Week 1 of the NFL season is upon us, and the cuts from the 90 man training camp rosters to the 53-man active rosters have been made. The Minnesota Golden Gophers started with 29 alums in NFL training camps, and will begin the season with 19 members on an active roster, two on Injured Reserve, and another few on practice squads, with one just a few days away from likely being added to the active roster. Below find out who is on a 53-man roster, who is on IR, who is on a practice squad, and currently
who is looking for a job.
Baltimore Ravens
Week 1 @ Buffalo Bills—Sunday Night Football
Rashod Bateman WR
Bateman will be starting at wide out when the Ravens begin the season Sunday night
Daniel Faalele RG
Faalele will be starting at right guard protecting Lamar Jackson Sunday night.
Chicago Bears
Terell Smith CB
Smith suffered a knee injury in the Bears second preseason game against the Denver Broncos and will miss the entire season after having surgery. He was placed on season long IR for the Bears and will need to wait until 2026 to make plays on the field again.
Dallas Cowboys
Week 1 @ Philadelphia Eagles—Thursday Night
Brevyn Span-Ford TE
Span-Ford will be the third tight end for the Cowboys this season as they open up play on Thursday night against the defending Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Houston Texans
Week 1 @ Los Angeles Rams
Aireontae Ersery— LT
Ersery lived up to expectations in the preseason and has earned the starting left tackle job as a rookie. He will be protecting CJ Stroud’s blind side beginning Sunday against the Rams
Indianapolis Colts
Justin Walley CB
Justin Walley injured his knee in training camp and was placed on season ending injured reserve by the Colts. He will hopefully battle back to impress toe Colts staff once again in 2026.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Week 1 vs Carolina Panthers
Eric Murray S
Murray was signed in Jacksonville in the offseason, and it was a good move for him as he will be Jacksonville’s starting strong safety as they take on the Carolina Panthers.
Danny Striggow DE
Striggow flashed in training camp and battled from UDFA to earn a spot on Jacksonville’s active roster. He will battle to be active on Sunday, but if he is will play a main role on special teams while trying to work into the defensive rotation.
Los Angeles Chargers
Week 1 vs Kansas City Chiefs—Friday Night in Brazil
Benjamin St. Juste CB
St. Juste was welcomed out of Washington in the offseason and signed with the first of his former college coaches and Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers. He didn’t have a great camp and was very much on the edge of betting cut, but did make the final roster and is a second team cornerback as the Chargers head to Brazil to start the season against Kansas City.
Las Vegas Raiders
Week 1 @ New England Patriots
Cody Lindenberg LB
Lindenberg was linebacker #6 headed into the final week of camp and it was said that the Raiders were going to keep just five on the roster. Well, they did decide to keep six, and Lindenberg was the beneficiary of that decision as he earned one of the last spots on the Raiders 53 man roster. While he can’t feel too comfortable knowing that if a roster decision needs to be made he’s probably one of the first guys to be cut, he would definitely have a practice squad spot waiting for him. He will need to earn time on special teams for sure.
Minnesota Vikings
Week 1 @ Chicago Bears—Monday Night
Blake Cashman LB
Cashman didn’t play in the preseason, but that was to keep him ready and healthy for the regular season. He will start at linebacker on Monday night.
Max Brosmer QB
Brosmer did nothing but impress in camp with the Vikings and did enough to get not one but two quarterbacks ahead of him released. He will be QB 3 to start the season—basically inactive unless an injury happens after the signing of Carson Wentz to be the backup to JJ McCarthy, but he will run the scout team every week and continue to gain valuable experience to potentially be able to be the full #2 next season.
New England Patriots
Week 1 vs Las Vegas Raiders
Jack Gibbons LB
Gibbons moved from Tennessee to New England in the offseason and will start the season as a second team linebacker and special teams ace. The potential to earn starting minutes is there for sure if Gibbons can live up to the potential he showed a few seasons ago.
New Orleans Saints
Week 1 vs Arizona Cardinals
Jordan Howden S
Howden will start the season as the backup strong safety beyond Jordan Reid in New Orleans. He will see playing time in nickel and dime situations, and on special teams for sure with a chance to try and earn back the starting job he has had off and on through his first two years in the league.
New York Giants
Week 1 @ Washington Commanders
John Michael Schmitz C
After a rough preseason in limited snaps, Schmitz will look to try and keep Russell Wilson safe for the Giants in the regular season.
Tyler Nubin S
Nubin will look to build on his rookie year and take the next step like his mentor Antoine Winfield did in his second year as a starter.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 1 @ New York Jets
Esezi Otomewo DT
Otomewo earned one of the last active spots on the roster for the Steelers as a backup defensive end. ON his third team in the NFL he will look to see action in a backup role and try to be active on Sundays.
Seattle Seahawks
Week 1 vs San Francisco 49ers
Boye Mafe OLB
Mafe will start as the strong side linebacker in Seattle’s 3-4 attack and will look to continue to be a menace to opposing quarterbacks this season.
Nick Kallerup TE
Kallerup earned his way onto Seattle’s roster as the 4th tight end as a UDFA. Seattle plays a lot of two tight end sets, so Kallerup will be a backup and will likely see special teams snaps a la Ko Kieft to start the year.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 1 @ Atlanta Falcons
Antoine Winfield Jr S
Winfield will look to bounce back from an injury riddled season to again be one of the best safeties in the NFL.
Ko Kieft TE
Kieft continues to lock down the #3 tight end spot for the Buccaneers. He will play a bit in blocking situations and will be a special team stalwart. But don’t expect much offensive action for him again.
Practice Squad signings:
Jack Henderson S— Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Henderson went through training camp with the Carolina Panthers after signing as an undrafted free agent. He was cut on the final day of roster cut downs by the Panthers, but was signed by the Buccaneers to their practice squad last Thursday. Henderson joins an organization that likes Gophers talent as he will now work alongside Winfield Jr and Kieft in practice.
Kyler Baugh DT—Pittsburgh Steelers
Baugh signed with Pittsburgh after being cut by Atlanta earlier in the summer. He did not make the Steelers final roster cut down but was signed the next day onto the Steelers practice squad.
Tyler Johnson WR—New York Jets
This has been an interesting week or so for Johnson, and it’s a reminder that in the NFL, money is all that matters. Johnson initially made the Jets 53-man roster has he had a great camp and was running with the starters. Then after the Jets added a few other cut players from different roster, Johnson was cut. As a vested veteran, he does not have to go through the waivers process and could sign with any team, and immediately signed with the Jets practice squad. This is most likely a financial move by the Jets as if vested veterans are on active 53-man rosters on Week 1, their full salary—in this case 1.4 Million dollars for Johnson would be guaranteed. But since Johnson is not on the active roster—though he will likely be called up for the game Sunday from the practice squad to play against the Steelers, his full contract will not be guaranteed. Assuming Johnson plays well, he will likely be resigned to the full 53-man roster early next week and will make near his original salary, but if he gets hurt, he can be waived and not guaranteed the rest of his salary for the rest of the season.
Current Free Agents:
Tyler Cooper—G
Cooper was cut by the Packers and currently has not been signed to a practice squad.
Daniel Jackson-WR
Jackson was cut by Houston after the preseason and has not been signed by anyone else.
Jah Joyner—DE
Joyner was cut by the Raiders and has not caught on with anyone else. Too bad he didn’t stay for one more season as a Gopher.
Ethan Robinson—CB
Robinson was cut by the Dolphins after rosters were limited. He had a try out with the New York Giants for a practice squad position, but they went elsewhere and he remains a free agent.
Seth Green—TE
Green signed with the Saints early in training camp after a decent season in the UFL, but was cut and has not caught on with a different organization.
