NFL Rumors: Developmental League coming soon?
Most professional sports have some sort of developmental league where athletes can attempt to prove themselves worthy of a shot in the big leagues. In the NBA there is the D-League. In the NHL there are farm teams. In the MLB there are multiple minor leagues.
As for the NFL, there is no sort of developmental league whatsoever, but that may be changing soon according to the NFL’s Director of Football Development, Matt Birk.
While the NFL has not made any progress toward affiliating themselves with any developmental league, this fall will see the launch of the Fall Experimental Football League.
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According to CBS Sports, the league will feature six teams with a 40-man roster on each squad. The teams will play six games per season, and each player will make $1,000 per week.
If everything runs as planned, the league hopes to one day serve as the NFL’s feeder league with talents they believe are deserving of their shot in prime time.
With expansion seemingly always being a conversation topic in the NFL front offices, a developmental league may become a necessity in the coming years. Whether or not the NFL will affiliate themselves with the FXFL or make a whole different developmental league on their own, it seems that soon enough football players that did not make it directly into the NFL could receive a second shot at glory.