By Scott Kacsmar
With the NFL preseason over, teams had to trim their rosters to 53 players by 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Remember, the initial 53-man roster is almost never the final 53-man roster as more moves are to come before the games next week.
The Dallas Cowboys are a great example of these “final 53” shenanigans. Currently, the Cowboys do not have a backup quarterback or kicker on the roster after cutting Cooper Rush and Brett Maher on Tuesday. But after some maneuvering to come, you can expect both to be back on the roster.
With that said, here are some of the most surprising cuts from a busy time in the league.
Las Vegas: OT Alex Leatherwood
Maybe this is not so surprising given the recent history of the draft for the Raiders, but it is a huge deal when a 2021 first-round pick gets cut before his second season. Alex Leatherwood was the final first-round pick of the Jon Gruden-Mike Mayock era, and it was a pick met with criticism on draft night. Leatherwood did little to silence his critics, earning a 45.0 grade on Pro Football Focus in 17 starts as a rookie.
With a new regime taking over in Las Vegas this season, there was no favoritism given to Leatherwood. Head coach Josh McDaniels must not have seen him as a viable reclamation project, and the team is moving on instead of struggling with him.
After taking over the team in 2018, Gruden and GM Mayock put together one of the worst runs of top picks in quite some time, especially if you look at the last three seasons:
- 2018: Offensive tackle Kolton Miller, 15th overall, 63 starts and getting better.
- 2019: Defensive end Clelin Ferrell, 4th overall, demoted to bench in 2021, 8.0 sacks in 42 games.
- 2020: Wide receiver Henry Ruggs, 12th overall, career over after deadly DUI crash in 2021.
- 2021: Offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood, 17th overall, cut after one season.
Finding Maxx Crosby (fourth round) and Hunter Renfrow (fifth round) in the middle rounds of the 2019 draft might be the only thing that keeps Mayock off the all-time worst drafting lists, which is awkward when he got the job after being NFL Network’s go-to draft analyst.
Buffalo: TE O.J. Howard
A first-round pick in 2017, O.J Howard never really lived up to the hype in five seasons with the Buccaneers. He was a big-play threat early in his career, but not even the arrival of Tom Brady in Tampa could reinvent Howard’s role for the team. It did not help that Brady brought future Hall of Famer Rob Gronkowski with him, but even Cameron Brate was more deserving of snaps than Howard, who caught 25 balls over the last two seasons.
In trying his hand at free agency, Howard had a shot to make a good roster in Buffalo that was not deep at tight end with starter Dawson Knox only breaking out last season. But after a disappointing camp, the Bills parted ways with Howard.
Philadelphia: SAF Anthony Harris
Many of the players who get cut are annual August hopefuls, undrafted players, and recent draft picks that flopped. But once in a while, you see a veteran get phased out and that happened to safety Anthony Harris in Philadelphia.
Harris actually tied for the league lead with six interceptions in 2019 when he was with the Vikings. He started 14 games in his first season with the Eagles last year, and his coverage metrics were solid: 51.1% completions on 45 targets, 6.2 yards per target, one touchdown allowed, and a 68.8 passer rating when targeted.
But those numbers can vary wildly from year to year, and Harris is going on 31 and has likely peaked in his NFL career. The Eagles already had a plan in place by trading for Chauncey Gardner-Johnson from the Saints. He will only be 25 this season and is coming off a confident season for a good secondary.
Miami: RB Sony Michel
Was Sony Michel worth a first-round pick in 2018? Not really, but he has made out better than most first-round running backs in the NFL’s 21st century. In four seasons, Michel has rushed for at least 845 yards three times, and he has two Super Bowl rings, including one with the Rams last year.
You might think he could catch on with a running back by committee in Miami, but the numbers game went against him. The Dolphins have Chase Edmonds, Raheem Mostert, and rookie coach Mike McDaniel is going to give Myles Gaskin another shot with Miami.
Michel will end up with some team this season, but it just may not be the Dolphins.
Tennessee: P Brett Kern
Special teams jobs are great job security if you can get them. Punter Brett Kern was with the Titans since 2009 and made the Pro Bowls three years in a row in 2017-19. He was even an All-Pro punter as recently as 2019.
But getting into his mid-thirties, the punts have not been as deep the last two years with Kern’s average dropping to 45.2 yards per punt after averaging 47.9 yards during his Pro Bowl run.
Kern was released in favor of rookie Ryan Stonehouse, who averaged 50.1 yards per punt in the preseason.
Kansas City: WR Josh Gordon
Not so much a surprise as a disappointing move, Josh Gordon could have had one of the all-time redemption arcs if he became a star again with the Chiefs. The team had him in last season and he only caught five balls, but maybe an offseason with Patrick Mahomes in an offense that has to replace Tyreek Hill’s production could have done the trick for Gordon.
But it does not look like it will happen. The Chiefs are going to move forward with this revamped wide receiving corps of JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marques Valdes-Scantling, and rookie Skyy Moore joining Mecole Hardman from last year. Justin Watson also flashed in the preseason for the team.
Houston: RB Marlon Mack
Marlon Mack’s comeback attempt in the AFC South was short lived. The back rose to notoriety during Andrew Luck’s final season in Indianapolis in 2018 when he averaged 75.7 rushing yards per game. He had his only 1,000-yard rushing season in 2019 after Luck shockingly retired, and he was still hoping to be a big part of the offense in 2020 before a season-ending injury.
Jonathan Taylor took over in Indy and Mack only got 28 carries for 101 yards last season. It was clear he needed to try another backfield to get meaningful touches again. The Houston Texans were a decent choice as a team without a clear lead back, but things did not work out for Mack this summer as the team cut him on Tuesday.
The Texans are going forward with fourth-round rookie Dameon Pierce, veteran Rex Burkhead, and Royce Freeman.
Atlanta: TE Anthony Firkser
It would be surprising if the Falcons do not bring Firkser back at some point. He worked closely with head coach Arthur Smith in Tennessee. Last season, Firkser was the leading receiver at tight end for the Titans, even though he only had 291 yards.
Going to Atlanta to reunite with Smith (and quarterback Marcus Mariota) made sense even if he was just going to be a backup to emerging star Kyle Pitts. But as for the first batch of 53-man rosters, Firkser is out in Atlanta.
Cleveland: QB Josh Rosen
Plenty of first-round quarterbacks have bombed badly in the NFL, but Josh Rosen is still surprisingly unable to even land a backup job in this league. When he was a rookie in Arizona in 2018, it seemed like his best throws were dropped. He played poorly but the help was not there. Still, it made sense why the team used the top pick with Kyler Murray available in the 2019 draft.
But since being shown the door in Arizona, Rosen has failed to catch on with the Dolphins, Buccaneers, 49ers, and last year it was the Falcons where he left his indelible mark. In a prime-time game against the Patriots where three different Atlanta quarterbacks threw an interception in the final five minutes, Rosen was the only one who threw a pick-six.
Now it’s the Browns who are not pleased with Rosen’s play. Even with Deshaun Watson facing an 11-game suspension and the team figuring out who would back up Jacoby Brissett to start the season, Rosen could not beat out Josh Dobbs.
This may be the end of the line for his NFL career.
