NFL IR rules will continue to allow unlimited returns in 2021 season

The NFL is keeping a popular injured reserve (IR) rule from last season, according to NFL Network reporter Tom Pelissero. Unlimited players can return from a team’s IR list, a change that was made in light of the ever-changing injury landscape COVID-19 created this past year.

Players are also now eligible to return after three weeks on the list, as opposed to the previous eight. Bye weeks do not count as one of the three weeks. Only members of the 53-man roster are allowed to return, and the deadline for such cuts is Sept. 1.

If the injured player is not able to return within the three-week timeframe, he is out for the remainder of the year. If a player has to return to the injured reserve after being activated, he is ineligible to return for the rest of the season. Once placed on the list, a player is unable to participate in any team drills, practices, etc. until the three weeks have passed.

The NFL’s IR rules also allow players to be traded, so long as they follow a few stipulations.

Any team that wants to trade a player on IR must first designate that player to return. A team that trades for a player on injured reserve may move him to its active roster provided that he was placed on IR by 4 p.m. EST on or after the day of the 53-man roster deadline. The three-game requirement is then determined according to the team the player was traded from.

If a player returns to the active roster immediately, the team acquiring him is charged with the IR designation. In all other cases, the team that trades him will be charged.

The new rules also have a special section regarding practice squads.

In such cases, teams must active the player as soon as he is able to return to practice. No team can elevate a player to their active roster until he has been on the practice squad and counted against the 16-player limit for at least one day.

The NFL also states that players on the practice squad are eligible to be signed by another team at any time.

Times are changing in the league, but many would agree this one is for the best.

Photo courtesy of Gregory Shamus/Getty Images.