It’s final cutdown day in the NFL! Leinart, Houshmandzadeh among the casualties
Yep, it’s cutdown day. For the uninitiated, today is the day that each NFL squad must trim their roster down to 53 players for the start of the season. Coaches and GMs around the league are faced with the difficult decision of which players to hang on to, and which to release. And those in the latter category will be getting a visit from the director of player personnel (aka “The Turk”), asking for their playbook and telling them they need to visit with the coach.
The deadline for roster cuts it 6pm ET today, so we’ll try to keep track of the most notable moves from across the league. And since a bunch of cuts were made yesterday, there are already some recognizable names on the casualty list. Undoubtedly some of these players will be targeted as free agent pick-ups before the season starts, so keep an eye out for guys who still may have some tread on their tires, or could potentially do better in a different situation.
UPDATE: So far the list of players now without a home includes Cardinals QB Matt Leinart, Seahawks WR TJ Houshmandzadeh, Redskins RB Willie Parker, Seahawks QB JP Losman, Bengals WR Matt Jones, Bucs WR Mark Clayton, Ravens QB Troy Smith, Titans QB Chris Simms and a former Rhodes Scholar, Titans S Myron Rolle.
END OF DAY UPDATE: NFL.com has the complete list of cuts, ESPN.com has team-by-team analysis, and CBS Sportsline’s Clark Judge has a good wrap-up of today’s winners & losers.
CONTINUE AFTER THE JUMP FOR THE FULL LIST OF NOTABLE CUTS
VIDEO: Vince Young defeats Matt Leinart once again
In the most exciting ball game of the afternoon, Vince Young delivered the Tennessee Titans a victory over Matt Leinart (starting in place of an injured Kurt Warner) and the Arizona Cardinals. Young led the Titans on an impressive 18-play, 99-yd drive to score the go-ahead TD. The drive ended with this last-second 10-yd strike to rookie Kenny Britt:
You may recall Young’s last-minute Rose Bowl-winning drive against Leinart when the two were in college at Texas and USC, respectively. That ending looked a little something like this:
So, I guess you could say that Jeff Fisher’s decision to bench Kerry Collins in favor of Vince Young was a good one, huh?
CONTINUE AFTER THE JUMP FOR COMPLETE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE GAME-WINNING DRIVE







