patchick

This time of year we start projecting a lot of players to the practice squad, so it seems a good moment to review the eligibility criteria and identify the eligible Pats players.

Eligible players are restricted to those who:

Do not have an accrued season of free agency credit
OR
were on the 45-player active list for less than nine regular season games during their only accrued season.
Where "accrued season" means:
Six or more regular-season games on a club's active, inactive, reserved-injured or PUP lists

Max time on PS is 3 seasons; in the 3rd season, the player must be moved to the 53 if there's an open slot.


Below is my reckoning of a complete list of eligible non-rookies on the 80-man roster. This is a first pass and some players bounce around a lot and can be tricky to sort out. If you spot errors or omissions please let me know!

CB Mike Richardson
QB Matt Gutierrez
DT Titus Adams
OL Jimmy Martin
DB Antwain Spann
SAK Raymond Ventrone
OL Dan Connolly
CB Jeff Shoate

[edit: updated 8/20]

pats1

See, the only thing about those PS eligibility rules are these two players:

Billy Yates: Earned an accrued season in both 2003 and 2005, then was on the practice squad in 2006.

Jeff Shoate: Earned an accrued season in both 2004 and 2005, then was on the practice squad in 2006.

But here's my list of PS-eligible non-rookies on the roster right now, based on the rules in your post (with the caveats listed above, it's possible there could be more players):

Jimmy Martin
Matt Gutierrez
Ray Vetrone (3rd year PS)
Titus Adams
Mike Richardson
Antwain Spann (3rd year PS)

Dan Connolly and C.J. Jones are NOT practice squad eligible - unless there's something to the Yates and Shoate anomalies and it's possible to go on the PS with 2 accrued seasons.

In Jones' case, he already has 3 practice squad season (3 weeks on PS = 1 season). He was on the Browns' PS for 5 weeks in 2003, 16 games in 2004, and was on the Patriots' PS for 16 weeks in 2007.

In Connolly's case, he earned an accrued season in 2005 and another in 2006 while on IR.

patchick

Thanks, I had different info for Jones in '03 and Connolly in '05-- I'll update post #1 to keep it clear.

Pats726

So last year was the 3rd for Connolly and Jones?? Just curious..It is a bit complicated when players move around a bit..I would have thought Bubba's time already ran out..

patchick

One of Ventrone's years was spend on IR. Definitely complicated!

Box_O_Rocks

I'm not sure Connelly and Jones have exhausted their 3rd year eligibility.

I also understood that an opening on the roster did "not" have to be filled by a 3rd year PS player, as long as the roster slot was filled...in other words, a 3rd year player must be brought onto the roster and paid league minimum if the club "does not" find another candidate for that slot.

__________________
"...the annoying, unrelenting Patriots." Armando Salguero, Miami Herald

patchick

Right, I wasn't clear in describing that...I just meant that a slot can't sit empty for a game without promoting them, not that they must be the first choices to fill a slot that opens midweek.

As for Connelly and Jones, I'm pretty much stumped. Where do you find authoritative stats on things like the number of games a player was signed but inactive for?

Box_O_Rocks

For the Pats, I've gotten my hands on the Patriots' end of season release the past couple years, League wide I have no idea...maybe Miguel knows?

__________________
"...the annoying, unrelenting Patriots." Armando Salguero, Miami Herald

Pats726

Well...I have tracked the Pats inactves for years..the ONLY way would be to look up the games week by week..always lists players not playing...A bit confusing..I agree..
Yes..I knew Ventrone had a year out as he was injured in the NFLE..and then really didn't do much until the season after..

pats1

No, Connolly is ineligible because he has 2 accrued seasons - which by the rules above would disqualify him, but as we saw with Yates and Shoate, that might not be true.

Jones is ineligible because he already has 3 practice squad seasons under his belt.