It’s no secret that today is an important day on the NFL calendar; it’s roster cutdown day. By 4:00 pm, teams around the league will have to whittle down their 90-man rosters to 53, creating more turnover than in years past when cuts would occur gradually throughout the preseason. You can keep track of the multitude of moves made by the Ravens here:
Ravens have 88 players on their roster. They need to get down to 53 by Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET
Here are the latest moves:https://t.co/P6MnCgHwQU— Baltimore Beatdown (@BmoreBeatdown) August 28, 2023
In the waning hours before those cuts happen, I want to take a second to emphasize a point that gets lost sometimes. From a business standpoint, we as fans want to know what our team plans to do, and so we only care about these cuts in terms of names on a page and numbers counting against the salary cap. But across 32 buildings in the league, as important as today is, today is not a good day.
The next few days are the toughest days of the NFL calendar for players, coaches, executives, etc.
All teams have to go down from 90 players to 53, meaning 1,184 players will be told they won't make the roster.
About 500 will be brought back on practice squads, but for the… pic.twitter.com/KKvhKVSGhw
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) August 27, 2023
I’ll fully admit that there are times as a fan when I lose sight of the human element of the game that we love. When players reach this echelon of football, they’re the best 1,100 or so in the world at what they do, so the expectations and scrutiny are at their highest. That said, anyone who has underperformed under pressure knows how bad that feels, especially when you feel like you’ve let others down.
That point was illustrated in full effect by wide receiver Sean Ryan following Saturday’s preseason game. While Ryan’s had a pretty impressive preseason campaign, he was firmly on the bubble with the Ravens, meaning he had to take advantage of every opportunity. Ryan unfortunately missed a would-be touchdown through the hands and posted this on his Instagram story following the game.
I hope Ravens WR Sean Ryan keeps his head up
Had a bad drop but don’t want any player thinking this way pic.twitter.com/QAKmMsAHBb
— The Ravens Realm (@RealmRavens) August 27, 2023
The 24-year-old rookie from Rutgers had an uphill battle to try to make the roster as it was, but I feel for him having a moment like that, especially with as public as the backlash from fans can be. Yes, it’s preseason, but that doesn’t stop trolls from trolling, and it amplifies what gets lost in the process of sports for our entertainment: at the end of the day, these guys are human, just like us, and they’re fighting to achieve a dream at the pinnacle of their sport.
I may not always agree with the way “Hard Knocks” chooses to frame their episodes, but they did a fantastic job of illustrating this point a few years ago. While covering the Miami Dolphins, “Hard Knocks” captured the moment that Miami’s front office staff made the decision to trade Vontae Davis to the Colts. In that moment, as his life is being uprooted to a new place, surrounded by new teammates, the first thing that comes to his mind is that he wants to call his grandmother. Every time I watch this clip, it hits me hard.
Granted, not every personnel move is going to be a devastating obstacle in a player’s life, but even in cases like QB Josh Dobbs, who seems to be handling his move to the Cardinals well, you can see how much planning and upheaval goes into a cross-country move on short notice.
“I’ll see you guys in the desert…✌️”
New Arizona Cardinals QB Josh Dobbs speaks on the last 24 hours.
📺: TikTok pic.twitter.com/zErs7lB8Qq
— Johnny Venerable (@JohnnyVenerable) August 25, 2023
Maybe I’m feeling a bit more sentimental because of how close I’ve been able to get to the players this offseason, but it shouldn’t be lost on us that, in large part, these guys are genuinely good dudes. I’ve been around professional athletes for more than half of my life, and the number of times I’ve ever had a negative interaction is probably in the single digits. So many of them have gotten to where they are because they’re dedicated guys who focus on doing things the right way, and it sucks to see some work as hard as they have to fall short. It’s easy to like these guys, and I don’t envy the coaches and front office staff who make the tough decisions to let them go, either.
Over the next few days, just remember that it’s OK to root for these guys, even if they don’t end up wearing purple and black when September rolls around.
