There’s Now 1 Big Summer Climax for the Vikings & NFL
Dustin Baker
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The NFL is amid its ‘Annual Meeting’ this week, and one significant change dribbled out of the large event.
Beginning this year, all roster cuts will occur on a single day, a change from the gradual trimdown of years past.
There’s Now 1 Big Summer Climax for the Vikings & NFL
The 33rd Team’s Ari Meirov tweeted Tuesday, “The NFL has approved having just one roster cutdown, meaning teams will trim rosters from 90 to 53 after the final preseason game. The date this year: Tuesday, August 29.”
Before the tweak, roster cuts would go from 90 to 75 in mid-August — and then 75 to 53 after the final preseason game, formulating active rosters with Week 1 afoot. The switch from 90 to 53 means about 1,200 players will be without a job on the same day. And that’s a mammoth change in player movement as teams will scramble to one enormous pool of recently-released players, hoping to scavenge the spoils.
The change could be a brutal move for players, at least emotionally, while increasing competition in training camp — depending on the eye of the beholder. It also tends to indicate whichever players dress for the final preseason game are likely on their way out the Tuesday after.
Also at the Annual Meeting, owners decided to scrap the Detroit Lions-led “third quarterback rule,” which would designate a third quarterback’s availability on gamedays at all times. The San Francisco 49ers were victimized by quarterback injuries in the 2022 NFC Championship — perhaps to the tune of a Super Bowl appearance — and change seemed warranted.
Competition Committee chairman Rich McKay opined about that rule, “We talked through it. I think there is a lot of support for it. There’s just a lot of logistics that go into it. Then, there’s the question of: Should that third quarterback rule apply to the practice squad player or only a player on the 53? There’s definitely a difference of opinion when it comes to that.”
“I think our idea was to work on that, and it could be something that shows up this year. We’ll talk about it again in May. But I do believe there was a lot of support for it,” McKay added.
In addition to the new cut-day and third-QB rules, the NFL approved tripping fouls as 15-yard penalties (not 10), said no thanks to a 4th-and-20 alternative to the onside kick, and were mixed, for now, about the Philadelphia Eagles famous quarterback sneak matter. The onside-kick alternatives and Eagles QB-sneak “cheat code” will be revisited at a later date.
The NFL’s new big cut day is five months away.
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Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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