After preseason roster cuts, NFL teams begin filling their practice squads. Practice squad players give teams flexibility and depth throughout the season, as all are eligible to join the active game-day roster.
NFL practice squad salaries are determined by both experience and terms set by the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Players with two or fewer years of experience receive a weekly salary of $13,000 for the 2025 season. This amount will increase each year until 2030, reaching $16,750. Veteran players on practice squads can earn between $17,500 and $22,000 per week in 2025. These ranges also rise annually through 2030.
The first unofficial NFL practice squad began in 1946 under Cleveland Browns head coach Paul Brown. The league formalized practice squads four years later. In 1993, the official number of players permitted was five. That number increased to ten in April 2004 and held steady until changes during COVID-19 expanded it to sixteen. For 2025, each team may have seventeen players on its practice squad—one must be from the International Pathway Program and at least ten must meet the two-year-or-less experience requirement.
A recent post highlighted that “Practice squad rules have shifted since 2019, expanding roster size to 16 with no real veteran limits and more flexibility for call-ups during the season.” (Practice squad rules have shifted since 2019, expanding roster size to 16 with no real veteran limits and more flexibility for call-ups during the season… — Pro Football Insiders)
NFL teams can protect up to four players per week from being signed by other franchises but are limited in how often they can elevate individuals before those players must join the main roster on an official contract.
Eligibility requirements exclude rookies and players who were on an active list for fewer than nine regular-season games during their only accrued NFL season. Each time a player is elevated from a practice squad for game day action, he counts toward his team’s forty-eight player limit; only two such elevations are allowed per game per team, and each player may be elevated three times before requiring a full contract.
