Spring professional football leagues have never really been able to last and be successful, even with the popularity of the NFL. Normally, due to financial issues and a lack of interest from fans, most spring leagues survive for a year or two and then fizzle out.
The UFL is promising to break through this trend with higher TV ratings, financial backing, and, perhaps more importantly, interest from players.
Spring Leagues Have Historically Been Old NFL Players and FCS Stars
Whether it was the USFL, XFL, or any other league, the players historically have been players who either never made it in the NFL after a few years or were FCS/lower G5 players who were never good enough to get drafted or make an NFL roster. In other words, there wasn’t a huge following for the players, and quite honestly, there was very little hope that they’d ever make it to the NFL.
This year’s UFL has shown that the tide may be changing. First, looking at the current rosters, many players are from bigger schools. In fact, for the Birmingham Stallions, 34 of their 58 players came from P5 schools, including LSU, Alabama, Texas A&M, and Clemson. Also, many players are still young in their careers, meaning they still have a following from their college days and have NFL aspirations.
The great news continues: Saturday's USFL Conference Championship matchup between the Birmingham Stallions and Michigan Panthers averaged 1.1M in viewership.
The first time in modern spring football history that both playoff games exceeded 1M+ in the TV Ratings. #UFL https://t.co/thEnGzBbvN pic.twitter.com/5tllUPcI6s
— James Larsen (@JamesLarsenPFN) June 11, 2024
NFL is Noticing UFL Players
As mentioned, the NFL has never drawn talent from any spring leagues. That seems to be changing with this year’s UFL. There are currently 17 players from the UFL who have been invited to try out for an NFL team or multiple NFL teams. Those players include the following:
- LB Storey Jackson (Broncos)
- LB Noah Dawkins (Dallas Cowboys)
- WR Brandon Smith (Philadelphia Eagles)
- WR Ty Scott (Seattle Seahawks)
- DL Liam Fornadel (Cleveland Browns)
- OT William Barnes (Cleveland Browns)
- CB Gareon Conley (Dallas Cowboys)
- CB Deandre Baker (Dallas Cowboys)
- DE Malik Fisher (Baltimore Ravens)
- DE Josiah Bronson (New England)
- K Matt McCrane (Washington Commanders)
- K Jake Bates (Signed with Detroit Lions)
It is also worth mentioning that last year, 14 players from the USFL signed deals in the NFL, and 22 signed from the XFL. Many more players are expected to be given a tryout, especially once the UFL season officially wraps up on Father’s Day.
Will the NFL Start Backing the UFL?
The MLB has the Minor Leagues. The NBA has the NBA G-League, and even the NHL has affiliated minor league teams. But for the NFL, there is nothing. Essentially, until recently, with the UFL getting tryouts, if a player didn’t make it in the NFL via the draft by signing a UDFA deal immediately following the draft, the pathway to the NFL was very difficult and almost non-existent. Yes, a player occasionally would make it from the CFL or would have an insane personal trainer that would earn them a tryout, but those stories are few and far between.
The UFL seems to be the perfect candidate to be an NFL minor league. Everyone knows that games are better than practice, so why not send a few later-round picks and undrafted free agents to the UFL, get some more film on them, and develop them for the future? This has never been truer, with more NFL preseason games being eliminated.
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