Lawyers managing the $2.8 billion NCAA settlement suggested a substantial revision on Wednesday concerning roster restrictions, presenting athletes who lost their positions with an opportunity to compete without being included in the new limits for the duration of their eligibility.

Because the court ordered them to create a new plan, the lawyers suggested in court papers that schools should make lists of everyone they didn't choose, expecting the agreement to be approved. This number could easily be in the hundreds, and maybe even much higher.

The students called "Designated Student-Athletes" in the new legal paper might be asked to come back and try for a place on the team, but it's not sure they will get one, or they can go to different schools.

Regardless, these athletes won't count towards the new team size limits that are part of the plan introduced last fall and initially approved by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken last October.

The proposal would also extend the exemption to high school recruits whose promised positions were subsequently withdrawn, and it would remain valid throughout those players' collegiate eligibility.

Wilken has given initial approval to the main parts of the deal. This deal lets each school give up to $20.5 million every year directly to their athletes. It also includes over $2.7 billion in past payments for players who said the NCAA and the five biggest conferences unfairly stopped them from making money from their name, image, and likeness.

The latest proposal finished two weeks of hard work after Wilken told the lawyers for both sides to go back and talk, saying the details about the number of players in the plan were not good enough.

The proposed scheme advocates for the substitution of scholarship caps (e.g., 85 for football and 9.9 for men's wrestling) with roster limitations (105 for football, 30 for wrestling). While institutions could theoretically extend scholarships to every team member, the prohibitive financial implications suggest that walk-ons or athletes with partial scholarships will likely be excluded.

Wilken's empathy for the hundreds of players who forfeited their roster spots as institutions started to enact the settlement's provisions was evident; roughly twelve individuals recounted their experiences at a hearing on April 7.

Wilken asked the lawyers to change that part of the deal. The NCAA first said no, saying that changing the roster moves they had already made would cause more problems in a process that was already messy. But Wilken told them to do it anyway, or the whole plan would be in danger.

The plaintiffs' attorneys stated they surpassed Wilken's ruling, not only allowing schools to reinstate players they had previously cut without it affecting their roster limit, but also making this exemption applicable to new schools.

According to their court submission, the plaintiffs consider these modifications to the settlement accord to go beyond the safeguards mandated by the court.

The legal representatives highlighted the lack of assurance that the athletes would regain their positions on the team.

The defendants claimed that the changes to the agreement show that schools and their sports departments can still choose which athletes are on their teams. They said this was always true and is still true even with team size limits. They also wrote that the changes make sure that people who lost or would have lost their place on a team because of the new limits will be in the same situation as if the limits were never put in place. This means the team size limits do not affect them.

The judge is anticipated to grant opponents of the plan a concise timeframe to submit revised objections prior to her definitive ruling. Steve Berman, co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs, previously indicated that those opposing the plan would likely remain dissatisfied with the new proposal.

Time is running out for the NCAA and its 1,200 member schools, which have over 500,000 athletes in different sports. The agreement terms were supposed to start on July 1, and football practice begins shortly after that.