Month: September 2017

Saints Reach 53-Man Roster Limit

Every team had to get under the 53-man limit by Saturday’s deadline, but the Saints were the last to publicly announce their cuts. Here’s the full rundown of their moves:

Waived:

Released:

IR:

The Saints re-signed Cadet this offseason only to put him on the trade block in June. They didn’t find any takers then and they apparently couldn’t find any now. The Jets, who pursued him in free agency, could have interest in signing him.

Broncos Place LB Shane Ray On IR

The Broncos have officially placed linebacker Shane Ray on injured reserve. The good news is that Ray should be able to come back during the season as one of the Broncos’ two players designated for return. Shane Ray

It’s kind of what we thought,” GM John Elway said (via Nicki Jhabvala of The Denver Post). “With the surgery and where it falls is good for us, and here’s why we decided to go with it: He has to be on IR for eight weeks. The bye week counts and then our eighth game is on a Monday night. With that being on a Monday night, the eighth Sunday counts as a game. So we’ll get him back for the Kansas City game (on Oct. 30). So he’s only going to miss six games. We didn’t want to use that spot. He was not going to be back any earlier than that, and when he does come back he’ll be really ready to go. Having that fall that way for us helped us with that extra slot.”

Per league rules, Ray will be eligible to return after eight weeks on IR. By then, he should be fully recovered from his wrist surgery.

Ray broke out in 2016, racking up 48 tackles and eight sacks in his 664 snaps. Only two Broncos linebackers – Von Miller and Todd Davis – saw more action than Ray last year.

Raiders Cut Down To 53-Man Roster

The Raiders were among the teams to drag their feet on announcing their 53-man roster. Now that we can see their initial roster in full, we have to say that they’re looking a little thin at linebacker. Here’s the full rundown of their moves:

Waived:

Released:

Waived/Injured

Waived/NFI:

Patriots Reach 53-Man Max

The Patriots made a massive amount of cuts on Saturday to reach the 53-man limit. Most of the cuts were expected, but there were a few surprises in the bunch.

Released:

Waived:

Karras was widely projected to be the team’s top backup on the interior line, so his release comes as a surprise. The 24-year-old was drafted by the Pats in the sixth round of the 2016 draft and played in all 16 regular season games last year. He also appeared in all three playoff games as a reserve.

O’Shaughnessy, acquired via trade in April, was competing for the third tight end spot. The 6-foot-4, 245-pounder has played in 23 NFL games with six starts.

Broncos Down To 52-Man Roster

The Broncos are down to a 52-man roster. Why 52, you ask? That’s because their signing of quarterback Brock Osweiler is not yet official. Once he’s inked, they’ll be at the 53-man max.

The Broncos also have Shane Ray on the active roster as of this writing. If they place him on IR, they’ll have another spot to work with.

Here’s the full look at their roster:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/Injured:

  • LB Kevin Snyder

Placed On IR:

Reserve/NFI:

Seahawks Now At 53

The Seahawks made some moves to get down to 53, including the release of last year’s backup quarterback. Here’s the full rundown:

Waived:

Waived/Injured:

Released:

Boykin has lost the backup QB job to Austin Davis and that’s not a huge surprise after Davis’ performance in the preseason. Coach Pete Carroll indicated recently that he would have liked to keep three signal callers, but it just wasn’t realistic.

“It’s a good idea if you can do it,” Carroll said. “They’re so important. It just depends on the rest of the roster.”

Cardinals Down To 53

The Cardinals announced their full slate of cuts to get to 53:

Wright was a standout at the University of Arizona. As a sophomore for the Wildcats, Wright was an absolute monster as he tallied 163 tackles, 29 tackles for loss, 14 sacks, and six forced fumbles. Unfortunately, he was slowed by injuries in 2015 and he wound up as a seventh-round pick of the Browns. The Cardinals were happy to scoop him up in December, but he has been pushed out in favor of veteran Josh Bynes and others.

Also of note – fourth-round guard Dorian Johnson has been cut. Johnson struggled in camp and the Cardinals were not willing to use a roster spot on him. I would speculate that he could be a taxi squad candidate.

Patriots To Cut RB Brandon Bolden

When the Patriots finally release their initial 53-man roster, Brandon Bolden won’t be on it. The running back has been released, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Brandon Bolden (vertical)

Bolden re-signed with the Patriots in April, but his spot was shaky from the get-go. The Patriots added Rex Burkhead and Mike Gillislee to the fold this year, giving him an uphill climb as he battled with a group including fellow incumbents James White and Dion Lewis.

Bolden had just one carry last season with four targets. He was more of a special teams guy in New England and it seems possible that he could return at some point.

Texans Down To 53

The Texans officially announced their roster cuts. Here’s a look at the moves that were not previously given full posts on PFR:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/Injured:

Bears Make Cuts, Reach 53

The Bears took time to announce their 53-man roster, but they got it done before the deadline. Here’s how:

Released:

Officially Placed On IR:

Waived:

Waived/Injured: