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Today is the day where the most heartbreak occurs in the NFL. Over 1,000 football players will have lost a job by this day, one week before the regular season starts. To say, however, that this sets the NFL rosters is naive. Some team's cuts will be another team's treasure. Not on a grand scale but it happens. This aspect remains to be seen. How did the Saints do though? That also remains to be seen.
A few possible surprises, depending on your opinion:
CB Chris Carr - This is for me, totally, but I liked this guy. He came to the Saints to help with depth at the corner back position, which now seems pretty well stacked. But, he brought good veteran experience and was solid. The pre season provided him 4 tackles. He wasn't overly expensive. I also have a problem with Patrick Robinson remaining while Carr is cut. I have lost my patience with P Rob. Period. I am done with him. Did Rod Sweeting really set himself apart this pre season? I didn't see it.
QB Ryan Griffin - Wow. I felt this was the worst cut of the day. I have no problem with a team carrying 3 QB's on the roster if one looks to be pretty special and worth development and RG4, to me, seemed like that one. He could still pass through waivers, but I don't feel confident he will do so. People seem to have more faith in Luke McCown than I do to back up Drew Brees. Ryan Griffin seemed to show a great deal of promise in the pre season. For an undrafted QB playing a system similar to the Saints, he would have been promising. Maybe he passes waivers and goes to our practice squad but I am not optimistic.
TE Josh Hill - Who? You must be kidding me. Good thing this roster is not set in stone because he is taking up space.
Other Notables:
Andy Tanner - He has a real chance to prove what he is made of now that he snagged a spot with the wide receivers. But this could be his last chance. Health must remain and he better have glue on his hands.
Jon Vilma remains: He made the roster. In part, that might have qualified in the above category, but I don't see it as too much of a surprise. Does he do much this year to help us out? Not likely. May not even play for much of the first half of the season. But here he is.
Courtney Roby: he was cut on the way today to the 53 man roster. Not a surprise but he has always been a faithful member of the team, and held a string onto peoples' hearts. A special teams player really needs to ace on special teams in order to hold a roster spot just for that purpose. He was a Captain on special teams but let's face it. He hasn't run back a kickoff or punt being with the Titans. It was time to move on.
Preston Parker: We couldn't find a spot for him on this team somewhere? We have five on the new roster, TE Josh Hill remains (most named him as a sure cut), and he sure seemed promising this off season. After cutting Roby, many though this boded well for Parker. It should have. I don't think we saw enough of his abilities. He is healthy. Did that not count for anything?
When the season starts, there is a good chance this is your roster. Some changes could be made, as mentioned above, depending on other teams' cuts. As we approach the regular season 16 game schedule, we must ask if this is good enough. Every team will publicly express confidence. Changes will be made as time goes on due to injuries and other factors. Now, we in Who Dat Nation take a step back and look at the roster and asks "Is this good enough".
What say you? What surprised you? What upset you? I have a feeling this is going to be a fun/difficult comment section to read.