The NFL looking to increase roster size to 55?

DAVID EULITT THE KANSAS CITY STAR

The idea of adding to the current 53-man roster has been tossed around plenty in the last few years. Still, it likely hasn't been approached enough. The NFL's Competition Committee has apparently put "examination of roster size" on its docket for its annual meeting. If current players (and player representatives) and league officials weren't so busy trying to get the best deal for themselves, this issue would've been a stronger player during the lockout.

Bottom line: football is a violent sport. I'll advocate for the importance of football being in the life of both kids and adults until the day I die but I admit it can absolutely be taxing on a man's body. In the NFL, where players can weigh in excess of 300 pounds and move that weight as well as anyone in almost any other profession, it's dangerous. What's worst than the high impact collisions that are repeatedly shown by countless sports shows and websites is the strain put on an athlete by the day-to-day small acts. Blocking, tackling and even sprinting provide stress on a body that can only take so much.


Basically, adding a couple more players for game day could go along way in saving players from lasting injuries. Players running down on kickoffs absorb lots of punishment (which is why the NFL has moved the kickoffs up, increasing touchbacks while considering narrowing goalposts). With sub packages and multiple formations being so popular in the NFL, virtual starters are having to play on special teams. If players can be afforded six to ten plays off a week, along with reduced physical reps in practice settings, bodies wouldn't be as stressed.

As for the money, it wouldn't change much. Adding 64 players to the pool would take away a million dollars from each team. Split between the 50-plus already on the roster, it means a loss on average of about twenty-thousand per player. And with the cap increasing by twenty-million dollars over the last two seasons, the amount is negligible. It's likely increasing again before the 2016 season when a change would take effect. Owners should have no gripe if the cap increases because of the addition of players. A company that makes $4.5 billion annually should be able to squeeze in an extra 30 mil, right?

If the NFL is serious about player safety, adding a couple players to each roster would be a way to show it. There aren't many changes to be made that keeps football the sport it is and increase player safety, but this is a surefire way to do it.