The 49ers parted with 15 players on Friday to bring their roster to 71, per a team announcement.
Waived:
Released outright (vested veterans who are not subject to waivers):
The Giants have begun the process of getting their roster to the league-mandated maximum of 53 players. The club announced the following moves today:
Placed on IR:
Waived:
The Jets have moved their roster to 76 players in advance of Saturday’s cutdown deadline. New York has announced the following transactions:
Waived:
Placed on IR:
Placed on reserve/NFI:
The Jaguars have cut their roster from 90 players to 75, according to John Oehser of the team’s website:
Waived:
Released outright (vested veterans who are not subject to waivers):
Placed on IR:
The Steelers will place running back Fitzgerald Toussaint on waivers, reports Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com.
Toussaint, 27, spent the past two seasons in Pittsburgh and managed 32 totes during that time. Although Toussaint appeared to have a shot at a roster spot earlier this year, Le’Veon Bell‘s decision to report to the club negated that opportunity. Instead, the Steelers will go with rookie James Conner and Terrell Watson behind Bell, who officially returned today.
Pittsburgh values Toussaint’s “toughness,” per Fowler, and given that he still has practice squad eligibility, Toussaint could see his way back to the Steelers’ taxi squad.
The Eagles have placed rookie cornerback Sidney Jones on the reserve/NFI list, per a team announcement. Consequently, Jones won’t be eligible to practice or play during the first six weeks of the season.
Although Jones suffered a torn Achilles during his pro day in March, the Eagles still used a second-round pick on the former Washington standout. Jones looked like a first-rounder in the making after a stellar three-year Huskies career that saw him intercept eight passes. When the Eagles signed Jones, they inserted language in his contract that will pay him his full 2017 base salary even if he spends the season on the NFI list.
Along with the Jones transaction, the Eagles announced that they’ve waived 14 players to bring their roster to 70:
The Saints are releasing defensive tackle Tony McDaniel, according to Josh Katzenstein of the Times-Picayune (Twitter link).
New Orleans signed McDaniel earlier this year following the loss of Nick Fairley to a heart condition with the hope that the 32-year-old veteran could offer experience to a depleted defensive interior. McDaniel does boast 141 career appearances and 48 starts, after all, and has been a serviceable rotational option with Seattle and Tampa Bay over the past few seasons.
Instead, the Saints will go with a youthful defensive line that includes last year’s first-round pick in Sheldon Rankins, plus other youngsters such as Tyeler Davison and David Onyemata.
The NFL has suspended Willie Snead for the first three games of the season, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. Snead’s ban is for a personal conduct violation that stemmed from an off-season DUI, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. He was booked by police in Kenner. La., on June 11 after he struck another vehicle and registered a blood alcohol content level of .125, per Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com (on Twitter). Snead was initially suspended for four games, but he had it reduced to three games following a successful (and quiet) appeal. 
The suspension is a big blow for the Saints as Snead was being counted on as one of Drew Brees‘ top targets to open the season. The team will have to lean more on supporting receivers Ted Ginn and Brandon Coleman as well as tight end Coby Fleener until they get Snead back in October. Of course, the Saints no longer have the services of Brandin Cooks after trading him to New England earlier this year.
Snead and the Saints were said to be working on a long-term deal this summer, but he wound up signing his exclusive rights free agent tender in July instead. The DUI may or may not have had something to do with the talks breaking down.
Snead, a former undrafted free agent out of Ball State, has established himself as one of Drew Brees‘ top targets over the past two seasons. Between the last two campaigns, the 24-year-old has appeared in 30 games (12 starts) and compiled 141 receptions for 1,879 yards and seven touchdowns.
The 49ers have released running back Tim Hightower, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com. The team also cut fellow RB Kapri Bibbs, per Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee.
Hightower signed with the 49ers in April after spending the previous two seasons serving as Mark Ingram‘s backup on the Saints. 2016 was a bounce-back season for Hightower, who appeared in all 16 games for the first time since 2010 and totaled 748 yards (548 rushing, 200 receiving) and five touchdowns (four on the ground, one through the air). Prior to that, Hightower was effectively out of the NFL from 2012-2015, which represented a notable fall from grace for someone who had been a dependable rusher for the Cardinals early in his career.
San Francisco sent the 177th pick in this year’s draft to Denver for Bibbs and a fourth-rounder in 2018 during the spring, but the ball carrier failed to make his mark in the Bay Area. Bibbs wasn’t much of a factor as a rusher as a member of the Broncos, as he only totaled 29 carries, but he was a reliable special teamer with the club.
Thanks to the cuts of Hightower and Bibbs, the 49ers are set to lean on Matt Breida, Raheem Mostert and rookie Joe Williams behind Carlos Hyde.
The Bears have released wide receiver Victor Cruz, Josina Anderson of ESPN tweets.
This is the latest setback in the career of Cruz, a former star who has dealt with significant injury issues in recent years. Cruz suffered a knee injury during the Bears’ preseason finale on Thursday and will undergo an MRI, per Anderson (on Twitter).
A longtime Giant, Cruz played just six games from 2014-15, and while he bounced back last year to appear in all but one of Big Blue’s contests, he only one caught 39 passes and one touchdown. At his best, Cruz combined for between 73 and 86 receptions in each season from 2011-13, earning a Pro Bowl nod in 2012.
The 30-year-old Cruz joined the Bears in May on a deal worth up to $4MM. Chicago will save $1.97MM of Cruz’s $2.47MM cap hit, but it’s even thinner at receiver after losing Cameron Meredith to a season-ending injury last week. The Bears are now down to Kevin White, a 2015 first-rounder who has battled injuries during his short career, Markus Wheaton and Josh Bellamy, among others, at the position.