Per Adam Schefter the National Football League Players Association has just approved the new Injured Reserve rule. This had been approved by the NFL owners some time ago but was initially rejected by the NFLPA due to some other unrelated conditions ('pork', for those of you that follow politics) that were included in the original draft of the rule.
In addition the trade deadline will be pushed back to the Tuesday after the eighth weekend of the season.
With the Patriots having already placed some players on IR, the big question for many Pats fans is whether or not this will be retroactive - and the answer is no. Only players with a "major injury" who are placed on Reserve/Injured after 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 4th (or thereafter) will be eligible to be reactivated at a later time. No word yet on what the definition of a major injury is and what would or would not meet that criteria. There will be a limit of one player per team that this new rule can be applied to each season.
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