Notes: Quick refresher on CBA, practice squad, waiver wire rules for this weekend

As the final cut down day approaches for the league on Saturday for all teams to reduce the size of their roster to 53 players, we’ve dredged up some reference articles for fans following the transaction news. There are many collective bargaining agreement (CBA) details that are key to understanding the moves being made by the Lions and other teams during this hectic weekend.

First, we have the practice squad rules, by which teams may employ up to 10 athletes beyond their standard 53-man roster to participate in non-game team activities. The practice squad is generally used to retain young developmental players who the team thinks have potential but require additional time and training to prepare for live NFL regular season action. The rules governing which players may be signed to the practice squad were covered by our site two years ago, and have not changed substantially since the last big modification in 2016.

The second set of rules that are important are the waiver wire rules that govern how the players released on the final cut down day may be signed by other teams. Last year, our Jeremy Reisman explained the waiver wire process in detail. The interaction between the waiver wire rules and practice squad rules is due to the fact that young players who typically do not have the veteran service time necessary to go straight to free agency (and skip waivers) are exactly the type of players most teams want to put on their practice squads. Any player who clears the waiver wire process may be signed to a practice squad (if they are eligible) on Sunday afternoon starting at 1 p.m. ET.

Remember: Waiver wire priority is the same as the most recent draft order, so the Lions get their priority in the T.J. Hockenson spot at number eight.

Finally, some players may already be designated or will be assigned designations to various lists like the PUP, NFI, or IR lists. It is useful to know when players may be assigned to or come off those lists, how and when they may (or may not) be eligible to return to active status during the season, and what the salary cap treatment of such players are. While we have not done a designation list article in a while, our affiliated sites Hogs Heaven and Cincy Jungle have some from last year.

Now you’re ready to follow along on Pride of Detroit’s live roster transaction tracker for this weekend! On to the rest of today’s Notes:

• Detroit general manager Bob Quinn spoke with beat reporters in Cleveland about preparations for this weekend, and several wrote about it. Kyle Meinke at mlive.com focused on the front office’s readiness to find talent on the waiver wire. Dave Birkett at the Detroit Free Press wrote about the year to year progress that Quinn has seen in both the roster and the coaching staff. Justin Rogers with The Detroit News reported on the GM’s confidence in the offensive line pieces the team has put in place this offseason.

• This is a surprise and did not even occur to me until Mike Rothstein from ESPN tweeted it out:

• Also from Rothstein is this cool inside look at what goes on upstairs in Bob Quinn’s box at Ford Field during a preseason game.

• Big ups to Trey Flowers:

• Sports Illustrated’s Kalyn Kahler (who did the phenomenal Chicago Bears kicker search article) has another great piece. I sure hope she keeps coming up with these great article ideas:

• Speaking of NFC North kickers, we have tragic news from Thursday regarding teams who do not employ stone cold Matt Prater: