I want to take a look at some special designations today; specifically, PUP, IR and NFI. These designations are used to help a team manage its roster within the 53-active-player limit.
It should be noted, almost all player salaries of a team count in calculating that team’s total salary cap during the season. This includes players that are on Injured Reserve (IR), Physically Unable to Perform (PUP), and the Practice Squad (PS). However, the NFI requires some differentiation, which is made below.
One of the reasons the salary cap came into effect is the alleged abuse of the IR list to get around the NFL roster limit.