The NFL provides an opportunity for its franchises to include a large number of athletes in their roster compared to other sports. A significant reason behind this rule is the game’s structure as it requires a good number of players for both offensive and defensive positions.
However, the league’s 90-man roster could not be carried on through the whole season as this limit is only set to be available in the preseason and all 32 teams must conduct a big roster cut ahead of the regular season to make their final squad, something the Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes termed as a hard time for all players in the league who are playing to support their families.
How do NFL roster cuts work? Explained
All the franchises are required to reduce their preseason roster from 90 players before Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023, at 4 p.m. ET. as the maximum number of athletes allowed during the regular season is 53. In previous years, teams were given the chance to lessen their rosters on multiple dates, but NFL owners agreed to enact a single cutdown deadline this year.
The next few days are the toughest days of the NFL calendar for players, coaches, executives, etc.
All teams have to go down from 90 players to 53, meaning 1,184 players will be told they won't make the roster.
About 500 will be brought back on practice squads, but for the… pic.twitter.com/KKvhKVSGhw
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) August 27, 2023
The most usual form of erasing a footballer from the roster during this process is to cut him, albeit an athlete with a minimum of four years of NFL experience is “released” and a player without the tag of a vested veteran gets “waived” before being sent to the waiver system of the league.
Footballers may also get enlisted in the physically unable to perform (PUP), non-football injury (NFI) lists. They will not be counted toward the 53-man limit and are required to miss the first four games of the regular season.
Besides that, players placed on injured reserve (IR) list are also set to miss at least four games of the season, and if they fail to make it to the 53-man limit before being placed on the list, they can’t be activated in the whole season.
What happens when you are cut from an NFL team?
Veteran players with four years of NFL experience can instantly earn a new deal with other franchises while players with less than four years of experience will have to sit in the waiver list to earn a claim from other teams. If a waived player is not claimed, he will hit free agency and can sign a new deal with others.
Meanwhile, these athletes also might make up their minds to come out from the NFL and embrace the opportunities in XFL or USFL.
The #USFL and #XFL will be ready to embrace these men with open arms 🤗 https://t.co/epPnOuspWQ
— Luke Miller (@LukeMillerPFN) August 27, 2023
A couple of ex-NFL stars like Josh Gordon, A.J. McCarron, and Ben DiNucci sought new opportunities in XFL while veterans like Kyle Lauletta, Hercules Mata, and Noah Dawkins enlisted their names in USFL. However, the harsh reality is footballers in these leagues will not be able to earn lucrative deals like the ones they enjoyed in the NFL, but as the saying goes, “something is better than nothing”.
Except for the NFL, which league do you think is the better between XFL and USFL? Tell us below!
