What is NFL’s ‘Emergency QB’ rule?

Get to know everything about the NFL emergency QB rule that will be implemented from the 2023 season.

What is NFL’s ‘Emergency QB’ rule?

Brock Purdy (Image via SI)

Back in January, when the Philadelphia Eagles faced the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game, the Niners suffered a major setback. Both of their QBs got injured in the game and the rookie sensation Brock Purdy was forced to play with an elbow injury. The Eagles comfortably defeated the 49ers since the Niners couldn’t put points on the board with an injured signal-caller leading the offense.

After that NFC Championship game debacle, many fans, followers, and experts wanted the league to bring back the NFL emergency QB rule so that teams would be able to avoid disasters like that in the future. After a lot of requests for the whole off-season, the league has approved the bylaw that will allow the franchises to dress a third quarterback in their roster.

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On Monday, NFL announced that the majority of owners have approved bringing back the NFL emergency QB rule during its annual spring meetings. So what is the emergency rule exactly? In this article, let’s take a closer look at the rule that will allow teams to suit up a third signal-caller without using an active roster spot due to emergency reasons.

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Everything one needs to know about the NFL emergency QB rule

The NFL emergency QB rule will allow teams to dress for three quarterbacks. This is not a new rule. The rule existed in the league from 1991 to 2010 and now it’s back.

Currently, NFL teams are allowed to dress up a maximum of 47 players on their active list. And teams can dress up three QBs if they want, but most people don’t like to waste a roster spot on a third quarterback since the chances of two players playing one of the most protected positions in football getting hurt in the same game are very rare.

Ryan Tannehill Will Levis Malik Willis Titans Mike Vrabel
Titans QBs Ryan Tannehill, Will Levis, and Malik Willis (Images via USA Today and Getty Images)

However, with the new rule, teams are allowed to dress a 3rd QB without using the 47-player roster. There are two catches to the new rule. The emergency quarterback can only enter the game if the other two quarterbacks are injured and wouldn’t be able to continue playing the game.

Furthermore, the emergency QB must exit the game if one or both other QBs are cleared to participate in the game. Also, the 3rd QB must be a member of the 53-man roster and can’t be a practice squad call-up.

Now the question is, would the teams be willing to spend a spot for a third quarterback on their 53-man squad? Most teams don’t have the habit of doing it, but maybe this rule change will encourage them to add an extra QB to their 53-player roster.

Teams will benefit from the emergency QB rule a lot during playoffs

Despite the rule change that will allow the franchises to dress up a 3rd QB without wasting a spot in the 47-man active players’ list, the NFL teams might be hesitant to use this rule to their advantage as they would like to use that third-string QB spot in the 53-man roster to address a different position.

Brock Purdy 49ers Brock Purdy injury
49ers QB Brock Purdy (Image via SportingNews)

However, after the NFC Championship debacle, where the 49ers lost Brock Purdy and Josh Johnson in the same game, teams might use this rule to their favor during the postseason. No team wants to play with a one-armed QB in the Championship games, so from the 2023 playoffs, organizations might dress up 3 signal-callers in their 53-man roster.

Teams like the Tennessee Titans who have three talented QBs on their roster Ryan Tannehill, Malik Willis, and Will Levis will benefit a lot from the emergency QB rule if they make it to the playoffs.

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