Lawrence Tynes was placed on the non-football injury (NFI) list by the Tampa Bay Buccanneers due to a staph infection he claims he got at their training facilities. They are paying his salary, but he does not accrue a year for retirement.
Why would the team do this instead of putting him on injured reserve (IR)? He is getting paid.
They likely put him on the NFI so that he could possibly return to the team if the MRSA infection clears up (as well as possible legal reasons). Being put on IR ends your season since you cannot participate in any games (regular or post season). The NFI is most similar to the PUP list. This link explains how NFI and PUP are different than IR: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physically_unable_to_perform.
