There will still be some
fine-tuning of rosters between now and the actual kick-off to the
regular season later this week, however, for the most part the 32 NFL
teams that are going to contest the upcoming season are now in place.
And while it is an imperfect indicator, results from this week's
cutdown date re-inforcethe notion that the 2008 draft class was a
relatively strong one. Indeed, just 32 players selected at last April's
draft were released prior
to Saturday's deadline when teams had to be down to the opening-day
53-man roster limit. (One of those 32 was former Army S Caleb Campbell
who never signed with Detroit which selected him in the 7th round after
the military reversed its policy of allowing cadets to play pro
football). This year's total compares with 45 drafted rookies who had
been
released prior to the 2007 season and 40 in 2006. The 2008 number is
also below the figure in the first half of the decade when around 35
rookie draftees were released prior to the opening of the season.
Meanwhile, another 17 rookie draftees were placed on a
reserve list.
Not surprisingly, the majority of the released draft picks were
selected in the later rounds. Indeed, over half - 18 of the 32 -
players selected at the 2007 draft who didn't make an opening day
53-man roster were taken in the 7th round, while another were 6th round
selections. At the same time, 3
players taken in the 5th round and one 4th rounder were among
players cut this weekend. In contrast, all 99 players taken within the
first three rounds of the 2008 draft made their respective team's
opening day roster. The highest drafted player released this year was
DT Dre Moore, a 4th round pick by Tampa Bay. At the same time, a trio
of other 4th round picks - Philadelphia CB Jake Ikegwuono, Oakland WR
Arman Shields and St. Louis CB Justin King - were placed on injured
reserve.
While the total number of drafted rookies who aren't on their teams
opening day rosters is down this year, the cuts were spread pretty much
across the league. Indeed, just 4 teams - Cleveland, Indianapolis,
Washington, and Arizona - neither
released not IRed any of their players taken at the 2008 draft,
compared with 9 last year. Meanwhile, New England, Kansas City,
Oakland, St. Louis and Seattle didn't outright released any
draft picks, but placed at least one rookie draftee on injured reserve.
On the
other
hand, Chicago, which had 12 picks overall this past April, released 4
players taken at this
year's draft, while Baltimore, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and
Carolina each released more than one 2008 pick. Here's a quick rundown
of the status of every team's draft class as of this evening.
TEAM
2007
PICKS
PICKS
ON
ROSTER
%
ON
ROSTER
RELEASED
(# made other
roster)
IRed
Washington
10
10
100
0
0
Indianapolis
9
9
100
0
0
Arizona
7
7
100
0
0
Cleveland
5
5
100
0
0
Green Bay
9
8
89
1
0
Miami
9
8
89
1
0
St. Louis
8
7
88
0
1
New England
7
6
86
0
1
Seattle
7
6
86
0
1
Tennessee
7
6
86
1
0
Houston
7
6
86
1
0
Kansas City
12
10
83
0
2
New York Jets
6
5
83
1
0
San Francisco
6
5
83
1
0
Dallas
6
5
83
1 (1)
0
Oakland
5
4
80
0
1
Buffalo
10
8
80
1
1
Baltimore
10
8
80
2
0
Minnesota
5
4
80
1
0
Jacksonville
5
4
80
1
0
San Diego
5
4
80
1 (1)
0
Detroit
9
7
78
2
0
Denver
9
7
78
1
1
Carolina
9
7
78
2
0
Atlanta
11
8
73
2
1
New York Giants
7
5
71
1
1
Tampa Bay
7
5
71
1
1
Pittsburgh
7
5
71
2
0
Cincinnati
10
7
70
2
1
Chicago
12
8
67
4
0
Philadelphia
10
6
60
1
3
New Orleans
6
3
50
1
2
If you have comments or
suggestions, e-mail
the Editor, Great Blue North
Draft
Report. The GBN can also be reached by phone at (613) 727-3388; by
fax at (613) 951-0387; or regular mail at 44 Northview Road, Unit 8,
Ottawa,
Ontario, Canada, K2E 7E4.