Report: College Football Rosters Could Be Trimmed to 85-95 Players Under New Proposal

Roster sizes in college football could be significantly reduced as part of a new proposal related to athlete compensation.

Per Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger, the proposal being considered by power conference leaders would limit rosters to potentially as few as 85 to 95 players.

Dellenger noted the concept was brought up as "part of what could be a sweeping and historic transformation" within college sports based on settlement agreements for the three antitrust lawsuits against the NCAA.

"Any settlement of these cases—House, Hubbard and Carter—is expected to feature as much as $2.9 billion in back damages for former players, a future revenue sharing model with current athletes and an overhaul of the NCAA scholarship and roster structure," Dellenger wrote.

According to Dellenger, settlement talks are "deep enough" that college executives and NCAA leaders are "socializing plans of a new compensation model" that could include schools distributing more than $20 million annually to athletes beginning in 2025.

Under the current rules, there isn't a hard cap on how many players a football team can have rostered. No more than 70 players are allowed to appear in a game. FBS teams are limited to 85 full scholarship players per year. FCS programs are allowed up to 63 full scholarship players annually.

A typical FBS roster could feature 115 or more players in a given year. The new rule would essentially be limiting the number of walk-ons a team could keep rostered.

Dellenger did note one potentially impactful piece of the proposal could be "scholarship restrictions by permitting schools to expand financial aid to the entirety of a sport's roster positions."

This would allow for other sports to potentially receive more full scholarships. The example Dellenger cited was baseball, in which current NCAA rules allow for 11.7 scholarships per year. The new model could distribute full scholarships to all 32 roster spots on a team if the school chooses to do so.

Women's sports could also see an increase in scholarships under Title IX rules.

It's unclear if roster limits for non-football sports would be changed under the proposal, which Dellenger wrote is still "only under consideration" with talks "steadily evolving."

The proposed 85-player roster limit was "met with backlash" when conference commissioners shared it with athletic directors and coaches, per Dellenger.