2018 RULES: Free Agency Cracks

[JonC]

We could also sign players to futures contracts as a way to keep the practice squad players like they do in the NFL, wouldn't mind that feature or at least something similar

The way we turn practice squad players into UFAs still being associated with their home team, giving them unlimited bidding rights to keep those players, is intended to serve similarly. In that first day rush of free agency with unlimited bidding, most teams will get most if not all their practice squad players back, unless someone just happened to be of such high demand on the market that a team would give up one of their first day bids for a practice squad type guy. So in practice, almost all practice squad type players can be signed back, similarly to reality.

The bolded portion is why I've now changed my vote to keeping it the same. The flexibility is nice, and we see a ton of young guys signed to futures deals early on in FA.

[Goodell]

CONCLUSION: Some interesting ideas to think about for the future perhaps, but for this off-season (as strongly supported) we'll keep free agency the same and not make suggested adjustments.