NFL owners actually got together and did something beneficial for both the teams and the players. It might be a sign of the apocalypse. But as long as the 2017 season goes according to plan, teams will now be able to activate two players off injured reserve.
According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, owners have passed a resolution that enables two players to come off injured reserve from the same team in one season.
.@NFL owners have passed a resolution allowing two players to return off Injured Reserve, source says. Used to be just one.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 23, 2017
The previous rule allowed a team to place one player on short-term injured reserved, which enabled said player to return in the same season. Any other player placed on the reserve list would have to sit out the entire season.
This might not seem like a huge deal on the surface, but it should allow for a better on-field product.
The 2016 campaign saw multiple teams faced with unenviable decisions when it came to the reserve list. The Minnesota Vikings with Matt Kalil and Adrian Peterson were prime examples of this. Both were injured during the summer months, with Kalil himself forced to season-ending injured reserve before playing a single regular season snap.
Minnesota would ultimately avoid IR for Peterson, who came back late in the season only to be injured again.
Look for teams to also utilize this new rule as a way to make sure players are actually 100 percent healthy when they return to the field. It gives teams the ability to add two players to their 53-man rosters to make up for those who will indeed still be able to return in the same season.