2024 NFL roster cut deadline: 6 worst cuts as teams finalize 53-man roster

NFL cut day isn’t quite what it used to be.

Though Tuesday was the deadline for when NFL teams had to pare their roster down to 53 players ahead of the start to the regular season, there’s often now a silver lining because of the expansion of practice squads in recent years. A good portion of the players released Tuesday are likely to wind up with an NFL team in some form or fashion after clearing waivers on Wednesday.

Kansas City's decision to release former New York Giants first-round draft pick and Chiefs Super Bowl hero Kadarius Toney was perhaps the biggest headline, but that move was expected after Toney's rough 2023 season. Still, there will invariably be mistakes made and players dropped who could have been kept – and will become useful elsewhere.

With that in mind, we compiled a list of players cut by NFL teams Tuesday that didn’t quite add up or make sense. Here are the worst cuts of this NFL cut down day:

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Worst cuts on NFL cut day

QB Desmond Ridder, Arizona Cardinals

Ridder started 13 games for the Atlanta Falcons last season, but appears to have lost out to third-year pro Clayton Tune in Arizona’s back-up quarterback competition. It’s particularly strange considering the Cardinals traded wide receiver Rondale Moore for Ridder this offseason. Ridder’s dual-threat capabilities seem more in line with how Cardinals’ quarterback Kyler Murray plays. If Murray were to get hurt, Arizona could regret releasing him this week.

RB D'Onta Foreman, Cleveland Browns

Foreman performed admirably as a mid-season signing with the Chicago Bears last year, running for 425 yards and four touchdowns over nine games and finishing with the highest success rate of his seven-year career. He was signed by Cleveland this offseason as Nick Chubb works his way back from last year's knee injury. By cutting Foreman, the Browns will have just two active running backs since Chubb has been placed on the team's physically unable to perform list and will miss at least the first four games of the season. That seems like a gamble, particularly when a reliable veteran like Foreman was in the fold.

CB Caleb Farley, Tennessee Titans

The Titans’ 2021 first-round draft pick has played in just 12 games over three seasons due to a variety of injuries and missed time this preseason with a hamstring ailment. So it’s not egregious that Tennessee elected to move, particularly since current GM Ran Carthon didn’t draft him. But Farley appeared in the Titans’ final preseason game, his first game action in more than a year and he’s still just 25 years old. After waiting this long for Farley to re-emerge, and given the draft investment made in him, it would’ve seemed prudent for the Titans to give him another chance to prove his worth now that he’s actually healthy enough to play.

K Anders Carlson, Green Bay

The Packers used a sixth-round draft pick on Carlson last year, but they couldn’t get past his shaky rookie season. Carlson missed 13 field goals or extra points in 2023, including a 41-yard field goal attempt late in Green Bay’s playoff loss to the 49ers. Burning a draft pick on a kicker is risky enough. Having to waive that kicker a year later reflects poorly on the organization’s decision makers.

WR Terrace Marshall, Jr., Carolina Panthers

The 2021 second-round pick out of LSU is just one year removed from averaging 17.5 yards per catch. Though Marshall’s numbers dipped last season due to drops and inconsistency, it was also a reflection of the NFL’s worst offense. Though the Panthers added reinforcements with the acquisition of Diontae Johnson and first-round pick Xavier Legette this offseason, jettisoning Marshall may wind up being premature.

QB C.J. Beathard, Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars have big ambitions after missing the playoffs last year and Beathard seemed like a good insurance policy for starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Instead, Jacksonville appears to have Mac Jones as its back-up quarterback. Long term, that feels like the right move. But Beathard has 13 starts over seven years under his belt, and had several respectable appearances in relief or in place of Lawrence last year. If Jacksonville were to need a spot start late in the season, like it did in 2023, Beathard feels like a safe choice to keep considering Jones's ineffectiveness in New England.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Worst NFL roster cuts as teams finalize 53-man rosters