NFL Practice Squad/Futures Contracts Tracker

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johnnyangryfuzzball
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Re: NFL Practice Squad/Futures Contracts Tracker

Post by johnnyangryfuzzball »

But what irritates me the most about this is that all these players the XFL put in the draft, the players opted into the draft.

Oliver Luck was protective of the players that signed a contract. Yet he's done nothing regarding those who signed the draft agreement. I said it before: the XFL doesn't have a whole lot to lose letting its players play on NFL practice squads, but he and the league's legal team should have put a clause in the draft entry agreement stipulating no futures contracts. If they want to enter the XFL Draft, they have to understand that they're making some sort of commitment in doing so—and they should ensure that they're available once their practice squad obligations expire. If they decide they want to spurn the XFL after they agreed to go into the draft pool, let them sign with their old team at the start of the NFL fiscal year in March. If the NFL truly values them that much, they'll wait. There are up to 90 people on a preseason roster. Most don't get signed until after the draft in May.

That's why I say this is a disaster.
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MikeMitchell
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Re: NFL Practice Squad/Futures Contracts Tracker

Post by MikeMitchell »

GregParks wrote: Tue Dec 31, 2019 5:34 pm Remember, no matter what level you're playing, it's EVERY football player's desire to get (back) to the NFL. If you have an opportunity to sign a deal and begin the offseason program with a team in the spring (even if you may not get paid 'til then) versus taking a chance on a brand-new league, possibly getting hurt, and playing well but still NOT getting signed by an NFL team, most players will (as this has shown) take the offer from the NFL team. I could make an argument both ways, but it can't be surprising that players are eschewing the XFL for the NFL here.
The assumption is that the XFL is targeting a large number of these prospective players and the truth is that they are not.

Most agents are pushing their clients towards the NFL. The XFL is an unproven year one league coming off the heels of the AAF disaster. Unless your client is getting Cardale Jones type money. Most agents are going to tell their players to choose the NFL.

Players don’t want to hear this but these agents also do these teams a solid. They have other clients so they steer the little fish into the fish bowl so that the GM’s of these teams can take care of their more prominent big fish clients.
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Re: NFL Practice Squad/Futures Contracts Tracker

Post by MGB01 »

johnnyangryfuzzball wrote: Tue Dec 31, 2019 6:36 pm But what irritates me the most about this is that all these players the XFL put in the draft, the players opted into the draft.

Oliver Luck was protective of the players that signed a contract. Yet he's done nothing regarding those who signed the draft agreement. I said it before: the XFL doesn't have a whole lot to lose letting its players play on NFL practice squads, but he and the league's legal team should have put a clause in the draft entry agreement stipulating no futures contracts. If they want to enter the XFL Draft, they have to understand that they're making some sort of commitment in doing so—and they should ensure that they're available once their practice squad obligations expire. If they decide they want to spurn the XFL after they agreed to go into the draft pool, let them sign with their old team at the start of the NFL fiscal year in March. If the NFL truly values them that much, they'll wait. There are up to 90 people on a preseason roster. Most don't get signed until after the draft in May.

That's why I say this is a disaster.
So if they don't make it out of minicamp, they should still somehow be "under agreement" to the league? Bravo Sierra shipmate.

EX: Jaylen Smith was in minicamp with the Defenders, didn't make it out with the team, no one else picked him up, so today he signs with the Seahawks practice squad (Ethan Pocic went back on IR so they promoted a center that was on the PS, and Smith took his spot). Sure he's off limits for as long as the Hawks are playing, but seeing that none of the other seven teams picked him up in the week or so that he was available, what they're supposed to "keep dibs" on him?

I'm totally not getting this. But considering the guy was a free agent after minicamp, maybe I'm not the one who isn't. You're getting into UFL territory here.
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Re: NFL Practice Squad/Futures Contracts Tracker

Post by GDAWG »

Just because a player was drafted by the XFL, doesn't mean they will sign with the XFL.
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Re: NFL Practice Squad/Futures Contracts Tracker

Post by GregParks »

johnnyangryfuzzball wrote: Tue Dec 31, 2019 6:26 pm How many of these futures contract players actually end up even making a preseason roster, though?
Most of them? Sure, some of them will get cut when draft picks sign as teams have to maintain their 90-man roster throughout the offseason as well. But at the very least many of these guys will get through rookie minicamp (also allowed for first-year players, of which many of these players are) and get the chance to show an NFL team that they should be carried on the preseason roster.
The futures contract is worthless. No sane agent should be letting his clients sign such things unless he's purposely steering them away from the XFL. All it does is to prevent the player from signing anywhere else, with nothing in return.
Just because they're not getting paid during this period doesn't make the contract worthless. They're at the very least tied to an NFL team with an opportunity (for MOST of them) in mini-camp and training camp. Again, the NFL is the ultimate for ALL of these guys, and if you have an opportunity to sign a contract, ANY contract, with an NFL team, you're going to take that opportunity over a new league, the chance of injury, and to be honest, the possibility of not even making it out of camp with an XFL team given others have gone through install during minicamp and already have a leg-up.
If the NFL team had a guy on their practice squad for a full season and didn't call them up once—maybe even kicking them off the squad and then bringing them back later on—how much value do they really see in the guy?
The practice squad is really a numbers game for a lot of teams. You could be a talented receiver but if no spots open up on the roster during the season, there's really not much a team can do other than keep you on the PS. To me, if you've been on the practice squad for a full season, and the team has been able to watch you practice against first-teamers and other roster contributors and they want you back on a futures deal to bring you into camp next year, they must think relatively highly of you.
To see so many of these players simply jumping at the futures contract immediately after the practice squad deal expired, without even considering outside offers apparently, is a serious issue.
We have no idea what kind of outside offers these players and agents considered, or how many the XFL was actually in contact with. As others have said, the XFL may not have gone hard after these players. I think if Oliver Luck had never said that he'd heard from practice squad players and gave the impression some would choose the XFL over futures contracts, that would've been for the best.
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Re: NFL Practice Squad/Futures Contracts Tracker

Post by 4th&long »

GregParks wrote: Wed Jan 01, 2020 10:56 am
johnnyangryfuzzball wrote: Tue Dec 31, 2019 6:26 pm How many of these futures contract players actually end up even making a preseason roster, though?
Most of them? Sure, some of them will get cut when draft picks sign as teams have to maintain their 90-man roster throughout the offseason as well. But at the very least many of these guys will get through rookie minicamp (also allowed for first-year players, of which many of these players are) and get the chance to show an NFL team that they should be carried on the preseason roster.
The futures contract is worthless. No sane agent should be letting his clients sign such things unless he's purposely steering them away from the XFL. All it does is to prevent the player from signing anywhere else, with nothing in return.
Just because they're not getting paid during this period doesn't make the contract worthless. They're at the very least tied to an NFL team with an opportunity (for MOST of them) in mini-camp and training camp. Again, the NFL is the ultimate for ALL of these guys, and if you have an opportunity to sign a contract, ANY contract, with an NFL team, you're going to take that opportunity over a new league, the chance of injury, and to be honest, the possibility of not even making it out of camp with an XFL team given others have gone through install during minicamp and already have a leg-up.
If the NFL team had a guy on their practice squad for a full season and didn't call them up once—maybe even kicking them off the squad and then bringing them back later on—how much value do they really see in the guy?
The practice squad is really a numbers game for a lot of teams. You could be a talented receiver but if no spots open up on the roster during the season, there's really not much a team can do other than keep you on the PS. To me, if you've been on the practice squad for a full season, and the team has been able to watch you practice against first-teamers and other roster contributors and they want you back on a futures deal to bring you into camp next year, they must think relatively highly of you.
To see so many of these players simply jumping at the futures contract immediately after the practice squad deal expired, without even considering outside offers apparently, is a serious issue.
We have no idea what kind of outside offers these players and agents considered, or how many the XFL was actually in contact with. As others have said, the XFL may not have gone hard after these players. I think if Oliver Luck had never said that he'd heard from practice squad players and gave the impression some would choose the XFL over futures contracts, that would've been for the best.
You make some valid points but I'm very sure that Oliver Luck has stated in earlier interviews they expect to pick up quite a few players once PS guys become available.

Getting back to your point about rookie mini-camp - R-Minicamp is scheduled for AFTER the XFL season so signing players and bringing them to camp will not be impossible.
https://operations.nfl.com/football-ops ... nfl-dates/
4/27 - Beginning this date, NFL clubs may request permission to visit with, try out, or sign any player who was under contract to the XFL at the conclusion of the XFL season.

Assuming XFL allows player moves After the Season and Not After the contract period which ends 5/31/19 - EDIT THEY DO. Of course NFL teams will want to 'lock' up players but lets face it most of those are from the draft (a week before anyway) and UDFA (same) so What's the difference.
The only issue I can see is INJURY in XFL season. However if a player was a PSer only, and signs a futures contract he's basically going up against a new crop of draftees with fresh CFB tape. Would not proving yourself in the XFL (risks and all) be a better selling point?

What I don't understand is why XFL contract runs through 5/31 and not 4/30.... is it to save money if players get signed by NFL and pulled out of their XFL contract? Prevent another league from grabbing them?
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Re: NFL Practice Squad/Futures Contracts Tracker

Post by Tank55 »

I wonder if it's to slow down poaching from the CFL. We've seen how obnoxious it is that CFL contracts don't actually expire until mid February. The CFL season doesn't start until 6/11, but preseason starts in late May.
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Re: NFL Practice Squad/Futures Contracts Tracker

Post by XFLInSTL »

So far DeMornay Pierson-El remains unsigned, this is good news for St. Louis.
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Re: NFL Practice Squad/Futures Contracts Tracker

Post by Rangersking669 »

johnnyangryfuzzball wrote: Tue Dec 31, 2019 6:36 pm But what irritates me the most about this is that all these players the XFL put in the draft, the players opted into the draft.

Oliver Luck was protective of the players that signed a contract. Yet he's done nothing regarding those who signed the draft agreement. I said it before: the XFL doesn't have a whole lot to lose letting its players play on NFL practice squads, but he and the league's legal team should have put a clause in the draft entry agreement stipulating no futures contracts. If they want to enter the XFL Draft, they have to understand that they're making some sort of commitment in doing so—and they should ensure that they're available once their practice squad obligations expire. If they decide they want to spurn the XFL after they agreed to go into the draft pool, let them sign with their old team at the start of the NFL fiscal year in March. If the NFL truly values them that much, they'll wait. There are up to 90 people on a preseason roster. Most don't get signed until after the draft in May.

That's why I say this is a disaster.
There was no "draft agreement". Lol. There will always be drafted players in these leagues that pass on coming to the league. They already had a supplemental draft to account for it once, and there will be another tomorrow or Friday. 2nd off, stipulating no futures contracts just to get drafted probably wouldn't hold up in court, and again, these guys got replaced already.
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Re: NFL Practice Squad/Futures Contracts Tracker

Post by Rangersking669 »

Also, there are *still* 30 guys available plus 6 draftees who will probably return at this point. All things considered, that's pretty solid when rosters are already at near max capacity as it is. Not to mention there are some leftover quarterbacks who may get assigned as well
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