NFL cutdown day is here. A former lineman tells you what it’s like

By Geoff Schwartz
FOX Sports NFL Analyst

The finish of the NFL preseason brings with it roster cutdowns, as groups are required to trim their rosters from 80 gamers to 53 by 4 p.m. ET Tuesday — which means 864 gamers will lose their jobs with one cellphone name. 

Some of these gamers will shortly discover new properties, whereas some won’t ever see the sphere once more. It’s a tough stretch on the NFL calendar.

I performed eight full seasons within the NFL as an offensive lineman. I used to be launched from my contract 4 instances. Each of those instances was completely different, and but so comparable. One minute you have a job and with one cellphone name, it’s gone.

This cellphone name can occur at set instances when gamers are “ready,” like when rosters have to be trimmed throughout coaching camp or proper earlier than the beginning of free company. They also can happen at random instances, like within the winter as you’re rehabbing an ankle or throughout a random spot in coaching camp. Unfortunately, I’ve skilled all the standard methods an NFL staff will launch a participant. 

In my rookie season, 2008, I used to be launched after the ultimate preseason recreation with the considered returning to the Carolina Panthers on their apply squad. The Panthers had advised my agent earlier than the ultimate preseason recreation that I might not be enjoying as a result of they needed to “conceal me.” A lack of movie meant it was much less seemingly I had sufficient snaps to be evaluated by the NFL. That meant I used to be much less more likely to clear waivers, a course of that gamers underneath 4 seasons of service time should undergo earlier than being outright launched. 

This is reminder that roster competitors is principally a delusion. Teams have 47 to 50 of the gamers penciled into the 53-man roster earlier than coaching camp. Camp is used to organize the two-deep and discover these ultimate roster spots.  

Panthers tackles Geoff Schwartz (74), Jeff Otah (79) and Rob Petitti (64) stroll to apply throughout minicamp in 2010.  (Photo by Jeff Siner/Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service through Getty Images)

The morning after that ultimate preseason recreation, I used to be woken up at 6 a.m. and advised I used to be being launched. Even figuring out this name was coming, it was nonetheless jarring. I knew the Panthers needed me on the apply squad however nothing is assured within the NFL. Maybe the staff had discovered one other participant across the league to fill that spot. 

I used to be drafted by the Panthers within the seventh spherical in 2008 and had simply spent months in Charlotte. I understood fascinated about a life there was short-sighted, however I did it anyway. I had met my future spouse already, and that cellphone name had me doubting my future in Carolina. There was additionally an opportunity I could possibly be claimed by one other staff and must pack my baggage, instantly depart for my new metropolis and dwell out of a suitcase once more. None of that occurred, as I cleared waivers and the Panthers signed me to the apply squad. 

Entering my fourth season within the NFL, I used to be so pumped in regards to the prospect of a long-term extension in Charlotte. I had began 19 straight video games, and 20 of the beginning 22 gamers had long-term offers. Those plans have been dashed after I obtained injured and missed the 2011 season. 

Because I used to be on the apply squad in Year 1, I used to be a restricted free agent after my fourth season. The Panthers had the correct to supply me a young, and I used to be underneath the impression they might achieve this. I used to be naive. 

The basic supervisor advised my agent on the mix that the Panthers weren’t providing me a young and I used to be being let go. That one stung, and it was the primary time I spotted the NFL is a enterprise. Every single participant has that second, whether or not he believes it’ll occur or not. 

This launch, for lack of a greater description, was not type to my life plans. I had settled in Charlotte and was engaged, with plans to play there my whole profession. I had advised my fiancée this might be our life. So a lot for that!

Looking again, it was all the time silly to plan a life in a metropolis with no future contract. But it’s tough to be pessimistic about your future when you’re enjoying effectively.  

The Giants have been the fourth NFL staff for guard Geoff Schwartz, who performed two seasons in New York. (Photo by Rich Kane/Icon Sportswire/Corbis/Icon Sportswire through Getty Images)

In 2014, after stops in Minnesota and Kansas City, I signed a four-year contract with the New York Giants. I instantly obtained injured and performed solely two video games throughout my first season in New York. My second season began effectively, as I performed the primary 10 video games earlier than being injured within the eleventh. After one other ankle surgical procedure, I deliberate on returning for my third season in New York. I had assumed the Giants would ask me to take one other pay lower, as I did after my first season, and I might proceed to rehab to return in 2016. 

Instead, I obtained a name in early February from Jerry Reese, the Giants’ basic supervisor on the time. I wanted to fly to New York for my official launch. This one stung for 2 causes. First, I felt remorse due to my accidents. It felt unfair. I’d suffered three main accidents in two seasons. All three of them occurred throughout a recreation. It was simply unhealthy luck. My spouse and I had a younger son, and she or he was pregnant with our second little one, and now we needed to pack up our life in New York.  

The second motive this launch bothered me was the shortage of transparency from the Giants. I requested a number of instances for a motive why I used to be being launched. I felt after seven seasons within the league I deserved to know. Was it due to poor play, accidents or each? Give me one thing. They refused to talk to me. I didn’t get to satisfy with any coaches or entrance workplace workers, which is uncommon when being launched.  

I signed with the Lions after the Giants. Entering the third preseason recreation in 2016, I used to be the backup for each guard spots and proper sort out if a starter obtained harm. I knew that if I did not play within the first half with the starters, I might get a full second half, which I wanted. I had not performed within the second preseason recreation and I knew there have been issues about my ankle, so enjoying a full half was crucial for me.  

At halftime in Baltimore, I used to be getting ready to enter the sport — going via my psychological guidelines, ensuring I used to be taped up and free. My offensive line coach pulled me apart and mentioned I used to be “down” for the second half. No enjoying time for me. I used to be crushed. I needed to play, however greater than something, I knew what this meant. 

I used to be being launched. 

After we obtained settled on the sidelines to start the second half, I walked over to my offensive line coach and requested him instantly: “Am I being lower tomorrow?” His reply: “It does not look good.” We each knew I used to be gone.  

The subsequent morning, the decision got here in. I’ll all the time give credit score to Lions basic supervisor Bob Quinn and head coach Jim Caldwell for having a frank dialog with me about my launch of their workplace. We spoke for 10 minutes, and whereas I did not realize it on the time, that was the final time I’d be in an NFL constructing. I drove instantly to my rented residence, packed my stuff and went dwelling.

While I knew that season can be my final within the league, I needed to finish it on the sphere. Instead, my NFL profession ended like so many others: a fast cellphone name, flip within the playbook and transfer on to the remainder of your life.

This is a zero-sum recreation. This week, 864 gamers will undergo the identical factor I did as a part of this 12 months’s cutdown course of. I can solely hope they made essentially the most of their time within the league, and that their groups are as clear and sort as doable.

Geoff Schwartz performed eight seasons within the NFL for 5 completely different groups. He began at proper sort out for the University of Oregon for 3 seasons and was a second-team All-Pac-12 choice his senior 12 months. He is an NFL analyst for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter @GeoffSchwartz.