Expanded Practice Squad Would Be Very Beneficial to New-Look Patriots

On Wednesday a report surfaced that the NFL and NFLPA were discussing the possibility of expanding the practice squad from 12 to as many as 16 players. Doing this would create greater roster flexibility, which would become advantageous in the event that a player tested positive for COVID-19 and a team needed to activate another player to the 53-man roster. It would also lead to more jobs for players.

NFL practice squads were to expand from 10 to 12 players in 2020. Now, there’s internal talk about expanding to as many as 16 for greater roster flexibility for positive Covid tests, sources tell me and @judybattista. NFLPA would have to co-sign but that’s more jobs for players.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) June 18, 2020

But doing this would also be very beneficial to a New England Patriots team that now enters the post-Tom Brady era.

Regardless of the number of extra slots they may add onto the practice squad, adding any at all will help Bill Belichick and his staff as they continue to sift through the young, talented players the league has to offer this year.

The Patriots drafted 10 players this year and brought in another 16 undrafted rookies. There's a lot of potential among those 26 players, but there isn't a roster spot for all of them. Because of that, chances are a few of those UDFAs could find themselves on the practice squad come September. And having the extra practice squad spots would allow for the six-time Super Bowl champions to retain even more of that young talent when the regular season begins.

With New England's goal this offseason to get younger and cheaper on both sides of the football, keeping more of the younger players in the league that just need time to blossom is a bump in the right direction for a team that just lost their Hall of Fame quarterback and are still trying to win football games.

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