Sunday, August 30, marks the end of the line for hundreds of NFL dreams. At 6 p.m. ET, all 32 franchises have to submit finalized 53-man rosters to league headquarters, cutting their locker rooms down nearly in half after going through the preseason with a maximum of 90 guys on the depth chart.
The majority of the players released will be undrafted free agents and practice squad veterans. Some, however, will have enough cache to make even casual fans take notice when they're waived or traded,
There won't be many stars cast aside or dealt to new locker rooms when rosters are set -- here's our list of one per team who could be cut. But there will be a handful of former Pro Bowlers and first round picks suddenly looking for new jobs. Who could that
include? We've got some ideas.
All salary cap savings datacome from Over the Cap.
QB Andy Dalton, Philadelphia Eagles
Salary cap savings: $0
Tanner McKee is a valued backup general manager has reportedly dangled as trade bait with a high, Day 2 draft pick price. Cole Payton is a fourth round rookie with elite athleticism who will get time to adjust to the NFL after starring at North Dakota State. That may leave the elder statesman of the Philly quarterback room as the odd man out.
Dalton went 1-6 as a starter for the Carolina Panthers the last three seasons, but his 84.5 passer rating was only a slight dip from his career average. Expect Roseman to have the Red Rifle in trade talks as cutdown day approaches.
CB Trevon Diggs, Seattle Seahawks
Salary cap savings: $1,215,000
Diggs and Noah Igbinoghene are competing for a depth spot in the Super Bowl champs' secondary. Both have fallen off from high expectations -- Diggs after becoming an All-Pro and Igbinoghene after failing to live up to his first round pedigree. Igbinoghene is a year younger and had the better 2025, which suggests 2026 could be another stressful year for Diggs.
CB Keisean Nixon, Green Bay Packers
Salary cap savings: $5,000,000
Green Bay needs help in the secondary, especially over the opening weeks of the season where an iffy pass rush is without Micah Parsons. But while Nixon has steady special teams value, his coverage fell off in a bad way last year.
His passer rating allowed rose from 78.9 to 105.1. While neither Brandon Cisse nor Benjamin St. Juste are sure things, their arrival could lead to the veteran cornerback's departure.
TE Darren Waller, Carolina Panthers
Salary cap savings: $1,075,000
Carolina has one of the weakest tight end corps when it comes to making an impact in the passing game. Waller signed late in the offseason and has been brought along slowly, and since he's a long term veteran he can pass through to the practice squad without being subject to waivers. Thus, even if he's in the Panthers' 2026 plans -- and with six touchdowns in 33 targets, he probably should be -- he's likely to be cut before the deadline, added to the practice squad and then elevated as the team sorts out its subsequent roster moves as the season opener approaches.
CB Kaiir Elam, Kansas City Chiefs
Salary cap savings: $1,275,000
Despite Kansas City's need for cornerback help after losing Jaylen Watson and Trent McDuffie (both, coincidentally, to the Los Angeles Rams), both Elam and Kader Kohou (58 NFL starts between them) could be shuffled to the practice squad this August.
Elam struggled in 2025 and hasn't made the impact the Chiefs hoped from the former first round pick. At only 25 years old, he still has potential to contribute -- it just might not be in Missouri this fall.
QB Aidan O'Connell, Las Vegas Raiders
Salary cap savings: $3,674,000
The other AOC has trade value, so it's unlikely he'd be an outright cut -- and if he is, he'd be one of the most popular names on the waiver wire. But the Raiders have their quarterback of the future in Fernando Mendoza. They have a veteran who can start now and provide high-level backup play (well, moderate level backup play, at least) in Kirk Cousins.
O'Connell's future in Las Vegas is murky. The Raiders can save some money -- they rank 30th in cap space for 2026 -- and pick up a draft asset by moving their QB3.
QB Spencer Rattler, New Orleans Saints
Salary cap savings: $1,075,000
Rattler has too much value to release. Instead, he could bring back a moderately valued (read: late) Day 3 pick after failing to separate himself from Zach Wilson in the battle for New Orleans' backup quarterback slot. I know that "value" and "looks like Zach Wilson" are two opposing statements, but Rattler showed utility as a useful reserve with room to grow in his first two seasons with the Saints.
OL Evan Neal, New York Giants
Salary cap savings: $1,075,000
Calvin Austin's torn ACL means Odell Beckham Jr.'s reunion in New York won't come to a frustrating end just yet. Instead, a former top-10 draft pick heads to the scrap heap.
Neal was once regarded as the safest offensive line pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. He underwhelmed, got injured and signed a one-year veteran minimum deal last offseason to try and rebuild his value. But new head coach John Harbaugh and his new regime has no attachment to the young guard, which could end his career in northern New Jersey.
WR Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco 49ers
Salary cap savings: $6,302,000
With $68 million in estimated cap space, the Niners don't have to be sticklers when it comes to savings. But Aiyuk has become a chaos goblin in the Bay Area, emerging from a torn ACL with a very public standoff that allowed the franchise to void much of the $120 million contract he signed in 2024. It's clear he'll never play another down for San Francisco; the only question is when general manager John Lynch will cut him loose.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: 9 biggest names on NFL roster cut day 2026 who could be released or traded
