Another cutdown day has come and gone in the NFL. Reducing rosters to 53 players can make it a tough time of year for the many who are suddenly looking for employment, but it also leads to a flurry of fascinating team activity. Trades are becoming more frequent this time of year, and there was even some interesting quarterback news to come out of cutdown day.
Here are my top takeaways from this year's round of roster trimming.
1) Saints have their QB1 ... for now. Kellen Moore announced on Tuesday that Spencer Rattler will be the Saints' starting quarterback for Week 1. If anything I think this makes it more likely they'll be among the favorites to take a QB early in next spring's draft.
Second-rounder Tyler Shough had every chance to win the starting job. He just couldn't quite do it. This certainly doesn't mean Shough won't get his chance eventually, but his already-short window just shrunk a bit more.
Don't forget that Shough turns 26 years old in a month, theoretically at his physical peak. Part of what had to make him appealing to the Saints was that he arrived with seven college seasons of experience. But injuries and crowded QB rooms derailed his path in college, and now Shough must wait again.
I think he'll get his shot at some point. I can't imagine the leash on Rattler is a long one this season. The Saints know they must get a good, long look at Shough whenever he's ready. Moore certainly saw something else in him other than his experience.
But if the Saints are not entirely convinced Shough is their starter next season, it would feel like a strong chance they're taking a top QB prospect, assuming one is within reach for them.
That's just the reality of the NFL with quarterbacks.
2) Bengals thread the needle for 2025. For six months the Bengals and Trey Hendrickson appeared to be at loggerheads over the reigning NFL sack leader's contract, which is due to expire after this season. While the total value of an extension might have been relatively easy to sort out in talks, the guaranteed money beyond this season is where things seemed to get off track, as NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported back in July.
With the four-time Pro Bowler heading into his age-31 season, the two sides finally agreed on Monday to a reworked contract, which included a $14 million raise for this season. The way things stand now, it's hard for me to see the relationship extending further.
It's easy to sit back and give the Bengals guff for not reaching deeper into their pockets to get a longer deal done. But they didn't technically have to pay Hendrickson more for this season. They essentially did it as an act of good faith. A bonus, if you will.
This season is obviously a big one in Cincinnati. The Bengals did what few thought possible: keeping Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Hendrickson and others. Even if only for one season, they did it. If it ends in a Super Bowl next February, it will all be worth the trouble. If not, the Bengals -- I suspect -- will let Hendrickson walk, take the future compensatory pick and continue drafting younger replacements on defense. This is the pattern.
Both sides got something out of this. Hendrickson gets a major short-term boost, and a chance to channel his energy into playing his best ahead of free agency. The Bengals gladly will take that version of their best defender this season.
Both sides can claim victory if they want, even as tiresome as the standoff became, but don't shortchange what the Bengals were able to accomplish this offseason -- and how much better that will look if they once again become Super Bowl contenders.
3) Browns, Vikings make savvy QB moves. Quarterback trades have become more common this time of year, even if they don't often involve top-tier passers. But the Browns and Vikings each deserve credit for making QB trades that probably were necessary.
Kenny Pickett (sent to the Raiders) and Sam Howell (dealt to the Eagles) were awkward fits in Cleveland and Minnesota, respectively. Both teams realized it and moved on from them, marking the third time each has been traded. Better to admit a mistake and try to fix it than to be stubborn and shoehorn in a bad fit at the game's most important position.
For Cleveland, four was a crowd. The Browns traded for Pickett before signing Joe Flacco and drafting two QBs. Clearly that wasn't the plan going in, no matter what the Browns might say about draft flexibility. The minute they snagged a falling Shedeur Sanders was the first moment I thought Pickett was expendable.
Keeping him around only would have clouded the picture. The Browns' main goal, after Flacco takes them as far as he can, must be coming out of this season knowing whether Dillon Gabriel or Sanders -- and preferably seeing plenty of both -- can be the team's future leader. That goal is far easier to accomplish now.
The Vikings probably had no illusions about Howell, who's on his fourth team since the start of the 2023 season. It felt like a square peg in a round hole early on and never really changed, despite Kevin O'Connell giving Howell every chance to win the QB2 job.
It just didn't happen. It's a win that they got something for him via trade with the Eagles, and it's hard to imagine Carson Wentz will be a worse option behind McCarthy. Good on the Vikings for addressing that now instead of hoping J.J. McCarthy doesn't get hurt.
You can see why the Raiders wanted Pickett after Aidan O’Connell's injury, and few are in a position to question the moves of Eagles GM Howie Roseman. But either way, credit to the Browns and Vikings for being flexible about their quarterback situations.
4) Seahawks looking thin at receiver. Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp will be the Seahawks' top two receivers. Everything after that feels up in the air.
The release of Marquez Valdes-Scantling, reported by Pelissero, caught me a little off-guard, although seeing him playing in the preseason finale with nearly all reserves at least made that possibility more likely. I just wonder if they have enough depth there now.
Rookie Tory Horton has been the talk of camp, dazzling in the preseason before suffering an ankle injury against the Chiefs in the second preseason game. He has been sidelined since, and we don't know what Horton's status will be for Week 1. Jake Bobo is in the concussion protocol after taking a big hit in the last preseason game. The only other receivers on the roster are Cody White and Dareke Young. They combined for two catches last season.
Mike Macdonald wants a run-heavy offense that uses multiple tight ends and fullbacks. That limits things a bit at receiver, but I still felt like they had to make room for MVS on the roster given the question marks at the other spots.
Does Sam Darnold have the weapons he needs to thrive? Will the Seahawks be crippled by their lack of depth there? In what looks like a tight division, questions such as these can weigh heavily the longer the season goes on.
5) Diontae Johnson a free agent after stunning fall. In August 2022, the Steelers signed Johnson to a two-year, $36.71 million contract extension. He was seemingly on an upward trajectory after averaging 900-plus yards receiving his first four years in Pittsburgh.
Things have gone sideways for the 29-year-old receiver since then.
On Tuesday, the Browns released Johnson, who failed to crack their initial 53-man roster after signing with the team in April. A year ago Johnson was still talking like a man who thought he could be paid top-of-the-market money after seeing other receivers earning massive extensions. He signed with the Browns this offseason hoping to change the narrative surrounding him. So far, Johnson hasn't been able to succeed in that effort.
Cleveland was Johnson's fifth team since the end of the 2023 season. It's fair to wonder what the future holds for his NFL career.
Drama and disappointment followed Johnson at all three of his stops last season -- first with the Panthers, then the Ravens, and later the Texans. The Ravens suspended him for a game last year. The on-field product was replete with drops and little explosiveness. The version of Johnson who thrice led the Steelers in receiving yards was nowhere to be seen.
This will do nothing to scuttle chatter about a supposed Steelers wide receiver curse, naturally. Johnson is the next in line behind Antonio Brown, Chase Claypool, JuJu Smith-Schuster and others to leave Pittsburgh and see their careers go awry. (Cowboys fans reading this, hoping for big things from George Pickens, will be hoping the pattern doesn't continue.)
6) This will be a big week for the Titans. They're gearing up for Cam Ward's debut against a tough Broncos defense, and they have a chance to improve the roster significantly before then. As owners of the top waiver selection, Tennessee has the right to claim a waived player before the other 31 teams -- and I suspect they'll use it liberally.
Brian Callahan spoke candidly last weekend about the "opportunities to claim some players that will help us," and there's no reason to think it's garden-variety coachspeak. As encouraged as I am with the Titans' offseason improvements, there are still a lot of boxes to check.
The Carolina Panthers were in this position a year ago and claimed six players immediately after the cutdown window closed. Not all of them thrived in Carolina, but it was an indication of how much help the Panthers' roster needed.
The Titans might not be quite as bare, but new GM Mike Borgonzi certainly won't pass up chances this week to upgrade his defense and add more support for Ward on offense. The middle and bottom of Tennessee's roster feel far from set.
The Panthers started last season 1-7 but were much improved, going 4-5 down the stretch and nearly upsetting the Eagles in Philly. I see the Titans following a somewhat similar path if they can keep upgrading with waiver help to tune-up the roster a bit more.
7) Buccaneers, Lions bid farewell to two Day 2 QBs. Meanwhile, two assumed contenders parted with recent QB draft picks they'd been grooming the past few years.
The Lions released Hendon Hooker, a 2023 third-round pick, which wasn't exactly shocking given his lack of growth the past few years. With limited reps behind Jared Goff, it was a tough spot for him to develop. But when he was passed over in the Divisional Round for Teddy Bridgewater after Goff's injury, it felt like foreshadowing to this week.
Hooker needed a big summer and just didn't deliver that. Is Kyle Allen an upgrade? I don't know the answer. Allen had four picks, four fumbles and was sacked five times in his only two starts the past four seasons. But he outplayed Hooker in camp and the preseason and the Lions clearly felt more comfortable with him.
Bridgewater, meanwhile, will replace former second-rounder Kyle Trask as the Bucs' QB2. Like Hooker, Trask's opportunities have been extremely limited -- 11 regular-season passes since being drafted in Round 2 in 2021 -- as he was stuck behind Tom Brady for two years.
But Trask still never made that big push in Tampa. It's easy to forget that he and Baker Mayfield battled for the starting job two summers ago. Mayfield won the job, earning MVP votes last season, and now Trask is starting over.
The books on Hooker and Trask aren't closed, and as former Day 2 picks they'll likely get other opportunities. But it's also a stark reminder of why Rounds 2 and 3 tend to be something of a quarterback wasteland. Sure, Jalen Hurts is a success story, but there have been far more unfulfilled-promise Day 2 QBs in recent years, including a few who are already out of the league, such as Kellen Mond and Matt Corral.
Draft pedigree can buy you some time, but it won't guarantee quarterbacks multiple opportunities to start.
