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Every NFL team has 53 players on the active roster. But only 46 of them are declared active for each game. Falcons coach Dan Quinn thinks that’s a waste.

Quinn wants the NFL to change its eligibility rules to make more players available to play each game.

“If I had to say one thing how do we do it better, I would say I hope at some point we expand the rosters to get even bigger,” Quinn said. “No pressure if a guy is out to say, ‘OK, here’s another guy that’s up.’ So 46 is good. And maybe in years to come, 10 years from now when we’re sitting here, ‘OK, remember back in the day when you had 46 guys?’ Maybe it goes to 50 or something along those lines and gets more opportunities for guys because without a developmental league, we’re hopeful that maybe the roster size gains by a few spots, that we can incorporate that. And I think it’d be safer, too, to have more guys available to play.”

Quinn’s idea makes sense, and it’s actually a little surprising that NFL owners haven’t expanded the game day rosters already. After all, the owners are paying the players anyway, so why not make them all available to take the field? As the NFL’s focus on player safety includes pulling more players off the field for concussion evaluations and possibly ejecting more players for leading with the helmet, the league might need more players available. It won’t be surprising if Quinn’s proposal picks up steam.