Late Cuts

The final cut to the 53 man roster can be painful for players and coaches. Decisions get made at the last minute. Many are based purely on financial ones rather than playing ability.

The Jacksonville Jaguars caught everyone by surprise when they released starting QB Byron Leftwich last Tuesday shortly before the league's 4pm deadline. Leftwich was due $9 million which was thought to be the major reason for the move.

I think it was odd because they should have resolved the big cap number prior to this point.They lost more time in getting their offense up and running.

The team took a lot of heat from their fans, but they mentioned the Pats as having a late cut in the form of CB Darius Butler.

It was harder in the case of Leftwich who was informed as he got off a team bus returning from a charity event where he was introduced as the starting quarterback for 2011.

That is a good example of poor timing for delivering bad news.