- Scout team
In sports, the scout team, also referred to as a practice team, practice squad or practice roster, is a group of players on a team whose task is to emulate future opponents for the featured (or starting) players. Frequently used in American or
Canadian Football , these teams consist of less athletically-developed or less skilled players. However, unlike a traditionalscrimmage , scout teams often have to learn a variety of different footballplaybook s in order to simulate the tendencies of future opponents.College football
In
college athletics , teams often use the scout team to develop younger players to replace the current starters when they later leave the school. Thus, in college, players on the scout team often include redshirtscholarship athletes, those unable to compete in games due to transfer rules (common in Division 1-A), as well as walk-ons.National Football League
Each
NFL team may keep up to eight members on their "practice squad" in addition to their 53-member main roster. They consist mostly ofrookie s who were cut in training camps and borderline NFL-caliber players. Both rookies and young veterans are eligible for the practice squad. However, a player cannot participate on the practice squad for more than three seasons.Practice squad players practice alongside regular roster players during the week, but they are not allowed to play in actual games. They can be paid considerably less than active squad players: The minimum salary from 2008 to 2010 is $5,200 per week (2008-2010) [cite web|url=http://blog.sportsbusinessdigest.com/2007/09/03/the-nfl-collective-bargaining-agreement-week-3/ |title=The NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement|accessdate=2008-05-08|publisher=Sports Agent News ] for 17 weeks, or $88,400 per season, in comparison to the NFL minimum rookie salary of $285,000. (Some practice squad players are paid considerably more, however: In 2006, the
New England Patriots paid third-year player Billy Yates the full $425,000 he would have earned on the active roster.) [ [http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/articles/2007/09/19/nfl_hunting_on_fox_leak/ NFL hunting for answer on how Fox got Patriots video - The Boston Globe ] ]Players can be promoted to the active roster either by their current team, or by another team who is scouting them. They retain
free agent status and may sign with any team they wish without compensation to the original team.References
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