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The San Francisco 49ers currently have 75 players on their roster, and have to cut down to 53 players for the 2013 season. We've been discussing roster cuts over and over again, but it seemed like it would be helpful to have a simple breakdown of cut-down day. Here is cut down day for the NFL in a nutshell.
When is the deadline?
All 32 teams have until 3:00 p.m. PT on Saturday to be at the 53-man roster limit.
When can cuts happen?
They can happen at any point between now and then, much like we saw when the 49ers made some cuts Monday, before cutting down to 75 completely on Tuesday. The 49ers reportedly did not get back to Santa Clara until around 4 this morning, which means we might not get many cuts first thing this morning. Apparently, the San Diego and San Jose airports have curfews, so the 49ers had to bus up to Ontario, up near LA, fly to San Francisco International Airport, and then drive down to Santa Clara. They're going to be a little tired.
What are they cutting down to?
They are cutting down from 75 players to 53 players.
Will that be the roster we see next week against Green Bay?
Not necessarily. When players are released, other teams have interest in some of the players. A cut player with less than four years of service time is placed on waivers. All 31 other teams can place a claim on the player and add him to their 53-man roster. An example of that would be when the 49ers claimed now former QB Scott Tolzien from the Chargers back in 2011.
How does Demarcus Dobbs' Week 1 suspension affect these cuts?
The 49ers have two choices. They can go one man short against Green Bay, or they can get a roster exemption. Odds seem pretty good they would simply go with the roster exemption to have that extra body on defense against the prolific Packers offense. That means, if the team was planning on keeping Dobbs this season, there will be a player on the Week 1 roster that will not be on the Week 2 roster.
What about the practice squad?
We'll go into much more detail, but the 49ers can sign up to 8 players to a practice squad that is independent of the 53-man roster. We'll break down the limitations but the practice squad consists of younger players the team has an interest in developing. Jim Harbaugh likes to call it the "opportunity" squad. In order to get to the practice squad, a player must clear waivers. After he clears waivers, he becomes a free agent, and then can sign with the practice squad (or anybody's practice squad, for that matter).
Who could get cut?
Well, I posted my final 53-man roster projection, so that's a starting point. Here is a listing of the 49ers entire roster, with roster cuts and injury list placements reflected by strike-throughs.
| QB Colin Kaepernick QB Colt McCoy QB B.J. Daniels QB Seneca Wallace RB Frank Gore RB Kendall Hunter RB LaMichael James RB Jewel Hampton RB D.J. Harper FB Bruce Miller FB Anthony Dixon FB Jason Schepler WR Anquan Boldin WR Marlon Moore WR Quinton Patton WR Kyle Williams WR Jon Baldwin WR Austin Collie WR Lavelle Hawkins WR Chad Hall WR Kassim Osgood WR Chuck Jacobs |
TE Vernon Davis TE Vance McDonald TE Garrett Celek TE MarQueis Gray OT Joe Staley OT Anthony Davis OT Carter Bykowski OT Kenny Wiggins OT Patrick Omameh OG Alex Boone OG Mike Iupati OG Adam Snyder OG Joe Looney OG Wayne Tribue C Jonathan Goodwin C Daniel Kilgore |
DL Justin Smith DL Ray McDonald DL Ian Williams DL Glenn Dorsey DL Will Tukuafu DL Demarcus Dobbs DL Tony Jerod-Eddie DL Mike Purcell LB Patrick Willis LB NaVorro Bowman LB Michael Wilhoite LB Nick Moody LB Nate Stupar LB Travis Johnson LB Aldon Smith LB Ahmad Brooks LB Corey Lemonier LB Dan Skuta LB Cam Johnson LB Joe Holland |
CB Carlos Rogers CB Tarell Brown CB Tramaine Brock CB Nnamdi Asomugha CB Perrish Cox CB Marcus Cooper CB Darryl Morris S Donte Whitner S Craig Dahl S Eric Reid S C.J. Spillman S Trenton Robinson S Raymond Ventrone S Michael Thomas K Phil Dawson P Andy Lee LS Brian Jennings LS Kevin McDermott |