53 Man Roster - dress 45?

I have a question. Each team is allowed 53 men on the active roster but are only allowed to dress 45? Why is that? With all the injuries this year to all teams I would think you should be allowed to dress the full 53. In several games this year the Chargers were down to their last lineman due to injuries. One more injury they would have had to play a TE or figured out something else. They consistently dressed 8 lineman I think.

Just something I find curious. It isn't like the owners couldn't afford to pay 8 more guys a roster spot each week, especially with the TV revenue the league is generating.

 

You can actually dress 48.

 

it's 46

 

It's 47

 

Isn't it 49?

Anyway, I think the competition committee is working on this and wouldn't be surprised if we see changes coming within a couple years. It's a given if they expand the number of regular season games.

 

I always thought it was 50...51 if you didn't have cheerleaders.

 

nope, it's 46

Game Day RosterA team’s Active List on game day must consist of no more than 46 players and no fewer than 43. Players who are on the 53-man roster but are not active on game day are placed on the Inactive List.

I expect it to change as well. but it's been 46 since 2011 when they did away with the silly "Emergency QB" rule. Back then it was 45 + 1 emergency QB.

 

I believe that was the Porky's Corollary - stating the more cheerleaders, the more chances somebody's getting lucky in the equipment room - but it was abolished in the '88 offseason.

 

Cool. I didn't know for sure but just threw out 49 to play along in the guessing game. Kinda interesting that they put a roster minimum on there too. Does a team forfeit if they only bring 42? Probably some rule in place from the 30's...

Just an FYI, being that you're fairly new here, if you ever see green font it generally indicates sarcasm. I'm sure you'll come across the green font soon enough if you haven't already and it'll prevent a WTF moment.

 

I think it was discussed before about where this rule came from and why it's still on the books....can't remember why though.

 

You're setting him up to think I was serious with my Porky's Corollary post

 

Thanks for the heads up

 

why dress any!!!!

 

It's already legal to tackle a player by his long hair, don't want to make it legal to be brought down by the short hairs!

 

Rosters used to be smaller. With increased revenues and number of skilled players the NFL was able to increase the roster size. You usually play 22 plus 3 key STers which is only 25. Add in key subs like RB or WR or DBs and extra STers and you're up to a roster number in the 40's. We're given 53 to account for injurys. We're given an game day roster of 46 to keep an competitive balance between teams with fully healthy rosters and those dealing with injurys.

Cajun

 

Because most of us Don't want to see all that....... Yuck

Cajun