For those of you who may have missed it, you’re getting ready for the usual Saturday-of-Labor-Day weekend whirlwind of activity as the rosters reduce to 53. If you wait until next Saturday, however, you’ll miss it.
This year, the reductions to the 53-man rosters happen on Tuesday, August 31.
The change, sparked by the elimination of the fourth preseason game, gives teams that wrap the preseason on Friday and Saturday a bit of a head start toward making the cuts. Usually, everyone plays on Thursday night and the cuts happen on Saturday. Now, most of the game will be played on Friday and Saturday. There’s a chance some teams will go ahead and drop to 53 (or at least commence the process of trimming 27 roster spots) before the deadline.
The reality for the players who make it is that it could still be temporary. As players are released elsewhere, every team will look at the names that become available and decide whether to supplant someone from their 53-man roster with someone new. In the final five or 10 spots of the roster and most of the practice squad, that will continue throughout much of the regular season.