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17 NFL Teams Still Have IR-DTR Slot Available

September 24th, 2015 at 11:37am CST by Luke Adams

We’re about two and a half weeks into the NFL season, and 15 players have landed on the injured reserve list with the designation to return, including Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and Jaguars receiver and return man Rashad Greene this week. Unlike the usual IR list, which keeps a player inactive all season or until he reaches an injury settlement with his team, this IR-DTR slot allows a player to begin practicing after six weeks and to begin playing in games after eight weeks.

Of course, whereas the standard injured reserve list can accommodate several players at once, NFL teams can only use the designation to return on one player, so teams must be cautious about how to fire that single bullet. Given the eight-week timetable for the IR-DTR slot, most clubs will use it during the season’s first few weeks if they need to use it at all.

Prior to the Week 3 games in 2014, 17 teams had used their IR-DTR designation, so the fact that 15 clubs have used it so far in 2015 sounds about right. By the end of the 2014 season, all but five NFL teams had used their short-term IR slot, meaning we should expect to continue seeing clubs make use of it in the next few weeks.

Here’s a breakdown of how teams have used the IR-DTR spot so far, and which teams still have it available:

Eligible to return after Week 8:

  1. Baltimore Ravens: DE Brent Urban
  2. Cleveland Browns: CB Charles Gaines
  3. Detroit Lions: CB Alex Carter
  4. Miami Dolphins: RB Jay Ajayi
  5. Minnesota Vikings: C John Sullivan
  6. New England Patriots: C Bryan Stork
  7. New York Jets: CB Dee Milliner
  8. Pittsburgh Steelers: C Maurkice Pouncey
  9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: T Demar Dotson
  10. Tennessee Titans: RB David Cobb

Eligible to return after Week 9:

  1. Houston Texans: TE Ryan Griffin
  2. Indianapolis Colts: CB D’Joun Smith
  3. Oakland Raiders: S Nate Allen

Eligible to return after Week 10:

  1. Dallas Cowboys: QB Tony Romo
  2. Jacksonville Jaguars: WR/KR Rashad Greene

Teams with unused IR-DTR slots:

  1. Arizona Cardinals
  2. Atlanta Falcons
  3. Buffalo Bills
  4. Carolina Panthers
  5. Chicago Bears
  6. Cincinnati Bengals
  7. Denver Broncos
  8. Green Bay Packers
  9. Kansas City Chiefs
  10. New Orleans Saints
  11. New York Giants
  12. Philadelphia Eagles
  13. San Diego Chargers
  14. San Francisco 49ers
  15. Seattle Seahawks
  16. St. Louis Rams
  17. Washington

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