Lawyers overseeing the $2.8 billion NCAA settlement suggested a significant alteration on Wednesday regarding roster limitations, proposing that athletes who lost their positions be allowed to play without impacting the new caps 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 hundreds, or even much higher.

These "Designated Student-Athletes," as the recent legal submission terms them, have the option to be invited back to contend for roster positions – though success is not assured – or transfer to alternative institutions.

However, these athletes won't be included in the new team size limits that are part of the plan introduced last fall and first approved by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken in October of last year.

The proposal would also extend this exemption to high school recruits whose promised positions were subsequently withdrawn, lasting throughout their period of college eligibility.

Wilken has approved the main parts of the agreement. This agreement lets each school give up to $20.5 million every year directly to their athletes. It also includes more than $2.7 billion in money for past years that will go to players. These players said the NCAA and five biggest conferences unfairly stopped them from making money from their name, image, and likeness.

The latest proposal finished a two-week effort after Wilken told lawyers for both sides to go back to the negotiating table, saying the details about the roster limit in the plan were not acceptable.

The plan suggests changing the maximum number of scholarships allowed (like 85 for football and 9.9 for men’s wrestling) to a maximum number of players on the team (105 for football, 30 for wrestling). While a school could give scholarships to everyone on a team, it would be expensive, and most people think that players who don't get a full scholarship will not be included.

Wilken clearly felt for the many players who lost their places on teams as schools started to put the settlement into effect. Around twelve of them shared their stories at a hearing on April 7.

Wilken asked lawyers to change that part of the deal. The NCAA first said no to Wilken's idea, which included letting current players keep their spots. They argued that changing roster moves that were already happening would cause more problems in a process that was already messy. Wilken told them they had to do it anyway, or the whole plan would be in danger.

The plaintiffs' attorneys claimed they surpassed Wilken's approach, not only enabling schools to reinstate previously cut players without penalty to their roster limit, but also making this exemption applicable to a new institution.

"Plaintiffs contend that these modifications to the settlement agreement surpass the safeguards the court mandated," their court filing stated.

The legal counsel indicated that there is no assurance the athletes will regain their positions on the team.

The defendants claimed that the changes to the agreement mean that schools and their sports departments can still choose which athletes are on their teams, which was always true and is still true even with team size limits. They wrote that the changes to the agreement 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, meaning the limits do not affect them.

The judge is anticipated to grant a limited timeframe for those opposing the plan to submit revised objections before her final ruling. Steve Berman, co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs, speculated earlier this week that those objecting to the plan will find the new proposal unsatisfactory.

Time is running out for the NCAA and its 1,200 member institutions, which oversee over 500,000 athletes across various sports; the terms of the settlement were scheduled to be implemented on July 1, with football practice commencing shortly thereafter.