Who makes the team? Who doesn't? It's often a prediction that fans, media and bloggers dig into to pass the time between dull preseason moments. Linebackers, receivers, secondary; all positions, specify directly with the Cincinnati Bengals. Backup quarterbacks, PUP and IR lists, cinderella stories, rewarded with good training camps and awesome preseason game performances. Everything applies to cut down day. And unless you're scoring over $330 million with Mega Millions, luck is rarely instituted.
On Saturday, to comply with the required 53-man roster limit, the Bengals released their cuts. Here they are, by position:
QB - Doug Johnson
RB - Curtis Brown, Chris Manderino
WR - Bennie Brazell, Reggie McNeal, Jesse Holley
TE - Tim Day
OL - Alan Reuber, Nate Livings, Harrison Nikolao, Dane Upersea
DL - Kenderick Allen, Xzavie Jackson, Matt Toeaina
LB - Ed Hartwell, Earl Everett, Matt Muncy
Secondary - John Busing, Brandon Williams, T.J. Wright
Other transactions
Chris Perry to PUP list.
Chris Henry to Reserved/Suspended by Commissioner list
The following is the Bengals PR note -- as relayed by Curnutte and Hobson.
BENGALS TRIM ROSTER
TO NFL LIMIT OF 53
The Bengals today made the following moves in reaching the NFL roster limit of 53:
● Traded an undisclosed conditional 2008 draft choice to the St. Louis Rams for QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, a third-year NFL player. Fitzpatrick (6-2, 225; Harvard) was a seventh-round Rams draft choice in 2005. He is in the final year of a three-year deal.
He played in four games with three starts in ’05, and played in one game last season. His career passing statistics are 76-for-135 (56.0%) for 777 yards with four TDs and eight INTs. He played in three of the Rams’ four preseason games (DNP in Game 2), passing 28-for-44 (63.6%) for 249 yards with one TD and two INTs.
At Houston in 2005, Fitzpatrick became the fifth player in NFL history to pass for 300 yards in a debut. He earned NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors, coming off the bench to pass for 310 in leading a 33-27 overtime victory.
● Terminated the contracts of three veterans not subject to waivers, releasing them to free agency:
--DT Kenderick Allen
--LB Edgerton Hartwell
--QB Doug Johnson
● Waived four second-year players:
-- WR Bennie Brazell of Louisiana State
-- S John Busing of Miami (Ohio)
-- WR Reggie McNeal of Texas A&M
-- OT Alan Reuber of Texas A&M
● Waived three first-year players:
--TE Tim Day of Oregon
--G Nate Livings of Louisiana State
--FB Chris Manderino of California
● Waived eight rookies:
--HB Curtis Brown of Brigham Young
--LB Earl Everett of Florida
--WR Jesse Holley of North Carolina
--DE Xzavie Jackson of Missouri
--LB Matt Muncy of Ohio
--G Harrison Nikolao of Eastern Washington
--DT Matt Toeaina of Oregon
--OT Dane Uperesa of Hawaii
(Toeaina was a sixth-round Bengals choice in the 2007 draft, and the other seven waived rookies entered the NFL this year as college free agents.)
● Issued waivers (injured) on three players:
--K Aaron Elling (fourth year; Wyoming)
--CB Brandon Williams (first year; Michigan)
--CB T.J. Wright (college free agent; Ohio)
(If any of the three clear waivers with no injury settlement, they will revert to Cincinnati’s Reserve/Injured list for continued rehabilitation.)
● Placed fourth-year HB Chris Perry of Michigan on the Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform list. Perry has not been cleared for practice in ’07, due to rehab from a dislocated ankle suffered last season. Perry will remain with the team for rehab and meetings, but may not practice. Beginning the week following Week 6 NFL play, he will be eligible to return to practice under a roster exemption. Upon returning to practice, he may work during a 21-day period, the end of which serves as a deadline for his non-exempt roster status to be determined.
● Moved third-year WR Chris Henry of West Virginia to the Reserve/Suspended by Commissioner list. It had previously been announced that Henry would be suspended for the first eight regular season games, for violation of NFL policies.
PRACTICE SQUAD NOTE: All the players waived today (not including waived-injured) are eligible to be signed tomorrow to an NFL practice squad. The Bengals plan to announce tomorrow a practice squad of up to eight players.