In a year where nothing in the preseason has been normal, one thing is sure to stay the same and it is end day. The annual NFL roster purge still takes place on the Saturday before the first week of the season and this year that won’t change.
The only thing that will change this year is the number of cups that will take place. Due to the pandemic, the NFL decided to hold a cutting day on August 16 that required all teams to reduce their squads to 80 players. This time around, each team will need to reduce their roster to just 53 players, which means nearly 900 players will be released by 4 p.m. ET on Saturday. The good news for anyone who loses a job is that practice squads are expanding to 16 players this year, which means up to 512 of the guys who have lost jobs could be picked up.
In fact, the Jaguars got the ball rolling pretty early this year with cuts when they surprisingly decided to release Leonard Fournette earlier this week (Fournette has already found a new team in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers). Washington followed the trend of dumping veterans by cutting Adrian Peterson off Friday. The Cowboys also made a surprising cut this week when they released Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. There have also been notable cuts in the AFC East. In New England, the Patriots decided to pass Mohamed Sanu while the Bills made the decision to make a switch to the kicker (they dumped veteran Stephen Hauschka, who lost his job to rookie Tyler Bass) .
Besides the discounts, one thing you’ll also notice about Cup Day is that teams love to do a last second trade as there is no reason to let someone go when you can trade them for another. team and get something in return. Over the past five days, we’ve seen several deals dwindle with these deals ranging from huge ones (like the Jaguars shipping Yannick Ngakoue to Minnesota) to smaller deals, like the trade the Bills recently struck with the Panthers that involved exactly one player (Buffalo received LB Andre Smith while Carolina received a seventh-round pick in 2021). Basically, be sure to keep an eye out for your favorite team because while they don’t make any notable cuts, they could end up making a successful trade.
If you’re wondering who might be traded before Saturday’s deadline, be sure to click here to check out our list of 14 players who could be dispatched to a new squad.
For everyone, let’s move on to tracking cuts.
AFC East
Buffalo bills
Players cut to reach 53: K Stephen Hauschka, P Lachlan Edwards
Miami dolphins
Players cut to reach 53: S Jeremiah Dinson, DE Avery Moss, CB Deatrick Nichols, WR Ricardo Louis, WR Chester Rogers
New England Patriots
Players cut to reach 53: WR Mohamed Sanu, CB Michael Jackson, DL Michael Barnett
New York Jets
Players cut to reach 53: TBA
AFC North
Baltimore Ravens
Players cut to reach 53: TBA
Cincinnati Bengals
Players cut to reach 53: LB Brady Sheldon, OL O’Shea Dugas, DE Bryce Sterk
Cleveland Browns
Players cut to reach 53: TBA
Pittsburgh Steelers
Players cut to reach 53: TBA
AFC South
Houston Texans
Players cut to reach 53: QB Alex McGough, LB Daren Bates, DL Albert Huggins
Indianapolis Colts
Players cut to reach 53: FB Roosevelt Nix
Jacksonville Jaguars
Players cut to reach 53: RB Leonard Fournette, DE Caraun Reid
Titans of Tennessee
Players cut to reach 53: TBA
AFC West
Denver Broncos
Players cut to reach 53: LB Todd Davis
Kansas City Chiefs
Players cut to reach 53: TBA
Chargers Los Angeles
Players cut to reach 53: TBA
Las Vegas Raiders
Players cut to reach 53: CB Prince Amukamara, OL Jordan Devey, RB Rod Smith, CB Nick Nelson, DE Sharif Finch, OL Jordan Roos, S Damarious Randall
NFC East
Dallas Cowboys
Players cut to reach 53: WR Devin Smith, QB Clayton Thorson, OL Adam Redmond, OL Mitch Hyatt, OL Wyatt Miller, OL Pace Murphy, TE Charlie Taumoepeau, S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix
New York Giants
Players cut to reach 53: TBA
Philadelphia Eagles
Players cut to reach 53: RB Elijah Holyfield, RB Adrian Kilins, RB Michael Warren, OL Julian Good-Jones, OL Luke Juriga, TE Tyrone Swoopes, WR Manasseh Bailey, WR Deontay Burnett, WR Travis Fulgham, WR Marcus Green, DB Grayland Arnold, DB Elijah Riley, CB Trevor Williams
Washington football team
Players cut to reach 53: RB Adrian Peterson, WR Darvin Kidsy
NFC North
Chicago Bear
Players cut to reach 53: RB Napoleon Maxwell, WR Alex Wesley, WR Ahmad Wagner, OL Corey Levin, DL Lee Autry, LB Keandre Jones
Detroit Lions
Players cut to reach 53: TBA
Green Bay Packers
Players cut to reach 53: TBA
Minnesota Vikings
Players cut to reach 53: RB Tony Brooks-James, LB Jordan Fehr, DE Stacy Keely, DE Anthony Zettel
NFC South
Atlanta falcons
Players cut to reach 53: QB Danny Etling, TE Khari Lee, TE Carson Meier, OL Jamon Brown, OL Hunter Atkinson, DB CJ Reavis, LB Ahmad Thomas
Carolina Panthers
Players cut to reach 53: TBA
Saints of New Orleans
Players cut to reach 53: TBA
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Players cut to reach 53: K Matt Gay, WR Bryant Mitchell, WR Josh Pearson, WR Cyril Grayson, RB Dare Ogunbowale, RB Raymond Calais, QB Reid Sinnett, TE Tanner Hudson, TE Cody McElroy, OL Nick Leverett, OL Zack Bailey, S D’Cota Dixon, CB Herb Miller, CB Mazzai Wilkins, DL Benning Potoa’e
NFC West
Arizona Cardinals
Players cut to reach 53: TE Ryan Becker, OL Steven Gonzalez, OL Sam Jones, OL Brett Toth, CB Zane Lewis, DE Adam Shuler, CB Jalen Davis, WR Hakeem Butler, P Ryan Winslow
Los Angeles Rams
Players cut to reach 53: K Austin MacGinnis, K Lirim Hajrullahu, DB Adonis Alexander, LB Daniel Bituli, TE Kendall Blanton, OL Cohl Cabral, OL Jamil Demby, WR Earnest Edwards, DB Jake Gervase, DB Juju Hughes, RB John Kelly, OL Jeremiah Kolone, WR JJ Koski, DB Dayan Lake, DB Tyrique McGhee, LB Derrick Moncrief, WR Easop Winston
San Francisco 49ers
Players cut to reach 53: CB Jamar Taylor
Seattle Seahawks
Players cut to reach 53: TBA
