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The NFL frequently tinkers with its rules about third quarterbacks, as teams don’t want to use a roster spot on a third-string quarterback who probably won’t get on the field, and the league not wanting the ugly football that would ensue if a team with only two quarterbacks saw both of them injured in the same game.
To Titans coach Brian Callahan, the answer should be a 54th spot on the roster, and a 47th active player on game day, with that last roster spot going to the third quarterback.
Callahan said after trading third-string quarterback Malik Willis to the Packers that the Titans couldn’t justify using one of their 53-player roster spots on Willis, but that if the NFL allowed a 54-player roster with the 54th player being a quarterback, that might have kept Willis in Tennessee.
“They have to be on the active roster so you have to carry three. That’s how it works. You can still practice squad a quarterback and still elevate him, but they’re still counting. It’s not like a free spot, like it comes across like you get a free spot for a third quarterback, but it’s not,” Callahan said. “It’s a roster spot, it’s a real one, and you’ve got to carry him on the 53 to get that emergency quarterback. I would love it if they just made it a 54th spot or a 47th spot on game day or whatever that is, and you can just carry a third quarterback and they can enter the game if you need them to enter the game, that would be great, but that’s not the way it works. I know they don’t necessarily want to pay a 47th spot on game day. I get how all of it works and it sounds appealing, but it’s still a roster spot at the end of the day.”
Callahan said the decision to trade Willis is less a reflection on his development than on a decision to only keep two quarterbacks, and the feeling that Mason Rudolph was more consistent as a backup to Will Levis in training camp and the preseason.
“Malik really showed well for himself,” Callahan said. “Mason just kind of continues to be the epitome of…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/brian-callahan-suggests-54th-roster-104601057.html
Author : ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports
Publish date : 2024-08-27 10:46:01
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