How the NFL Practice Squad Works: Size, Pay and Poaching Rules Explained

NFL teams carry 16 players on a practice squad, with a 17th spot available for a qualifying international player. Eligibility, pay and how a rival team can sign a practice-squad player away are set by the league's collective bargaining agreement, not team discretion.

How many players are on an NFL practice squad?

Practice squads have grown steadily since the NFL adopted them in the 1993 CBA at five players a team, according to ESPN. The league expanded the squad to 16 players in 2020. In 2024, it added a 17th spot reserved for a player enrolled in the NFL's International Player Pathway program, the league announced in September 2023. For 2026, the league's own calendar confirms clubs may again field a 17-player practice squad, with one player designated as an International Player, according to NFL Football Operations.

Who is eligible for a practice squad spot?

Of the 16 non-international spots, up to six can go to players with unlimited NFL experience. The other 10 must be rookies or second-year players, according to ESPN.

How much do practice squad players get paid in 2026?

Pay is fixed by the CBA, not negotiated player to player. Under the salary table in Article 33 of the agreement, players with two or fewer accrued seasons earn $13,750 a week in 2026. Players with more experience earn a minimum of $18,350 a week and a maximum of $22,850. Practice squad contracts can't include signing bonuses, guarantees or incentives of any kind.

Can another team sign a practice squad player away?

Yes. Under Article 33 of the CBA, any team can sign a rival's practice-squad player directly to its own 53-man roster, at any time, without owing draft-pick compensation.

Once signed, the new team has to keep that player on its 53-man roster for three games — a bye week counts as one — even if it releases him before then. He's guaranteed three weeks of active-roster minimum pay regardless of how long he actually stays on the roster. If he catches on with another team during that window, that pay offsets what the original signing team owes him.

Is there a blackout period before playing a former team?

Yes. A practice-squad player can't sign with his own team's next opponent later than 4 p.m. Eastern on the sixth day before that game, under the CBA. If his team is coming off a bye, the deadline moves to the 10th day before the game. After the conference championship games, practice-squad players on the two Super Bowl teams can't sign with their own club's Super Bowl opponent.

Can teams protect players from being poached?

Teams can shield some players. Each Tuesday, a club can designate up to four practice-squad players as protected for that week, according to ESPN. A protected player can't be signed to another team's active roster from that Tuesday until his own team's kickoff that week.

Where does this leave the Giants and Jake Haener?

The Giants face their own version of these rules this weekend. The team's initial 53-man roster is due by 6 p.m. Eastern Sunday, Aug. 30 — two days earlier than the usual Tuesday cutoff after the NFL moved up the deadline, first reported by NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. The Giants play their preseason finale Friday, Aug. 28, against the Jets at MetLife Stadium.

Quarterback Jake Haener, signed late in camp, is competing with Brandon Allen for the third quarterback job behind locks Jaxson Dart and Jameis Winston. In a roster projection for Yahoo Sports, Giants Wire's Dan Benton projects Haener to land on the practice squad rather than the 53-man roster. More on the Giants' full roster bubble is in GiantsGator's cutdown explainer.

If that happens, any quarterback-needy team could sign Haener directly to its own 53-man roster at any point during the season, without sending the Giants anything in return — the same rule that applies to every practice-squad player in the league.