The new CBA brought a new wrinkle into the practice squad rules, allowing teams to elevate players to the active roster without having to ever terminate a practice squad contract. This is important for teams because it gives them a chance to avoid waivers for players they want to protect from being poached by another team. It also allows them to use a veteran player for a week while avoiding the required termination pay guarantee that usually comes with a veteran contract.

The catch is that a team can only use the designation two times per year on the same player (this limit per player does not cross teams). At that point the teams will need to execute regular contracts with the player and if they want to avoid him being claimed will need to keep him on the 53 man roster.

Thus far 28 teams have elevated at least one player in the first two weeks of the season. The exceptions are the Dolphins, Falcons, Steelers, and Raiders. 10 teams have taken full advantage of the rule in these first two weeks of the year, giving themselves a 55 man roster to select from on Sundays.

The most popular positions to elevate are running back (10), wide receiver and cornerback (9), safety (7), defensive tackle and tight end (6 each). The top ones makes sense as these are positions that require a lot of depth and many of these positions also double on special teams.

We’ll update the list of players on OTC each Sunday so if you want to see who is no longer eligible check out our updated list each week.