The Arizona Cardinals will convene for their first post-53 roster reduction practice Wednesday that begins at 11:05 am Arizona time (with a walkthrough before that), and it’s possible that some of the practice squad members will be on the field.
Here’s how the timing works:
All teams will have their rosters reduced to 53 by 4 p.m. ET today. At all other times of the year, the claiming deadline for players placed on waivers is usually 4 p.m. the following day. Not so for the cut to 53.
Teams know they have to peruse the personnel notice quickly because the claiming deadline Wednesday is noon ET (9 a.m. Arizona time).
As head coaches meet with some players cut today, they are informed of the plans to bring them back to the practice squad. That can only happen if players placed on waivers aren’t claimed by other teams.
Vested veterans, of which up to six can be on practice squads, have their contracts terminated immediately and are free agents.
Clubs are informed who cleared so practice squads can start being built after 9 a.m. Arizona time.
The NFL has three personnel notices on Wednesday. The first at 9 a.m. lists only players claimed on waivers. The 1 p.m. notice includes moves teams had to make to be at 53 after adding the claimed players. Two hours later the first official practice squad additions arrive.
What happens after Tuesday illustrates clearly that today’s reduction should never be referred to as the “final” cuts. There is surely nothing final about it.
Last season, the Cardinals were assigned six players on waivers the day after the cut to 53 and it’s possible they claimed others they didn’t get.
Those six were current players cornerback Starling Thomas V, tight end Elijah Higgins and center/guards Trystan Colon and Keith Ismael. Also added were safety K’Von Wallace and tackle Ilm Manning.
To make roster room, the team waived wide receiver Daniel Arias, guard Marquis Hayes Jr., safety Jovante Moffatt, defensive lineman Ben Stille and tight end Blake Whiteheart. All were added to the practice squad the following day after clearing waivers.
There was more to come. Two days after the cut to 53, the Cardinals claimed tackle/guard Carter O’Donnell, who is currently on injured reserve and placed tackle/guard Dennis Daley and linebacker Myjai Sanders on injured reserve, who both were eligible to return after missing four games. Sanders was eventually released before being activated.
The rule for Daley and Sanders is the one that was changed this year. Previously, those players had to be on the roster after the cut to 53 and teams had to wait until two days later to add them to IR if they wanted them to return at some point.
That procedure created roster juggling because teams would have to cut players they wanted to keep and potentially lose them. In many cases, vested veterans would be released while being told they would be back once the IR finagling was done. The Cardinals did that the last two years with long snapper Aaron Brewer.
Now, teams won’t have to deal with that anymore as up to two players can be placed on IR today and then brought back after missing at least four games.
As for the practice squad, it’s a pretty good gig. Players with two accrued seasons or less are paid $12,500 a week. Those that are on it for the entire season would earn $225,000.
Veterans have some negotiating room and can be paid as little as $16,800 a week ($302,400 for 18 weeks) or as much as $21,300 ($383,400 for the season). Those salaries are charged against the cap, creating the possibility of a total hit of at least $3.8 million, or more depending on the number of veterans signed.
In addition, when players are elevated to the game-day roster, they are paid the veteran minimum salary for that week:
Rookies: $795,000 ($46,756 per game)
1 credited season: $915,00 ($53,824 per game)
2 credited seasons: $985,000 ($57,941 per game)
3 credited seasons: $1.055M ($62,059 per game)
4-6 credited seasons: $1,125M ($66,176 per game)
7+ credited seasons: $1.21M ($71,176 per game)
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