One of the mysteries of the NFL for fans is wrapping their minds completely around all the intricacies of the rules governing how teams can manage their roster and payroll. The practice squad is particularly unclear, and I think I know have at least some understanding of why that is – because there aren’t any clearly defined black-and-white rules.
A perfect example just so happens to involve the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Cincinnati Bengals, two teams that are squaring off this coming weekend. Here’s the back story:
[Bengals head coach Marvin] Lewis erupted and ripped the Buccaneers when he was asked about receiver Dezmon Briscoe, who was drafted in the sixth-round by the Bengals this year. Briscoe was cut at the end of the preseason and the Bengals planned to bring him back to their practice squad at the standard salary of around $80,000.
The Buccaneers, however, stepped in and made an unusual move. They signed Briscoe to their practice squad, but they did it for the $325,000 minimum salary for players on the active roster.
“When you overpay a guy on the practice squad, you create a problem for teams,‘’ Lewis said. "I don’t know that teams want to set that precedent and they did with Dez.
“That’s not a great precedent for teams to set as we try to keep the NFL and doing the things we’re trying to do as a league. It’s still a league of 32 teams and things are put together a certain way.’’