The San Francisco 49ers matchup with the Green Bay Packers is a big deal for the starters, with the first string likely to play upwards of a full half of football. However, it is also a big deal for the bottom of the roster. Although they will likely not get a lot of playing time, the second and third string players are fighting to avoid getting cut in the first round of roster maneuvering.
The NFL mandates that teams cut from 90 players to 75 by 1 p.m. PT this coming Tuesday. Some of the moves will involve placing a player on injured reserve or moving an Active/PUP or NFI player to Reserve/PUP or NFI. The 49ers do not have any plays on the PUP or NFI lists, but they could move a player or two to injured reserve. Eric Rogers will likely be moved over. The team held off placing him there because he would have had to clear waivers. I believe now they can move him over without making him available on waivers.
There has been some chatted from beat writers that DeAndre Smelter will end up on injured reserve. Additionally, Bryce Treggs could be a candidate for IR with his knee injury. He could return from it, but I think we see the 49ers stash him for the season. Whether or not either of those things happen, the 49ers will still have to make several roster cuts by Tuesday. I would not be surprised if some happened over the weekend, but it will likely be after the coaching staff has had a chance for a thorough review of the game tape.
Now we need to figure out who might be on the roster bubble for that first round of cuts. Here are my roster long shots from the bubble watch earlier this week:
QB: None
RB: Kendall Gaskins
WR: Devon Cajuste, Ryan Whalen
TE: Busta Anderson, Je’Ron Hamm
OL: Norman Price, Blake Muir
DL: Demetrius Cherry, B.J. McBryde
OLB: Jason Fanaika
ILB: Wynton McManis
CB: Prince Charles Iworah
S: None
K: John Lunsford
There will be at least one or two surprise names in this first round of cuts, but my guess is most of the cuts come from this group. All of them have practice squad eligibility, so the ones that are not cut would seemingly have a decent shot of earning a spot on the 49ers practice squad. Who do you think is gone from this group by Tuesday? Any others that might also be gone?