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By tomorrow afternoon, the Minnesota Vikings, along with the 31 other teams in the NFL, must get down to 75 players. They are making some of their moves now. The names we're getting so far, from various tweets:
#Vikings cuts rolling in. Per source, Raymond, Cox among those gone.
— Darren Wolfson (@DarrenWolfson) August 25, 2014
Hearing #Vikings have started making cuts. Derek Cox among them. Mistral Raymond waived/injured.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 25, 2014
More #Vikings cuts: Bishop, Burton, Jorden, Lora, Murphy, Randall, Scott, Snyder, Steeples, Walker, Sperry. Chase Ford passed his physical.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 25, 2014
Not a lot of surprises here. Former starter Mistral Raymond had trouble moving up the depth chart, and an injury early in training camp pretty much sealed his fate. If there is a surprise in this first round of cuts, Derek Cox could qualify. I thought he had at least played his way into the conversation for a final roster spot, but apparently not.
The other players cut aren't surprising, and they are: T Pierce Burton, S Brandan Bishop, WR Kamar Jorden, WR Erik Lora, T Kevin Murphy, DT Kheeston Randall, DE Tyler Scott, DE Jake Snyder, CB Robert Steeples, WR Ty Walker, TE Kory Sperry, and WR Andy Cruse.
It's also being reported that TE Chase Ford has passed his physical, has been removed from the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, and is now on the active roster.
If my math is correct (and I've conferred with people far smarter than me on this) that with Ford moving to the active roster and now counting against said roster, that means that the Vikings still have two more cuts to make to get to 75 by 3 PM central time tomorrow.
Yeah, that previous paragraph is wrong. Ford already counted on the active roster, so the Vikings only need to make one more cut to get to 75.
Cut down day is a brutal reminder of the cold, hard business end of the NFL, and to those guys that just had to turn in their playbook, thanks for making the effort. Good luck to you, and if your goal is still a career in the NFL, may you find a roster spot somewhere and enjoy a long career.