The NFL’s version of a Black Friday is almost upon us – by 4 p.m. Tuesday, all teams must cut their rosters from the final camp number of 80 down to the regular-season limit of 53.
More than 800 players will be out of a job (or placed on IR/PUP/etc.) within the next two days, 54 of which will come from the Giants and Jets – and on the Gang Green side, those decisions may be harder than many.
“We’re going to have a lot of discussions, and there will be some heated discussions. There are a lot of guys who made a strong case for themselves (Sunday), really excited to get to the tape and iron it out,” head coach Robert Saleh said after Sunday’s preseason finale. “We have a lot of guys who may not be here, but I’m very confident they will end up on someone else’s 53-man roster. Joe (Douglas) and his staff did a great job developing an initial 90-man roster, but it will be fun to see how this works out.”
Bittersweet indeed, as Saleh called the process both fun and cool – “there are a lot of guys there who have not played their last down in the NFL, and it will be really cool to see how this all shakes out,” he added – but noted it’s the toughest day in the league year regardless of talent level.
“It’s tough, and hopefully in the future it gets even harder, but when you know you have to say goodbye to an NFL player, that’s hard,” Saleh said. “These next 48 hours for me, and I can speak for my staff and Joe and his staff, they’re absolutely miserable, because you have to say goodbye to guys you’ve been with since OTAs, or even since last year. This is the worst part of the job and this game, but it’s one of those necessary evils.”
The upside, at least for Saleh? There are 16 spots on the practice squad, and the Jets are hoping that they can keep a good chunk of players they’re forced to cut from the 53 on that team.
“Joe and his staff are so detailed, and adamant about collaborative communication. We’re all in lockstep for what we’re looking for, so credit to him and his staff,” Saleh said. “We’d love to get 16 of our own on the practice squad, it’s almost like added depth, but we’ll see how it shakes out with waivers and stuff.”
That would be ideal, as then you’d have 69 players who understand the system, but there are also always some surprise cuts – and to Saleh’s point, there may also be a player on another roster that ends up on the Jets’ 53, too.
It’s a difficult day for thousands, but if you ask one Jet who is likely on the chopping block (and could end up on another 53), that notion is why you see such competition in the preseason.
“I think we’ve talked about as a team – a lot of the guys going out there at the end of games are trying to do the best they can not only for the team, but also trying to put good stuff on tape for the rest of the league, too,” said quarterback Chris Streveler, who led the Jets to three straight comeback wins in the preseason. “That’s just everybody at the end of those games, you just want to execute well and put your best foot forward every day.”
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