It's that time of the year again, when the NFL bigwigs get together and try and improve the game of professional football with rules and mandates. You may have already heard about some of these, but here's the entire list of changes.
- All players are required to wear knee and thigh pads starting in 2013. (The player's complaining that these pads will slow them down realize that it would also slow down the opposing team too, right?)
- The NFL Trade Deadline has been moved from Week 6 to Week 8. (More trades! Awesome.)
- One "marquee" player will be allowed to return from the Injured Reserve list and practice with the team after the sixth game. He will be allowed to return to game action after the eighth game. (Basically, they've made it easier to use the regular-season PUP list)
That third one would've been useful last year for the Chargers with Luis Castillo. The team could have opened a roster spot instead of holding it for him for more than half the season.