In the NFL, teams don’t have one starting lineup that plays both ways, like in hockey, soccer, basketball, and most other sports. Each team has two starting lineups, meaning 22 starters. That also calls for massive roster sizes. During the offseason, teams can carry up to 90 players on their roster. However, that number is nearly cut in half to 53 for the regular season. And yet, there’s a loophole that Alex Bachman and many other fringe players have taken advantage of.
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Teams can only have 53 players on their active rosters, but they are also allowed to carry 16 on their practice squad. The practice squad is essentially what it sounds like: a squad for practice. They are technically employees of their current teams, but not part of their active roster, and can therefore be signed by any other team’s active roster.
Practice squad players also receive a weekly salary, rather than yearly. They can also only be elevated up to the active roster a maximum of three times per season, capping their opportunity to make an impact.
Generally, the purpose they serve is to play on scout teams in practice and help the starters prepare for that week’s opponent. Bachman, a wideout for the Las Vegas Raiders, has been on practice squads going on seven years — an NFL record.
As Bachman explained, “It’s impossible to have a longer [practice squad career than me]. When I came in the league, two years max was the rule. [But I’m currently in season number] seven. It changed with COVID. So COVID, I think, probably saved my career, because I would have been out after two years.”
The practice squad has gone permanently up to 16 (it had been 14 and 12 in previous years), but 10 of those 16 have to be rookie or second-year players. But that means there’s still six other spots open for guys like Bachman, who entered the league undrafted back in 2019. He explained that COVID had a massively positive impact on fringe guys like him. The constant turnover meant more spots for more guys.
“I think number one, they realized that they needed more reinforcements available. So in the process of testing off the street and stuff, so like if a guy tested positive COVID or COVID hit a whole room, you needed a guy to come in, he had to test, he had to quarantine for like five days,” explained the wide receiver.
“And during the season that was just never gonna work because you have games every 7-6 days, Thursday night games, you know, could be three days,” Bachman added.
Bachman originally signed with the Los Angeles Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2019. He was later released during final roster cuts, and he and the team came to an injury settlement. A couple of months later, he was signed to the New York Giants practice squad. He was cut and re-signed countless times, but remained with Big Blue through the 2021 season.
Bachman played his first NFL snap for the Giants in 2020. He played in the final three games of the 2021 season, too. He had one special-teams tackle in the first, and he played five offensive snaps in the next. In the finale, he played 25 offensive snaps and even touched the ball. He was tackled for a three-yard loss on the carry, but he had four kick returns for 94 yards and a punt return for another 16.
Bachman then spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons with the Houston Texans before latching on with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2024. He signed a second future/reserve contract with them this past January, meaning he will remain with the club at least through training camp 2025.
Bachman played in six games for them last year, recording his first three career receptions for 31 yards in Week 6. He played 102 offensive snaps overall. After all of those moves and all of those contracts, Alex Bachman has racked up $2,209,467 in career earnings over a seven-year career. Not bad for a perennial practice squad player.
