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Notable NFL roster cuts as teams reduce to 53

It's the most painful day of the year for NFL players. And one of the busiest for tracking NFL news.

We tracked every single cut as teams reduced their roster to 53 men in our tracker that was updated as soon as the news happened. We also kept a tally of some of the more significant releases right here in our rolling look at the most notable cuts.

Roster cuts tracker

NFL teams trimmed their rosters to 53 players on Saturday. Around The NFL reports on each team's moves. **READ**

Champ Bailey (New Orleans Saints): Careers rarely end on a high note, even for future Hall of Famers. The team cut Bailey on Saturday to make way for younger players like undrafted rookie Brian Dixon. The Saints paid Bailey $500,000 guaranteed this year, but this move wasn't about money.

The Saints also cut receiver Robert Meachem, who played with the Saints' starters during the preseason.

Michael Sam (St. Louis Rams): The Rams took four players in the seventh round this year. None of them made the team, including Sam. It's a good bet he'll land on a practice squad, most likely in St. Louis.

Stephen Hill (New York Jets): The failed second-round pick of former general manager Mike Tannenbaum didn't even make it to his third season in New York. That is rare. He's bound to get another chance elsewhere. Jets quarterbacks Tajh Boyd and Matt Simms were also cut.

Dimitri Patterson (New York Jets): The Jets secondary is a mess. But at least his suspension is over.

Jerel Worthy, Josh Boyce (New England Patriots): Worthy was a second-round pick by Green Bay who was traded to the Patriots during camp. Now the Patriots don't have to send a conditional draft pick to the Packers. Boyce was a fourth-round pick last year who couldn't make a deep Patriots receiver group.

Alex Henery, Kenjon Barner (Philadelphia Eagles): There will be a new kicker in Philly this year. Barner, who was just acquired from Carolina, was let go with a waived/injured tag.

Nate Burleson (Cleveland Browns): Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan needs weapons, but Burleson just couldn't stay healthy in August. A media career likely awaits.

Daniel Thomas (Miami Dolphins): Thomas, a second-round pick in 2011, is another failed pick by former general manager Jeff Ireland.

Devon Still (Cincinnati Bengals): The 2012 second-round pick is the rare recent Bengals defensive pick who didn't pan out.

Greg Little (Oakland Raiders): The drop-prone former Cleveland Browns receiver could be out of the league.

Major Wright (Tampa Bay Buccaneers): The former Chicago Bears safety couldn't stick with Lovie Smith.

Kevin Vickerson (Denver Broncos): The defensive tackle started 25 games for the defending AFC champions over the last two seasons. NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport notes that the Broncos love pickup Marvin Austin. Vickerson's release is a sign the Broncos are deeper on defense than previous years.

Jeff Tuel and Jordan Palmer (Buffalo Bills): Tuel, Palmer, and Thad Lewis all took cracks at the Bills' backup quarterback job this offseason. None of them are on the roster anymore. It's Kyle Orton's world.

Curtis Painter (New York Giants): Second-year pro Ryan Nassib's big preseason earned him a comeback victory over Painter in the backup quarterback race.

Mikel Leshoure (Detroit Lions): It's a good sign for the Lions that they no longer are keeping around the disappointing big running back just in case.

Leon McFadden (Cleveland Browns): The 2013 third-round pick started two games last year. It speaks well for the Browns secondary that they can cut him. It does not speak well for former GM Michael Lombardi.

Kelvin Sheppard (Indianapolis Colts): GM Ryan Grigson acquired Sheppard last year in exchange for pass rusher Jerry Hughes, who has excelled in Buffalo. Grigson has a lot of swings and misses.

Connor Barth, Jeff Demps (Tampa Bay Buccaneers): The Bucs moved on from their once-solid kicker. Demps, the Olympic speedster, led the league in NFL.com posts:production ratio over the last two years.

Phillip Tanner, Ryan Williams (Dallas Cowboys): Both running backs could not make the final Cowboys roster.

Lache Seastrunk, Evan Royster, Chris Thompson (Washington Redskins): In a surprise, Silas Redd is your Redskins No. 3 running back.

Mike Flacco (San Diego Chargers): Joe's brother couldn't make the team at tight end.

Derek Cox (Baltimore Ravens): He was a big-ticket free-agent signing in San Diego only a year ago.

**James Harrison**: OK, he wasn't a roster cut. But he's a player who was cut at least four times in his career before announcing his retirement Saturday. He had a short peak, but was one of the best defensive players in football for a four-year stretch from 2009-2012.

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