Some folks out there might be wondering about cut down dates and things of that nature, so let's do a list of everything that's upcoming as far as benchmark dates in the NFL are concerned.
August 27 (this coming Monday) - NFL teams must reduce the size of their rosters to 75 by 3 PM Central time.
August 31 (a week from Friday) - NFL teams must reduce the size of their rosters to 53 by 8 PM Central time.
September 1 - Deadline for making waiver claims on released players hits at 11 AM Central time. At that point, teams can also start establishing their practice squads.
September 4 - Teams must be under the salary cap.
One other important date to remember for Vikings fans is September 25, a couple of days after the Week 3 match-up against the San Francisco 49ers. That's the point where the waiver priority list will become based on the 2012 season standings. Up until that point, the Minnesota Vikings will remain at #3 on the waiver priority list (behind the Indianapolis Colts and the St. Louis Rams) because the waiver priority list will still be based on the 2011 standings.
But there are your pertinent dates for the National Football League. The first cuts are coming on Monday, and the final cuts will happen less than 24 hours after the conclusion of the pre-season finale against the Houston Texans.