1) NO CHANGES TO THE DRAFT ARE NEEDED to accomodate the addition of players to the rosters. First, as fencer said, the UDFA process works well. In addition, teams now have 80 players in camp. If rosters are expeanded, all that would happen is that fewer players would be cut in the last cut.
2) NO NEED TO THE ACTIVE ROSTER IS NEEDED
Do we really want to change the game and add 10 specialists to the Game Day rosters? If anything Game Day rosters should be reduced. In any case, any restrictions help the patriots who are better able than any in dealing with such issues.
3) THERE SHOULD BE ADDITIONS TO THE TOTAL ROSTER AND PRACTICE SQUAD
"Shadow roster" players should be paid. The reality is that in trade for playing 18 games, the players want more jobs. I think that this will come. Personally, I favor more additions to the roster and none to the Practice Squad.
I should point out that expanded rosters will make it more difficult to pick up street free agents during the season. To see this, let us presume that roster move from 53 to 56. That would take 96 players out of the street free agent pool. So, the first 96 potential street agent substitutes would not be there; they would already be on someone else's roster. Adding Ninkovich last year and Moore (and Woodhead) this year have been important to us.
In anticipation of an eighteen game season I like where you are going - my thoughts:
-- Injured Reserve: Two categories, temporary & season ending.
---- Temporary IR is eight weeks. After week eight a player may be reactivated and returned to practice NLT week eighteen, any player not reactivated prior to week eighteen is relegated to season ending IR.
---- Season ending IR follows the same rules currently in use.
---- Discussion: Players injured prior to week ten may thus be carried with no penalty to the active roster for eight weeks and have an opportunity to return prior to the final game of the regular season. This provides teams another injury management tool, but forces teams to weigh losing a player for a full eight week period versus carrying them as game day inactives for players likely to become available sooner. Players injured after week nine must either be carried on the active roster while healing, or placed on season ending IR.
-- Physically Unable to Perform (PUP): Reserve/Active designations are removed.
---- Any injured player may be placed on PUP no later than final cut-down.
---- The team may PUP a player at any point of training camp/pre-season, once placed on PUP the player may not return to practice prior to week seven.
---- Players may resume practicing after week seven and prior to week ten; a player must be activated or placed on season ending Injured Reserve (IR) no later than week ten.
---- Players may be activated at any time after week seven and prior to week ten.
---- Prior to final cut-down teams are provided three options for managing injured players: (1) carry them on the roster; (2) place them on season ending IR; (3) PUP them with a chance they can return no later than to week ten.
---- Discussion: Anticipating a shortened training camp and pre-season, the new PUP rules would allow a team to rehabilitate players injured prior to the regular season, but at a severe enough price in lost practice time to limit abusing the system. Players with less severe injuries that still require several weeks of rehabilitation still have an opportunity to return and play.
-- Off-season roster: Expanded to eighty-five.
---- First cut-down to seventy-five prior to pre-season.
---- Final cut-down to fifty-five NLT one week before the beginning of the regular season.
-- Active roster: Increased from fifty-three to fifty-five.
---- Game day roster remains limited to forty-five; third QB rules remain unchanged.
-- Practice Squad: Increased to ten.
---- Any player with less than four years in the NFL is eligible. An NFL year is considered a player carried under contract on the active roster or practice squad for a minimum of six weeks (cumulative).
And I do think there'd be a few more specialists. 
