As the regular season approached, every NFL team decided to go to the barbershop and get a haircut. They cut the sides, took off a bit of the top, and reduced their rosters from the 90 players they had in the offseason to the original 53 players.
While most of the usual suspects for the various teams remain unchanged, there were naturally a few surprises ahead of Tuesday’s deadline. Remember, teams don’t have to simply keep or cut players; they can look to make trades, while also deciding whether to keep certain stars on the physically unfit list, sidelining them for the first month or the entire season. With that in mind, general managers pulled a number of levers throughout the day.
So who came out on top? Let’s take a look at some of the winners and losers from NFL roster cuts day.
Jones is no longer in the starting position in the NFL like he was a season ago in New England, but the former first-round pick was a winner this summer after beating out CJ Beathard for the backup job in Jacksonville behind Trevor Lawrence. Jones has been solid this preseason, completing 73 percent of his passes for 421 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in three preseason games. Again, he’s not in the running for a starting job right now, but he’s proven he can be a capable backup if Lawrence misses time.
Toney’s tenure with the Kansas City Chiefs ended Tuesday, with the reigning Super Bowl champion releasing the receiver. This is a blow to Toney for a few reasons. First, you’re no longer in a situation with Andy Reid as head coach and Patrick Mahomes as quarterback, which is probably the best-case scenario for a young receiver. Second, if you can’t make him work in that system, teams might get tired of thinking Toney will work in theirs.
Winner: Samajie Perine
It’s rare to lose your job and still become a winner, but that’s what I see here with Perine. Yesterday, he was part of a Denver Broncos team that wasn’t expected to make the playoffs and was part of a backfield loaded with Javonte Williams and Jaleel McLaughlin. Now that the team has released him, Perine can write his own ticket. The veteran back can look for a new home in the NFL that not only gives him more touches out of the backfield, but also has the potential to be a Super Bowl contender. A reunion with the Bengals or a move to the Chiefs or Packers makes a lot of sense for the consistently productive wide receiver.
One of the most surprising trades of the summer came in Arizona, when the Cardinals released Desmond Ridder. His release came after the team traded wideout Rondale Moore, a former second-round pick, for him in a deal with the Falcons. Instead of making good on that investment, the franchise gave the QB2 job to Clayton Tune, who completed 55 percent of his passes in his only start last season. While Ridder hasn’t established himself as a bona fide starter with the Falcons, he’s a useful backup who went 6-7 as a starter with an 83.4 passer rating last year. In my opinion, he gave Atlanta the higher center job over Tune in case Kyler Murray misses time.
After a few rough years for Hooker, the Tennessee product is finally getting a win. With the Detroit Lions releasing Nate Sudfeld, the backup job behind Jared Goff in the Motor City belongs to Hooker, who had a solid preseason. In the last preseason game against the Steelers, Hooker got an extended chance and completed 12 of 20 passes for 114 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He also rushed for 93 yards on 10 attempts. While there is always a chance the Lions will bring in another quarterback (maybe even Sudfeld), Hooker’s play seems to give the club confidence that he can be the backup going forward.
As we noted in the introduction, cutdown day isn’t just about teams making roster spots or not. It’s also when we get injury updates on various players who were on the physically unable to perform list. In Green Bay, the Packers decided to place Dillon on injured reserve, ending his season. The fullback was dealing with a neck injury. That now leaves some questions regarding Green Bay’s backfield behind Josh Jacobs, especially with Dillon out for the year and rookie MarShawn Lloyd dealing with hamstring and hip issues this summer. It’s possible the club will turn to the waiver list to add depth at the position (perhaps someone like Samaje Perine above).
