The NFL is a brutal place. With only 22 players on the field at a time, competition for spots is fierce. There’s always someone waiting to take your place, even if you’re a future Hall of Famer.
That’s never more evident than on cut-down day — the date on the league calendar when teams have to separate wheat from chaff in order to go from 80 players to the 53-man limit they’ll stick to through the regular season. After weeks of practices and a handful of preseason games, veterans and prospects on the roster bubble had their fates (mostly) decided by 3 p.m. ET on August 30.
