SI:AM | The Most Interesting Moves Made (and Not Made) on NFL Cutdown Day

Some teams had some tough decisions to make.

Tommy DeVito (15) threw eight touchdowns and three interceptions in 2023. / Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I’m very excited for college football to start for real on Thursday.

In today’s SI:AM:

👋 NFL roster cuts
🥇 The evolution of the Paralympics
⛳ New-look East Lake

Who’s staying, who’s going

NFL teams had until 4 p.m. ET Tuesday to reduce their rosters to 53 players. That meant hundreds of players had to be released, traded or placed on reserve lists. That’s far too many moves to review individually, but here are a few that are worth noting.

Kept: James Bradberry IV (Philadelphia Eagles)

Bradberry was a critical piece of the 2022 Eagles team that won the NFC championship, being named second-team All-Pro that year, but the veteran cornerback took a step back last season. After the Eagles used their first two draft picks this year to take cornerbacks (Quinyon Mitchell of Toledo and Iowa’s Cooper DeJean), Bradberry’s days as a starter were clearly limited. So Bradberry told the Eagles he wanted to move to safety and the transition went well enough that the team decided to keep him on the roster as a backup. That’s good news for Bradberry, who gets to keep his job, and for the franchise, which would have been on the hook for a dead cap penalty of more than $10 million next season if he had been cut.

Kept: Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Tyler Huntley (Cleveland Browns), Tommy DeVito (New York Giants) and Taylor Heinicke (Atlanta Falcons)

Not many teams keep three quarterbacks on the active roster these days, but the Browns are actually keeping four. Deshaun Watson is the starter, Jameis Winston is the backup and then Huntley and Thompson-Robinson were competing for the third-string spot. When Cleveland announced its initial 53-man roster, it was a surprise to see all four quarterbacks on the list. That can change between now and when the Browns open their season Sept. 8, though. Cleveland may drop one of the QBs to add a player at a different position who was cut by another team on Tuesday, or it could try to find a trade partner for one of them.

The Falcons and Giants also made somewhat surprising decisions to go with three quarterbacks. Both teams had a clear top two passers—Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix for Atlanta and Daniel Jones and Drew Lock for New York—but decided to keep their third-stringers around.

Traded: Ernest Jones IV (Los Angeles Rams to Tennessee Titans)

Jones was the most noteworthy of the handful of players traded before the roster cutdown deadline. The 24-year-old started 33 games at inside linebacker over the past three seasons and was the member of the Rams defense entrusted with wearing the helmet communication device. He’s entering the final year of his rookie contract and the team granted him permission to seek a trade after talks on a contract extension ground to a halt. Part of the reason the Rams felt comfortable trading Jones is that undrafted rookie Omar Speights was impressive enough in the preseason to earn a starting role. The Titans, meanwhile, were in need of a linebacker after losing Chance Campbell to a torn ACL on Sunday.

Cut: Gable Steveson (Buffalo Bills)

Steveson’s signing with the Bills was a worthwhile experiment, even if it didn’t amount to anything. The former University of Minnesota wrestler won two NCAA championships and an Olympic gold medal in Tokyo before signing with WWE in 2021. He was released by WWE in May but quickly found a new job, signing with the Bills a few weeks later. Steveson had never played football before and hadn’t even worn a pair of cleats until his initial workout with Buffalo, but the Bills thought it was worth giving the 280-pound elite athlete a shot. He just wasn’t good enough to earn a roster spot three months after picking up the sport. He’s only 24, though, so it’s plausible the Bills or another team could give him a practice squad spot and try to develop his football skills.

Cut: Adrian Amos and Terrell Edmunds (Jacksonville Jaguars)

The Jaguars had an opening in the defensive backfield after releasing last year’s starting strong safety, Rayshawn Jenkins, and brought in several players to compete for the job. Edmunds, best known for being the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting strong safety from 2018 to ’22, joined the Jags in May. Amos, who started 122 of a possible 130 games from ‘15 to ’22 with the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers, was a late addition to the Jags roster this summer, joining Jacksonville on Aug. 6.

Both guys have name recognition but aren’t the same quality of player they once were, having switched teams in the middle of last season. Amos is 31, so his dropoff isn’t a shock, but it’s somewhat surprising to see Edmunds, who’s only 27 and was a key part of a solid Pittsburgh defense just two years ago, looking for a job. The Jaguars’ starting safety jobs went to Andre Cisco, who’s in his fourth season with the team, and Amos’s former Packers teammate, Darnell Savage.

Cut: Tim Patrick and Phillip Dorsett (Denver Broncos)

You have to feel bad for Patrick, whose career was derailed by injury. After two very productive seasons in 2020 and ’21 (104 catches, 1,476 yards and 11 touchdowns combined), Patrick missed the ’22 and ’23 seasons after sustaining major injuries in training camp (a torn ACL and then a torn Achilles). He’s healthy now, but he wasn’t able to make the Denver roster. The good news for him is that he’s already found a new landing spot, signing with the Detroit Lions. Another veteran receiver, Dorsett, was also among Denver’s cuts.

The most notable QB cuts

Desmond Ridder – Arizona Cardinals

• Ridder, a former second-round pick, was acquired from the Atlanta Falcons in a trade in March after the Falcons signed Kirk Cousins. He wasn’t great last season in Atlanta, but it’s still interesting to see a 25-year-old who started 13 games last season get cut. Clayton Tune won the Cardinals’ backup role behind Kyler Murray.

Bailey Zappe – New England Patriots

• Zappe always figured to be the odd man out in the Pats’ QB competition. Veteran Jacoby Brissett and rookie Drake Maye were battling for the starting job with big-armed, sixth-round pick Joe Milton III slated to develop on the bench as the third-stringer. The fact that Zappe started eight games over two NFL seasons and set passing records in college should be enough to get him another job.

Mike White – Miami Dolphins

• White became a cult hero in 2021 when he threw for 405 yards and three touchdowns for the New York Jets in a comeback win over the Bengals. He spent last year as the backup to Tua Tagovailoa in Miami, but Skylar Thompson won that job this year and White was cut. White is staying in the AFC East, though. The Bills signed him to their practice squad.

When will Maye (10) get the keys to the Patriots’ offense? / Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

The best of Sports Illustrated

• Today’s Digital Cover is Emma Baccellieri’s story on how the Paralympics became a competitive showcase for true athletes.

• Here is Conor Orr’s annual exercise predicting all 272 NFL regular season games.

• Orr also wrote about why it’s important to put players’ careers in context on cutdown day.

• Albert Breer argues that there’s no reason for the Patriots to rush Drake Maye’s NFL debut.

• Bob Harig is at the PGA Tour’s season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta this week, where a newly restored East Lake Golf Club is ready to shine.

The top five…

… things I saw last night:

5. Heralded Nationals prospect Dylan Crews’s first MLB hit.
4. Blake Perkins’s home run robbery.
3. A’ja Wilson’s 42 points, her third 40-point game of her career. (The Aces still lost to the lowly Wings, though.)
2. Tyler Rogers’s nasty 72 mph pitch.
1. Karolina Muchová’s behind-the-back lob shot.