Report: NFL in Talks to Loan Quarterbacks and Other Players to AAF

It won’t be happening this season, but the Alliance of American Football and the National Football League are having informal discussions about NFL teams potentially loaning younger players to AAF teams in the future.

 Though the discussions are informal at this point, AAF co-founder and head of football Bill Polian said “lots of NFL people have bandied about that thought with lots of us.”

“The talk is ramping up – I’ll say that,” Polian told USA TODAY. “Those discussions will continue but whether they bear fruit remains to be seen. There are lots of procedural hurdles that have to be crossed before you could make that happen.”

The concept would be for NFL teams to assign players from the bottom half of their roster and developmental squads – including their third-string QB – to the AAF so they could gain more playing time.

And, with the AAF boasting a number of coaches with NFL-level experience (Steve Spurrier, Mike Singletary, Rick Neuheisel, Mike Martz, etc.), the players would theoretically be learning schemes and concepts that would translate to the NFL.

The idea is similar to young MLB prospects being sent down to a Class AAA affiliate to gain a few more at-bats and get more time in the lineup.

Serving as a developmental league for the NFL would also probably benefit the AAF’s chances of sustaining longevity.