if you're a big fan of hbo's hard knocks just like me then you have heard of the words the 53-man roster and how every athlete is hungry to get that spot but unfortunately everyone can't and a lot of people in training camp end up on that nfl practice squad so if you've ever wondered what the nfl practice squad means and why it's a good and kind of sort of a bad thing for athletes to end up there then this is the video for you so make sure to give this video a thumbs up or thumbs down because it's your thumb and let's go ahead and get into it the main purpose of nfl practice squads is to develop players in a low risk scenario and this scenario is very low risk because they can only have 16 players on the nfl practice squad it usually is 12 but because of the pandemic teams are allowed to have 16 because a lot of people could be out on the coveted reserve list when it comes to the nfl practice squad the biggest rule of them all is that only six of these athletes can have played actual nfl seasons and when i say actual nfl seasons i mean that they were on active rosters so they were not participating in the practice squad this is a big deal especially in the time of covet because previously there could only be four athletes that have occurred seasons in the nfl and they could only have two seasons occurred in the nfl so the fact that they got rid of this limit has allowed athletes to not only learn from professionals but gave professionals a chance to still be a part of the nfl in a way practice squad players are only allowed to have three seasons on a practice squad as this is just a developmental phase in the nfl and as you would probably hope these athletes are getting better and can be able to make that actual 53-man roster one of the most important steps when it comes to the nfl practice squad is that these athletes must pass the 24-hour waiver period after they did not make that 53-man roster wafers are a 24-hour waiting period where athletes are able to be picked up by another team on their 53-man roster and after this most athletes do come back and sign with their prospective training camp nfl practice squad the goal of playing on that 53-man roster is vital to every nfl athlete but sometimes that goal cannot be accomplished on your original team and the nfl practice squad players are able to switch teams during the season now the biggest cache to this is that if another team picks up an nfl practice squad player from their original team then they have to put that athlete on their 53-man roster but if that athlete was released then they can go play on the next team's practice squad and for any of these scenarios where a practice squad player is switching teams during the middle of the season then that athlete cannot go to the upcoming opponent unless it is six days before that game or during a bye week 10 days before one of the biggest downsides that i see when it comes to being on the nfl practice squad is that these athletes are not allowed to travel with the team on away games and they're also not even allowed to be on the sidelines during their home games athletes can watch the game from the locker room or from the stands but they truly cannot be a part of the active nfl game day experience now when it comes to the money these athletes can make they do get paid by the week the amount they are paid is 9 200 and for those veteran athletes with more than two years under their belt they make 14 000 a week but unfortunately this money is not guaranteed to these athletes which means that if they get cut before payday which is on tuesdays in the nfl then they do not receive that weekly payment these athletes do have an actual chance of making the field with their original team and these athletes must be activated 90 minutes before game time and for each game teams are only allowed to activate two players from the practice squad on the third time they must be signed to the 53-man roster and when these athletes are activated for nfl game day they do receive more payment but the payment just comes in a form of receiving the total amount for three weekly paychecks instead of that one-time weekly paycheck now that you know so much about the nfl practice squad make sure to check out this video right here where i talked about the nfl salary cap and how the money that really determines who can be on that 53-man roster leave me a comment down below and let me know if you're also a big fan of hard knocks or all those kind of shows like that and make sure to subscribe and hit the bell to be notified every time i post a new video which are on mondays at 11 a.m eastern standard time give this video a thumbs up or thumbs down because it's still your thumb and remember don't be afraid to join the combo [Music] actually talk talk about words come out your mouth in sentences phrases and forms