Among the changes to the game approved by NFL owners last week was the move to eliminate the cut from 90 players to 75 players after teams played their third preseason game of the summer.
That interim step left teams with 22 more cuts to make before the start of the season and pared down rosters ahead of a final exhibition game that tends to feature few, if any, first-string players on the field. Lions coach Jim Caldwell thinks having 15 more players on hand for that game is a good thing for everybody involved.
“It gives us a chance to look at guys a little bit more, another ballgame under the belt,” Caldwell said, via MLive.com. “I think it helps us from a player safety issue, too. Sometimes you get rather thin that time of year, so you’ll have a few more guys to still work with.”
There probably won’t be too many players who would have been part of an initial round of cuts who wind up making a 53-man roster because of the shift, but it never hurts to get a chance to make a strong final impression when you’re on the fringes of the league.