Now that the Jacksonville Jaguars have cut their roster to 53-players, at noon today they can begin building their practice squad. In order to add a player to the practice squad, the players must first pass through waiver claims and hit free agency. A player is eligible for the practice squad if they have not accrued a season of free agent eligibility according to the NFL's rules.
To be eligible, a player has to have not been on a team's 46-man active game-day roster for more than eight games in any accrued seasons, and cannot have been on a practice squad for more than two years. A player may be placed on a team's practice squad a third time, but only so long as that team maintains 53-players on their roster. If the team should drop below 53-players, the third year practice squad player will automatically be elevated to the main roster.
A practice squad player's minimum salary is $5,700 a week, however there is no maximum amount for a practice squad salary and practice squad salaries do count against the salary cap, a change that started last year with the new CBSA.
A player on a practice squad may negotiate a deal with any other team in the NFL, so long as they are signed to the team's 53-man roster. A player who is signed from a practice squad will be paid three weeks of salary from the contract he signed, even if the team does not keep them for the entire three weeks. This prevents teams from simply signing players to "pick their brain" before a match up.
The league also restricts teams from signing players off an upcoming opponents within six days of the teams' game.