Why QB3 Is a Real Roster Job Again

Every August, the third quarterback on a depth chart becomes a talking point. That job is not a coaching preference. It is a roster rule with a strange history.

The original exemption

From 1991 through 2010, the NFL allowed a team to dress a third quarterback outside the active-roster limit. It came with a catch. If the third quarterback entered the game before the fourth quarter, the other two quarterbacks were ineligible for the remainder of the game. Coaches treated him as a break-glass option, not a package player.

For 12 seasons, a team that lost both quarterbacks simply had no rule to fall back on.

The 12-year gap

The exemption was eliminated in 2011, when the game-day active roster was set at 46 players. Teams could still carry a third quarterback, but he had to occupy one of those active spots like anyone else. Most clubs decided that a player who might never take a snap was not worth a game-day slot.

January 29, 2023

In the NFC Championship Game, the 49ers lost Brock Purdy and then Josh Johnson to injury and finished the game without a healthy quarterback. It was the exact scenario the old rule had been written to prevent.

That offseason, owners approved an emergency third quarterback rule for the 2023 season. A team may activate a third quarterback from its 53-man roster on game day, and that player does not count toward the game-day active limit.

• 01The emergency QB must already be on the 53-man roster
• 02He does not count against the game-day active limit
• 03Under the 2020 CBA, teams may activate 48 players if at least 8 offensive linemen are active, otherwise 47