Lawyers for the $2.8 billion NCAA agreement suggested a big change on Wednesday about team sizes. They proposed that athletes who lost their place could play again without counting towards the new limits, as long as they are still allowed to play.

The lawyers suggested that schools make lists of all the players they did not choose for teams, because they expected an agreement to be approved. This number could be very large, maybe hundreds or even more.

These students, called "Designated Student-Athletes" in the new document, could be invited back to try for a place on the team, but it's not guaranteed. They can also choose to go to other schools.

Either way, these athletes won't count towards the new team limits. These limits were announced last fall and first approved by Judge Claudia Wilken in October.

The plan would also let high school students who were promised places but later lost them be excused from the rule, 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, over $2.7 billion will be paid to players for past earnings. These players said the NCAA and five biggest conferences unfairly stopped them from making money from their name, image, and likeness.

The newest plan was the result of two weeks of quick work. This happened after the judge told the lawyers for both sides to negotiate again because the details about the number of players in the plan were not acceptable.

The plan suggests changing the rules. Instead of limiting the number of scholarships a team can give (like 85 for football), they will limit the total number of players on the team (like 105 for football). A school could give scholarships to everyone, but this would cost a lot. Because of this, many people believe some players will not get scholarships or will only get some money for them.

Wilken clearly felt 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 at a meeting on April 7.

Wilken asked the lawyers to change that part of the agreement. The NCAA said no at first, but Wilken told them to do it anyway so the whole plan would not fail.

The lawyers for the people suing said they improved on Wilken's idea. They made it possible for schools to bring back players they had cut without it affecting their team limit. This was also possible for a new school.

The plaintiffs believe these changes to the agreement give more protection than the court requested, according to their court document.

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

The defendants claimed the changes to the agreement meant schools and their sports departments could still choose which athletes were on their teams. However, this was always true and hasn't changed, even with limits on the number of players, they wrote. They added that the changes ensure that students who lost or would lose their places on teams because of the new limits will be in the same situation as if these limits had never been put in place. This means the limits do not apply to them.

The judge is likely to give people who oppose the plan a short time to submit new objections before she makes her final decision. Steve Berman, one of the main lawyers for the people who brought the lawsuit, said earlier this week that those who oppose the plan will not be pleased with the new proposal.

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