[Dave Butz Baby!]

This is interesting... I just saw that if you are in the NFC West, you are allowed to have nine practice squad players this year, with the ninth being someone foreign born. Apparently this increase is being slowly phased in to all teams for signing foreign born players....

From Mark Maske, WPost..

Originally Posted by Mark Maske, Washington Post

The NFL is phasing in its plan to add a spot to each team's practice squad for a foreign-born player. The four NFC West clubs will have a ninth spot on their practice squads this season for an international player. The other 28 teams will have eight players apiece on their practice squads, up from five last season.

The players will be Berlin offensive lineman Rolando Cantu of Mexico, Berlin defensive end Christian Mohr of Germany, Rhein Fire safety Richard Yancy of Germany and Rhein offensive lineman Peter Heyer of Germany. Heyer spent the last NFL preseason with the Saints. The players have not yet been assigned to their NFC West teams. They will not be eligible to be signed by another NFL club to its 53-man roster during the season, as other practice-squad players are.

"This initiative is another major step forward for our program," Nick Polk, the senior director of football operations for NFL Europe, said in a written statement released by the NFL. "The idea is for these players to be involved with an NFL team for an entire season, beginning in training camp. It is an opportunity for them to experience the speed of the NFL, to develop their skills, to be challenged physically and mentally, whether it is in the weight room or in learning new offensive or defensive systems.

"Our goal is to have national players participating in NFL games in years to come and this is a significant move towards achieving that goal."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...-2004Jun8.html