Here’s how the NFL’s Practice Squad rules and eligibility work

Photo by Larry Placido/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesWe’ve gone over how the NFL’s waiver wire works. Now let’s talk about how Practice Squad eligibility works. With Saturday being the official cutdown day, 1,184 players around the league will be released. Many teams, including the San Francisco 49ers, have already started the process.

The rules for NFL practice squads have changed over the past few years, expanding the number from 8 to 10, allowing two players with two years experience to be signed, and then expanding that number to 4 players.

A player must also now have a minimum of six games—it used to be three—on a practice squad in order for that season to count as one of the player’s…