Giants Sign Trace Ford After His Practice Squad Elevations Ran Out: How the NFL's Three-Game Limit Works

Correction, Oct. 20, 5:27 p.m. EDT: An earlier version of this story said the Giants had not announced Ford's signing as of 5 p.m. ET. The team announced it at 4 p.m. Tuesday, along with the releases of Jihad Ward and Najee Harris.

The Giants signed outside linebacker Trace Ford from the practice squad to the 53-man roster Tuesday, three days after he used the last of his three practice squad elevations. In the same announcement, the team released outside linebacker Jihad Ward and running back Najee Harris and added wide receiver Jason Brownlee to the practice squad.

The team's transaction wire lists Ford's elevations on Oct. 3, Oct. 10 and Oct. 17. A club can elevate the same player for no more than three games in a season, so a 53-man contract was the only way Ford could play again this regular season.

Ford is the third Giant this season to reach that limit and then be signed to the 53. Wide receiver Braxton Berrios and linebacker Malik Harrison were elevated for each of the first three games before their signings. Ford is the first of the three who is not a vested veteran, a player with four or more credited seasons. If the Giants later want him back on the practice squad, he would have to go through waivers first. Berrios and Harrison would not, until the trade deadline.

How a standard elevation works

The practice squad rules are in Article 33 of the NFL-NFLPA collective bargaining agreement. A club may elevate up to two practice squad players for each game. The elevation can come no earlier than the last transaction day before the game. The Giants have made theirs on Saturdays for Sunday games and on Monday, Sept. 21, for the Monday night game against the Rams.

An elevated player must be on the game-day active or inactive list. He reverts to the practice squad at 4 p.m. ET on the first business day after the game, without passing through waivers. For a Sunday game, that is Monday afternoon. While elevated, he counts on top of the 53, so a club can reach 54 or 55 players, the league's Football Operations site says.

The three-game limit

The CBA text says two games per player per season. That text dates to 2020. The league and the players' union changed the limit to three in 2022, NFL.com reported at the time.

The league's Football Operations site gives both numbers on the same page. Its entry on the elevation addendum says the clause can be used for "a maximum of two regular-season or postseason games per player per season." The next paragraph says three. This story uses the three-game limit, which matches the 2022 change, the Football Operations paragraph that reflects it and the Giants' own wire. Berrios and Harrison were each elevated a third time on Sept. 26 with no 53-man signing in between, which the two-game version of the rule would not have allowed.

After the third game, any further elevation must be a full activation, with the player terminating his practice squad contract and signing a regular NFL contract on the 53. A club that later wants him back on the practice squad must waive him or, for a veteran not subject to waivers, release him. Football Operations says a player who returns to the practice squad that way is eligible for three more elevations.

What an elevation pays

A practice squad player with two or fewer accrued seasons earns a fixed $13,750 a week in 2026 under the CBA. An elevated player is paid the league minimum for his number of credited seasons for that week. Football Operations puts a game check at one-eighteenth of a season's salary. The CBA text says one-seventeenth, which predates the 17-game season.

Over the Cap lists Ford with no accrued seasons. His listed base of $247,500 is 18 weeks at $13,750. An elevation week at the $885,000 minimum for a player with no credited seasons pays $49,167, which is $35,417 more than a $13,750 practice squad week. The site's other $70,834 for Ford equals that extra amount for two weeks, so Over the Cap's total reflects two of his three elevations.

A 53-man contract at that minimum pays the same $49,167 a week. The terms of Ford's contract were not available Tuesday. For a minimum-salary player, a 53-man contract costs a club no more per week than an elevation. The added costs are a roster spot and, for a player without four credited seasons, exposure to waivers if he is later released.

The Giants' elevations, Weeks 1-6

The Giants have used 11 of a possible 12 elevations, on five players. Jake Haener and Dalen Cambre have used one each. Haener has been on the 53 since Oct. 7.

Ford's defensive role grew with each game. He played three defensive snaps against Arizona, 16 at Washington and 30 against New Orleans, according to Pro Football Reference and nflverse snap counts, along with 24, 23 and 31 special teams snaps.

What the Giants did at the limit

The Giants signed Berrios to the 53 on Sept. 29, three days after his third elevation. He played against Arizona and went on injured reserve Oct. 7.

Harrison was not elevated or signed for the Arizona or Washington games. The Giants signed him to the 53 on Oct. 13, 17 days after his third elevation. He played 32 special teams snaps against New Orleans.

Ford's signing came three days after his third elevation, the same gap as Berrios'.

Berrios and Harrison are vested veterans. The Giants' Aug. 30 release of Berrios is logged as "Terminated, Vested Veteran." Harrison's $1,215,000 base salary on Over the Cap is the 2026 minimum for a player with four to six credited seasons. A player with four or more credited seasons can be released without waivers through the trade deadline, Football Operations says. The deadline this season is Nov. 10 at 4 p.m. ET, under the league's 2026 calendar, as published by the Seahawks. After that, those players are subject to waivers too.

Ford has no such protection. A player with fewer than four credited seasons is subject to waivers whenever he is released. If the Giants later cut Ford, every other team gets a chance to claim him before he can return to the Giants' practice squad.

The Giants have made that round trip twice this season with players who were not vested. Cambre was signed to the 53 on Sept. 12, waived Sept. 14 and back on the practice squad Sept. 16. Haener was signed Sept. 26, waived Sept. 28 and back on the practice squad Sept. 30. Neither was claimed.

While Ford was on the practice squad, any club could have signed him to its 53 at any time, except his next opponent after 4 p.m. ET on the sixth day before their game, and would have had to pay him for three weeks at the active-roster minimum, under Article 33. The 53-man contract ends that exposure. Waivers replace it if he is later released.

This week

The CBA requires a club to open a roster spot before it moves a practice squad player to the 53. Ward and Harris were both released as vested veterans, which leaves the active roster at 52 after Ford's signing.

Outside linebacker Dawuane Smoot, on the practice squad since Oct. 13, has not been elevated by the Giants this season.

The Giants play at Houston on Sunday, then have their bye.