Douglas DeFelice-USA TODAY Sports
Most people’s Sunday night panic involves remembering they have work the next morning. NFL roster cuts will create a slightly more stressful version this year, with 32 front offices attempting to fire 37 people, evaluate injuries and make last-minute trades before 6 p.m.
The NFL moved its final cutdown deadline to Sunday, Aug. 30, at 6 p.m. ET after using Tuesday deadlines in recent years. The league’s third preseason weekend runs through Saturday, Aug. 29, meaning some teams could finish their final exhibition and immediately begin deciding who still works there the next afternoon.
NFL Teams Just Lost Their Roster-Cut Buffer
Last year’s final cuts were due Tuesday, Aug. 26, after the preseason ended Saturday. Teams effectively had Sunday, Monday and part of Tuesday to review film, receive injury updates, call agents, explore trades and perform the annual ritual of convincing themselves the eighth-best defensive back will definitely clear waivers.
This year, that breathing room is basically gone.
A bubble player could hurt his hamstring Saturday night and his team may have less than 24 hours to determine the severity, decide whether he fits into its injured-reserve plans and figure out how that affects someone else’s roster spot.
The same problem applies to trades.
Final cutdown weekend traditionally produces deals involving players who are good enough to make an NFL roster but no longer fit their current team. Now a general manager trying to get a late-round pick instead of simply releasing someone will be negotiating while simultaneously reducing a 90-man roster by more than 40%.
Nothing creates leverage quite like telling another GM, “Please decide soon because otherwise we are firing him in three hours.”
The league’s official calendar also gives teams an extremely short turnaround after the cuts. Waiver claims on players released during final reductions are due at 1 p.m. ET Monday, Aug. 31. Once those claims are processed, teams can begin establishing practice squads.
So the sequence could look something like this:
Finish preseason game Saturday night. Cut roster Sunday. Study everybody else’s cuts Sunday night. Submit waiver claims by lunch Monday. Begin rebuilding the bottom of the roster immediately afterward.
Hope nobody had Labor Day weekend plans.
Fringe Players Could Feel The Change Most
The stars are not affected. Patrick Mahomes is not staring at the clock Sunday afternoon wondering if one bad preseason rep cost him health insurance.
The pressure lands on the final five or six roster spots, where special-teams value, minor injuries and one impressive preseason quarter can determine whether someone makes hundreds of thousands of dollars or starts checking flights home.
Coaches also lose time to change their minds.
A player who shines in the final preseason game used to give a staff a couple of days to review the tape and reconsider the depth chart. This year, Saturday-night heroes may need to make their arguments before the coffee finishes brewing Sunday morning.
The NFL did not change how many players teams can keep. The final number is still 53, and every organization has known the Aug. 30 deadline for months.
It simply moved the homework deadline much closer to the final exam.
For fans, Aug. 30 will look like another Sunday without meaningful football.
Inside NFL front offices, it may be the most frantic Sunday of the summer.