How Many People Are On An NFL Roster?
How Many People Are On An NFL Roster?
Learn about the NFL roster size and how it has changed throughout the years.
53 Players
In the NFL, each team is allowed to have a maximum of 53 players on their roster. This includes the 11 players that are on the field at any given time, as well as the 42 players that are on the team’s practice squad.
Injured Reserve
Injured Reserve (IR) is a designation used in professional football that allows teams to keep a player they consider injured, but who they hope will recover and be able to play again during the season, on their roster. An IR player still counts against the team’s 53-man limit.
There are two types of IR:
1. Regular IR: Players placed on IR are eligible to return to practice after six weeks and eligible to return to game action after eight weeks.
2. designate for return IR: One player per team may be placed on IR and designated for return. The player is eligible to return to practice after eight weeks and game action after ten weeks.
Practice Squad
The practice squad is a group of up to 10 players who practice with the team but are not eligible to play in games. Practice squad players are free agents and can be signed by any team in the league. They can be signed to the active roster at any time, but they cannot be signed to another team’s practice squad.
