Lawyers dealing with the $2.8 billion NCAA agreement suggested a big change on Wednesday about team sizes. They want athletes who lost their spot to be able to play without counting towards the new limits, for as long as they are allowed to play.

The lawyers suggested that schools make lists of all the players they removed from teams. They did this because the court had ordered them to create a new plan.

These students, known as "Designated Student-Athletes" in the legal paper, could be invited back to compete for a place on the team, but it's not guaranteed. Or they can go to different schools.

Either way, those athletes will not be included in the new team size limits. These limits are part of the plan that was shared last fall and first approved by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken last October.

The plan would also let high school students get this exception if they were promised a place that was later taken away, and this would last as long as they can play in college.

Wilken has agreed to the main parts of the deal. This means schools can give up to $20.5 million each year directly to their athletes. Also, more than $2.7 billion will be paid to players who said the NCAA and five biggest conferences unfairly stopped them from making money using their name, image, and likeness.

The latest offer was made after two weeks of quick work. This was because Wilken told the lawyers for both sides to go back and negotiate again. He said the details about the number of players allowed in the plan were not acceptable in their current form.

The plan suggests changing the rules about how many scholarships can be given. Instead of a limit on scholarships (like 85 for football), there will be a limit on the total number of players on a team (like 105 for football). Schools can give scholarships to all players, but this will be expensive. Many think that players who don't get a full scholarship will not be on the team.

Wilken felt sorry for the hundreds of players who lost their places on teams as schools got ready to follow the rules of the agreement. Around twelve of them shared their experiences during a meeting on April 7.

Wilken asked the lawyers to change that part of the agreement. The NCAA first responded to Wilken's request, which included the idea of letting current players keep their spots on the teams. They said they would not change anything. They argued that changing the team lists that were already decided would cause more problems in a process that was already difficult. Wilken told them to make the changes anyway, or the whole plan could be in danger.

The lawyers for the people suing said they made the previous decision even better. This new rule allows schools to bring back players they cut, and it won't count against their team limit. Also, this rule can be used by new schools.

In their court document, the plaintiffs stated that they think these changes to the agreement offer more protection than the court requested.

The lawyers said it's not certain that the athletes will get their places on the team back.

The defendants argued that the changes to the agreement mean schools can still choose which athletes are on their teams. They said this was always true and hasn't changed, even with the new rules about team sizes. They wrote that the changes to the agreement make sure that athletes who lost or would lose their places because of the new size limits are in the same situation as if those limits were never used. This means the limits do not affect them.

The judge will likely give people who are against the plan a short time to send in new complaints before she makes her final decision. Steve Berman, one of the main lawyers for the people who sued, said earlier this week that the people who are against the plan will not be happy with the new idea.

Time is running out for the NCAA and its 1,200 member schools, which have over 500,000 athletes. The rules from the agreement were planned to start on July 1, and football practice begins soon after.