The NFL’s annual mass sacrifice is complete – Tuesday afternoon being the deadline for all 32 of the league’s teams to reduce their bloated offseason rosters to 53 men per.
Of course, rosters and depth charts are never truly finalized. The coming days will bring some measures of redemption as a flurry of players are claimed off waivers – and the corresponding releases those will require – while dozens of fading veterans and raw hopefuls are snapped up for practice squads throughout the NFL landscape.
Still, cutdown day is a line of demarcation – often bad, but sometimes positive – for many. Here are those who appeared to win and lose amid this year’s iteration:
WINNERS
Hendon Hooker
It’s been a fairly rough 21 months for the 2022 SEC Offensive Player of the Year, who also finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting that year even though his senior season at Tennessee ended prematurely when Hooker tore an ACL. He was a third-round pick last year but effectively took a medical redshirt with the Detroit Lions as his knee recovered. Apparently it’s sufficiently better now that Hooker, who made his preseason debut this year, has evidently won the QB2 job behind Jared Goff after Detroit cut veteran journeyman Nate Sudfeld. Now Hooker is one snap – or some mop-up opportunities – away from showing he could be the prospect the Lions thought he was when they made that 2023 draft investment.
NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.
Skyy Moore
A second-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs once upon a time – aka 2022 – Moore has often garnered positive buzz but never really delivered the goods, catching just 43 passes in two seasons. Yet his roster bubble hasn’t burst, even as the champs brought in veteran WR Hollywood Brown, drafted Xavier Worthy in Round 1 and even recycled Mecole Harman and JuJu Smith-Schuster. Moore’s margin for error may be down to the nub, but the Chiefs clearly still think enough of him to carry seven wideouts.
Malik Willis
Once considered by many as the top quarterback prospect in the 2022 draft, where he slipped into the third round, Willis has been on a steady slide since – even the Tennessee Titans’ confidence in him steadily eroding, leading up to Monday’s trade to the Green Bay Packers. But the Pack feel good enough about slotting Willis behind emergent star Jordan Love, that they let former QB2 Sean Clifford and rookie Michael Pratt go Tuesday. Not bad for Willis, who wasn’t going to be better than third-string in Nashville again.
QBs drafted in Round 1 in 2021
With the exception of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence, the No. 1 overall pick three years ago, the other four washed out with their original teams. But Zach Wilson (Denver Broncos), Trey Lance (Dallas Cowboys), Justin Fields (Pittsburgh Steelers) and Mac Jones (Jags) have all apparently stuck in their new locales and will evidently get one more season to develop their once-touted skill sets.
All NFL news, on and off the field. Sign up for USA TODAY’s 4th and Monday newsletter.
LOSERS
QBs drafted in Round 1 in 2021
Fields is in the best situation from an individual perspective, but he’s down to the next few days if he wants to clear what seems a fairly middling bar and beat out Russell Wilson for Pittsburgh’s still undeclared QB1 post. Jones and Wilson have clearly been relegated to reservist roles, but both could benefit from the opportunity to hold a clipboard … er, tablet. As for Lance? One day, his development is being praised by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, the next … Lance is serving up five interceptions against Los Angeles Chargers backups. (Incidentally, Cooper Rush remains in Dallas to backstop QB Dak Prescott.)
Desmond Ridder
Three years ago, he was leading the University of Cincinnati to the only CFP appearance by a Group of Five school. Two years ago, he was the second quarterback drafted – albeit in a weak class – after Kenny Pickett but before Willis. Last year, Ridder started 13 games for the Atlanta Falcons, winning six. But his consistency and production were problematic, leading to the signing of veteran Kirk Cousins and Ridder’s trade to the Arizona Cardinals and … this year, Ridder is now out of work. Hard to believe he won’t get a third chance elsewhere given his talent and intangibles, but that also likely means toiling on a practice squad.
Frank Gore Jr.
Dad has 16,000 career rushing yards, third in league history. Gore Jr., who had a 5-yard TD run in Saturday’s preseason finale with the Buffalo Bills, one of pops’ former employers, will apparently have to wait a while longer to get his first official yards after the undrafted free agent was waived Tuesday.
Caleb Farley
A first-round pick of the Titans in 2021, his career has been short-circuited by multiple injuries – going back to his time at Virginia Tech – which have limited Farley to two NFL starts. He didn’t play at all in 2023, when Farley’s house exploded, killing his father. Let go Tuesday, perhaps a figurative turn of the page is made to order for a guy who just can’t seem to catch a figurative break.
Mike Hall Jr.
The highest-drafted Cleveland Browns player since the end of the 2021 season, the second-round defensive tackle out of Ohio State officially landed on the commissioner’s exempt list Tuesday – effectively paid leave – after being charged with domestic violence earlier this month. Per local police, Hall, 21, has been accused of putting a gun to his fiancée’s head and threatening to kill her during the course of an argument.
Veteran WRs with fulfilled potential
Robbie Chosen and Allen Robinson, who both have 1,000-yard receiving seasons on their NFL résumés, received their walking papers. Experienced pass catchers Justin Gage and Sterling Shepard are also now available for work.
Veteran WRs with unfulfilled potential
N’Keal Harry, John Ross, Kadarius Toney and Laquon Treadwell are all recent first-round picks who find themselves unemployed. Parris Campbell, Dee Eskridge, KJ Hamler, Andy Isabella and Terrace Marshall Jr. are all recent second-round picks who find themselves unemployed. And given the more established veteran pass catchers saddled with pink slips, it will likely be even more difficult for the ones who have never lived up to their potential to continue enjoying opportunities.
***
Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.
