One of the NFL’s most difficult days is approaching. This year’s NFL 53-man roster deadline is August 30 at 4 p.m. ET. Teams will have to cut a significant portion of their rosters.
The NFL roster limit is 80 players before cut day. To comply with the NFL’s roster rules, each team may have to release as many as 27 players. As a result, as many as 864 players may be looking for work as the season gets underway.
The good news is that many of these players will be assigned to the practise squad. Because of previous rule changes, implemented before the 2020 season, each NFL team will have up to 16 practise squad spots available.
That will give many of the released at least a temporary opportunity to remain with their clubs.
Because of the NFL’s injured reserve rules, some players may still make the 53-man roster after being cut.
If a player is placed on injured reserve before the 53-man roster deadline, they are out for the season; if they are placed on it after the deadline, they can be activated as soon as three weeks later.
As a result, even after cut day, there will be a lot of roster reshuffling.
However, most players will make a critical decision before 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday. It is up to the team whether the decision is made immediately after their final preseason game or just before the deadline.
Shaquem Griffin retires from NFL
Last Wednesday, linebacker Shaquem Griffin announced his retirement from the NFL. In an article for The Players’ Tribune, he stated that he is looking forward to assisting others as a member of the NFL Legends Community.
Griffin, who had his left hand amputated at the age of four due to amniotic band syndrome, a congenital condition, became the NFL’s first player with one hand when the Seattle Seahawks drafted him in the fifth round in 2018.
It reunited him with his twin brother, Shaquill, who was then the starting left cornerback for the Seahawks.
Griffin was congratulated on his retirement by the NFL, who called him “a true inspiration.”
Shaquem Griffin was waived by the Seahawks in 2020 and said Wednesday that his brother stayed with him and skipped practice the next day. His biggest worry was about how he would be perceived.
“I didn’t want people thinking, Aw, the one-handed player got cut. I don’t do sympathy, man. I don’t like people feeling sorry for me,” he wrote. “But at no point did I ever think that that was it for me in the NFL.”
