Remember when the NFL expanded the rules for who was eligible for the practice squad? That gave a number of second-year players additional practice squad eligibility. We learned it also gave quarterback Scott Tolzien additional eligibility as well, on Wednesday.
Crack investigative reporter Rob Demovsky sleuthed that one out.
Just heard from the @NFLPA, which also confirmed what the NFL office said: Tolzien is practice-squad eligible. #Packers
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) August 27, 2014
Tolzien spent his first two NFL seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, where he didn’t take a snap. He opened the 2013 season on the Packers practice squad before eventually getting called up to the big club, where he played in three games.
Under the old practice squad rules, Tolzien would have been out of eligibility. He had already spent two full NFL seasons on an active roster, as well as part of a third year on a practice squad. That stint on the Packers practice squad would have ended Tolzien’s eligibility.
Under the new rules, eligibility it tied to games active in a season. Specifically, players with more than one accrued season are not eligible. In order to gain an accrued season, a player must be on the active roster for six games or more. If a player does have an accrued season, they are still eligible for the practice squad if they were on the 45-man active game day roster for less than nine games.
Get all that?
Anyway, who gives a shit? Tolzien is eligible.
Is he going to end up on the Packers practice squad? Only if he shits the bed against the Chiefs tonight. And even then, we have our doubts.
Tolzien has the advantage in the quest to back up Aaron Rodgers. If he plays even with Matt Flynn against Kansas City, it’s his job.
If he blows it, then either the Packers keep three quarterbacks or they release Scooter. In the latter instance, Scoots is more than likely signing with another team to be on their active roster.
Buffalo, who just signed Chicago Bears discard Jordan Palmer, seems like an obvious destination.
Here’s how we see it. Scooter Tolzien is either playing himself into a backup job with the Packers or off the team, not onto the practice squad.
We’ll stand by our pre-training camp prediction — he plays himself into the No. 2 slot.
Can’t argue with that. I think Tolzien is the #2 and Flynn is on the street because we can always pick him up later. He has value pretty much exclusively to GB.
Flynn plays with balls in big games though, you cant deny that. Keep three qbs so you aren’t calling up Jared Lorenzen a week before Thanksgiving asking what he’s up to these days.
Every team keeping 2 QBs is behind the times. In today’s NFL, every player is one hard hit from a concussion and being out of the game, mandatory. If it happens in the 1st quarter, as happened to Rodgers and Wallace last season, you would then have to play the remainder of the game with one healthy QB, who is also one hit away from being out.
The NFL needs to expand their rosters, and teams need to start keeping 3 QBs.