Phone calls to pops. FaceTime with mom. All in celebration of making the 53-man roster of an NFL team.
That was so yesterday.
Tuesday was the final day for league-mandated roster reductions, with all 32 teams trimming from a 90-man offseason limit to the so-called “final 53.”
But there’s really nothing final about it.
Within 24 hours of the deadline, a handful of players inevitably get that dreaded buzz in their pocket or a quiet invite from a staffer to meet with the head coach. The message, softened with glossy vernacular, lands the same: the team found something better on the waiver wire, or swung a deal for a veteran.
For all the attention on stars like Trey Hendrickson, Terry McLaurin and Micah Parsons — All-Pro talents holding out or holding in for bigger contracts — there is no such luxury for the bottom fifth of the roster. The margin for error doesn’t exist. No time for breaks, injuries, missed blocks, dropped passes, failed reads. Certainly no thought of a hold-in.
Texans coach DeMeco Ryans knows it from both sides. As a linebacker, he was good enough to make a contract demand or two. As a coach now tasked with sending NFL dreamers home, cutdown day hits different.
“You have 90 guys who’ve been here since OTAs. Some guys have been working out here since February, in the building nonstop, putting the work in to make the team,” Ryans said. “Sometimes you lose sight of how we’re trying to build this camaraderie, we’re trying to build this team. But, on the flip side of that, you do have to tell some guys, ‘No.’ For me, as a coach, the toughest part of my job is having to tell a guy, ‘No, not at this time.’”
Teams can stash 16 players on the practice squad once they clear waivers, if eligible. Players with fewer than four accrued seasons must pass through waivers. For the fortunate, another team might be waiting.
Giants coach Brian Daboll called the window between the final preseason game and the cutdown deadline brutal.
“Tough on players, on their families, on their teammates, their coaches, on staff members,” Daboll said.
Still, the NFL moves fast. By Tuesday afternoon, Daboll was already addressing his 53-man roster in a walkthrough. General manager Joe Schoen was busy compiling waiver names. The order follows reverse 2025 NFL Draft order, with the Giants sitting third behind the Titans and Browns.
“That’s the NFL. There’s always cutdown dates,” Daboll said. “We’ll have our team, but there’s always evaluations that take place. Do you want to add this player? Do you want to claim this player? You’re trying to improve any way you can. I’m excited about the guys that are here right now. We’ll just try to do the best we can.”
For many, though, the harsh reality remains: their best is no longer good enough.
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said that’s why trust is everything.
“The guys that are being out there, can we trust them?” he said. “Can we not trust them? Are they doing the right things out there? Are they not?”
