The cuts are trickling in. All teams will need to get down to 53 by 4 p.m. Eastern time. And those won’t be the end – there still will be another day or two of noteworthy shuffling as teams pick through the promising players released by other teams.
A few of the noteworthy moves so far.
Kickers are falling into place
A number of teams have whittled down to one kicker: Browns (Zane Gonzalez), Bengals (Randy Bullock), Bears (Connor Barth), Vikings (Kai Forbarth), Texans (Ka’imi Fairbairn) and Giants (Aldrick Rosas). Some of these teams have a decent chance of finishing above-average in scoring at the positions – Texans, Vikings, Bengals, Giants.
But note that some of these kickers are awfully young and unproven. There are plenty of decent kickers out there looking for work, and some will wind up back in the league in a few weeks. Cody Parkey probably at the head of this list.
The Panthers have trimmed down to 53 teams, and they kept two kickers – Harrison Butker and Graham Gano. I believe they’re hoping someone will trade them a late-round pick for Gano. If they’re unable to move Gano, I expect they’ll cut him before their first game.
We’ll be sending out some revised player rankings in a couple of hours. On that, I’ll be assuming Butker will be Carolina’s kickers. He’s a possible top-10 scorer at that position, but he’s in that class of very young and very unproven players. He went 15 of 17 on field goals at Georgia Tech last year, but only 18 of 29 in his previous two seasons – not a shoo-in for 16 games.
Sammie Coates traded
The Steelers were going to cut Sammie Coates. Instead they traded him to Cleveland for a late-round pick. I don’t know that he’ll stick. He’s got good size and speed, but he’s long been plagued by erratic hands. Browns are just bringing him in for a look, I think. I don’t think they’ll have the room to keep him.
Willie Snead suspended
Not a roster move, but Snead will miss the first three weeks of the season, suspended after a driving under the influence arrest in June. Crappy timing, with Snead in a contract year.
I think this makes Ted Ginn viable. Recall that earlier in the week, I elevated Ginn ahead of Snead. He’s been playing more with the first-unit offense in the preseason games, and they’ve been using him as more than just a deep threat. They’ve got him running some shorter routes, and he gained 24 yards on an end-around in one of their games. He’s got the Coates-like hands, which are a problem, but I kind of like Ginn’s potential this year.
As further fallout of the Snead suspension, Brandon Coleman could put decent numbers in the first month of the season. I’ve heard Sean Payton talk him up a couple of times in the last month. Coleman has a huge body, and he caught 9 passes for 126 yards in two games when Marques Colston was sidelined for the final two weeks of the 2015 season.
Jeremy McNichols choppped
When the Bucs drafted McNichols, I was wondering if it would be a case of one Boise State back replacing another. Doug Martin underperformed last year and has a three-game suspension hanging over him (he’s also got an oversized contract). But McNichols struggled throughout camp, not even making the 53-man team. He’ll probably land on a practice squad.
Jermaine Kearse traded
The Seahawks pulled in Sheldon Richardson in a trade, bolstering their defense a notch – they’re gunning for a Super Bowl. As part of the deal, they sent Jermaine Kearse to the Jets. Kearse wasn’t going to be a starter for the Seahawks; they’ve got three other wide receivers who are way better – Paul Richardson and Tyler Lockett need to play. But Kearse might some games for the talent-thin Jets. (No fantasy relevance.)
Teams still have 90 minutes to work with, and the most notable cuts are yet to come.
—Ian Allan