NFL teams don’t use game-day roster flexibility with emergency QBs as often as one would think
September 16, 2025
The NFL is in its third season since the return of a rule that allows teams to designate an emergency third quarterback without using a spot on the active game-day roster. Less than half the teams utilized the provision the first two years. That’s in part because a third QB has to be on the team’s 53-man active roster. Rosters on game day are smaller. An emergency quarterback has played just once the past two years. Jameis Winston did it with Cleveland last season.