the Steelers practice rosters. It is somewhat different than a player being cut and then added to his own team’s practice roster as would be the case with Davis. In Parquet’s case he was never on KC’s practice roster, was cut, became a free agent, and then perhaps qualified for the Rams practice roster because he had only two games on the game-day roster in his resume. As you said, it could all be academic although keeping Davis on the practice roster would definitely clear up the confusion (our confusion anyway). It’s a damn good thing you and I are trying to get to the bottom of this though!!

by steeler.lifer on Sep 5, 2009 12:47 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

How does the cap work...

with regards to the PS? If Shipley and Sonny Harris, etc., signed multiple year contracts before camp, do those deals become invalid and therefore need to be re-done as PS deals? I would think so, but how would that impact the cap?

To be signed originally, they had to fit under the cap as they were written; so those deals become void theoretically (sp?)…is that money then usuable to sign other guys or is included in the total?

Another question is if someone gets hurt and they decide to bring back Shipley, or whomever from the PS to the 53-man roster, does his old contract go back into effect or does he need a whole new deal?

I’m not really up on my capology, nor the PS rules, so this is where I get confused. Any ideas?

by dawgs144 on Sep 5, 2009 9:20 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Some answers

When a player clears waivers he becomes a free agent, rendering void his previously agreed contract. A player who is then signed to a PR is paid a fixed salary of $5,200 a week which is applied against the cap. This would add up to about $700,000 per year per team. In the off-season only the top 51 salaries are applied against the cap. Once the season begins, all salaries including players on the PR, PUP list and IR list count against the cap. A player who is added to the roster from the PR must be paid at least the league minimum. I’m not sure but I would guess that in many cases they would be paid according to the terms of their original contract, but technically they would still be signing a new contract.

by steeler.lifer on Sep 5, 2009 11:18 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That helps, thank you....

by dawgs144 on Sep 5, 2009 11:51 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

when we cut them they go to waivers.

If another team picks them up off waivers they will inherit their contract. If players clear waivers then their original contract is terminated. If their signed to the practice squad they will sign a new contract for that. From what I remember though lifer, there is a minimum on the Practice Squad but they are free to pay them more than the minimum. I think the Patriots once paid a player as if he was on the active roster. If a player is activated to the Active roster though they sign a new contract. The original contract they signed as a rookie is gone and ignored but realistically it’ll probably be for the same amount, minimum wage.

by KiwiSteelerFan on Sep 5, 2009 5:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

PS

Capizzi seems to think he will be playing somewhere in 09 based on a quote in this morning’s Pittsburgh Post or Trib. My top candidates for PS;
1) Don Woods; He is a terror on ST and a decent LB. Thought he might make the 53 before Burnett shined so bright.
2) AQ; The guy has been destined for the PS since they drafted him.
3) Sonny Harris; If he passes waivers he is on PS to train for a role in 10.
4) Redmon; Like Harris if he passes waivers he will be training for a role in 10.
5) Roy Lewis; A decent DB that would have made the team last year except for the emergence of A Madison on ST.
6) Paxson; DL depth and a player that knows the system
7) Schantz; Going to need an extra LB in case of injury if there is only 8 LB on the 53.
8) Think they need a good OT to develop that they will find from someone else’s cut list.

When You Run The Ball Good Things Happen

by 5020 on Sep 5, 2009 10:16 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Nice post

Thank you

"I believe the game is designed to reward the ones who hit the hardest. If you can't take it, you shouldn't play." Jack Lambert

by LongTimeSteelersFan on Sep 5, 2009 1:58 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

i'm not lawyer but i think your interpretation is wrong

my interpretation is that the first part defining who is eligible is stating there are 2 criteria for determining who is eligible. since they used the word “and,” you have to meet them both & not just one.

criteria i)an “accrued season” is if the player received 6 weeks of active roster salary (aka what the player earns based upon the contract they signed & not practice squad salary) during ONE season. the player earns that salary if he’s on the 53 man roster, even if he doesnt dress for a game.
criteria ii)the 9 games referring to is (i think) if the player accumulates 9 games during his first 3 seasons, since a player can play on the PS for 3 seasons.

based upon that, i think baker, davis, woods, and paxson aren’t eligible

by t1mmy10 on Sep 5, 2009 2:52 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

after reading kiwi's comments above i realize my interpretation is wrong

maybe dressing for 6 games in one season or 9 games total?

by t1mmy10 on Sep 5, 2009 3:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Its not clear

The contract language is confusing without having a clear understanding of what all the terms legally mean. The explanation could be in the fact that part 1 of eligibility starts with “players”, and part 2 starts with “free agent players”. A player on waivers is not yet a free agent. All players cut today will be on waivers, they won’t be free agents until they clear waivers. Someone put on waivers now or claimed on waivers now would apply to part 1 of eligibility. If that player has a year of accrued experience (one year on the 53-man roster) he cannot be put on the practice roster. Someone signed after the waiver period would be a free agent and thus apply to part 2 of eligibility. If he was active for less than nine games in his NFL career he is eligible for the practice roster. On the other hand, I could be totally wrong.

by steeler.lifer on Sep 5, 2009 3:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

And of course I just realized my explanation is wrong, because even those guys on waivers today with no NFL experience must be put on the 53-man roster by the team that acquires them. Hope this helps t1mmy lol.

by steeler.lifer on Sep 5, 2009 3:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

lol its ok

by t1mmy10 on Sep 5, 2009 6:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

OOOOOOOHH

i think i get it

ok, players aren’t eligible if they earn a season of nfl experience. a player qualifies for a season of nfl experience (aka increasing his min pay for next year) if he’s on the 53 man roster for at least 6 weeks (bye weeks count). BUT he’s still eligible for the PS as long as he only earned 1 season of experience AND he dressed for less than 9 games in that one season.

by t1mmy10 on Sep 5, 2009 7:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

that's how I read it...

…but of course I may be wrong!

by KiwiSteelerFan on Sep 5, 2009 10:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

nope and kudos to you for reading it right cuz i was reading it wrong for a while

by t1mmy10 on Sep 6, 2009 12:02 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Following up

according to one of Jim Wexell’s tweets every body we cut is eligible for the Practice Squad except: Carey Davis, Madison, Paxson, Parquet and Brandon Williams.

Looks like the only one I got wrong was Scott Paxson. I’m not 100% sure why either.

by KiwiSteelerFan on Sep 6, 2009 3:06 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs