The 2022 season will mark major changes for the Seattle Seahawks, as it will be with the first time in more than a decade that the team will take to the field without Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner. On top of that, there are a significant number of new names and faces on both sides of the ball, with a new scheme set to be deployed by a defense that has failed to live up to the standards of greatness set by the Legion of Boom earlier in the tenure of Pete Carroll and John Schneider.
At the league level, several other differences will be in place as well. Most notably, perhaps, is that the league will be operating without the COVID Amendment to the CBA for the first time since 2019, which means a return to the old injured reserve and practice squad rules.
The most notable difference the COVID Amendment brought to the league was the new injured reserve rules which allowed teams to return as many players as they wished from injured reserve after just a three week stay on the list. Fans greatly enjoyed this rule, which likely means the NFL will trash it.
However, another notable difference the COVID Amendment brought was the expansion of practice squads from 12 players to 16. The CBA adopted in 2020 expanded the practice squad to 14 players beginning with the 2022 season, however, a report from Jeremy Fowler of ESPN indicates that the league could look to keep the squads at 16 for the 2022 season.
League owners expected to discuss practice squad rosters this week – and continuing the 16-man squad is likely, per source. P-squads were expanded during the pandemic and were a welcome change.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) May 24, 2022
So, it would seem par for the course for the NFL to opt not to keep the rule fans loved while retaining a less popular temporary rule that doesn’t necessarily have the same impact on the quality of the game on the field. Obviously, it’s possible the league could keep both, but that would be logical, so it seems unlikely it’s what they do.