Cut Day

After the third preseason games each year, all 32 NFL teams have to go through the process of reducing their playing roster down to 75 people, and following the fourth game further cuts take them down to the required 53.

Big name cuts are unusual at this time, but this year there was one that was that took the wider NFL audience by surprise, and that was Fred Jackson.  Jackson has spent 10 years in Buffalo and till now survived several coaches changes, in that time the wider community has taken Jackson under their wing and at this time he was probably the face of the franchise in many people's eyes.

What makes this even more surprising was in the Steelers game, Jackson looked really good, to the extent that Bills fans were talking about how many TD’s and goalline carries Jackson might take away from LeSean McCoy.  True there are other running backs on the Bills roster, and probably cheaper ones too which in all likelihood has a impact on this decision.  From the BillsMafia viewpoint though, with Jackson already the oldest non QB skills position in the league, the hope that he would see out his career as a Bill was a strong one.  The thought that he may now play a season or two as a Jet or a Patriot in particular is a bitter pill to swallow.

I think a one day contract with the Bills may be in his future and retirement when it does come if that day is not now, should be in Buffalo, before he moves into the next stage of his career.  At least Jackson had a decent career in the NFL, the same can not be said of everyone who enters the NFL draft of course.

The big news of the day is that Kirk Cousins has been named by Jay Gruden as the Washington Redskins starting QB in week 1 and probably beyond.  This comes just weeks after RG3 was apparently looking sharp entering his option year, but now the question becomes is the RG3 experience over?

 

Gruden and RG3 have not appeared to have had a positive relationship from the moment Gruden took over in Washington to say the least, the popular opinion is that Dan Snyder has been the main supporter of the QB he agreed to give up 3 first round picks to acquire, whereas most observers have felt that Cousins (from the same draft class) is more suited to Gruden’s offensive scheme.

A lot of the media experts are also in agreement that Robert Griffin needs to move on from Washington, for the sake of his own career.  It feels like Gruden has been fighting a battle within the organisation and it may well be the NFL’s concussion protocol that finally gives him the freedom to move on with the offence he wants to install.  Given how quickly this announcement gave from the Redskins front office, it is safe to assume that Griffin is not going to be in Washington next year, given all that was given up, how ironic would it be if he was on the Rams roster in 2016?