Story Brief

NFL rosters are only a 53-man ordeal in name. Really, they're the 53 on the active roster and the 16 on the practice squad. What started as a "taxi squad" of fill-ins for the Browns in the 1940s -- to circumvent payroll rules, team owner Arthur McBride listed them as employees of his taxi company, even though they did no work there -- has evolved into a crucial component of team building. Practice squads have grown from just a handful of players to 16 since 2020.

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