The AAF will give those players that have NFL potential, but maybe need more time to hone their skills in a live football environment, an opportunity for real development under NFL-seasoned coaching.

"We're going to scout that league," Quinn said. "I think their training camps are coming up here in a couple weeks, down in San Antonio, I believe. So, we're going to actually send some of our scouts down there. They're open for us to come down and evaluate. We'll get their film once they start playing their games in February and March, so we're going to scout them, yeah, for sure."

If the AAF can last – we've seen leagues like this come and go in the past due to funding issues or a lack of popularity – it could provide the NFL with a new system to develop players.

The league is starting with eight teams, and some of the coaches have extensive NFL and college experience, including Mike Martz (San Diego Fleet), Dennis Erickson (Salt Lake Stallions), Steve Spurrier (Orlando Apollos), Mike Singletary (Memphis Express) and Brad Childress (Atlanta Legends).

"I think it's a great opportunity for us just to get another look at players playing games," Lions head coach Matt Patricia said. "It's hard when you go through the course of the season and you're trying to build your roster and push for the future and you're looking at guys that maybe are on your practice squad or are on other practice squads but you never really get to see game tape of them this late in the year.