Happy Wednesday, Chargers fans!

Here’s an open thread for StormCloud members to post any and all updates they see throughout the post-cuts day. Here is the 53-man roster as it currently stands today:

The roster is far from solidified. Every season, the 53-man roster goes through three main phases of evolution before somewhat stabilizing:

Initial Cut Day: From 90 to 53

Tuesday was the NFL’s initial cut day, cutting rosters almost in half from 90 to 53.

Some players will remain on the 53 man roster with little to no intention by their General Manager to actually keep them rostered through Week 1 of the season. Players who haven’t reached “vested veteran” status (4+ seasons of accrued service time) can immediately sign to a team’s active or practice squad roster, but all other players must pass through waivers first. Teams making waiver claims must stash the claimed player on their active roster. Only players that safely pass through waivers can be signed to a practice squad.

If a GM has a player that may fill an active-roster need on another team, but he hopes to slide that player through to his practice squad, he may retain said player for a couple extra days while waiting for that opposing team to address their need elsewhere. Or, such as with the Browns and their current four-QB roster, a GM may retain players he believes have some trade value and attempt to leverage a deal in the days following the initial cuts.

Players may be on our 53-man roster now, but may be waived and re-signed to the practice squad prior to the Week One Raiders game, may include Stone Smartt, Jaret Patterson, Simi Fehoko, Brenden Rice, or Deane Leonard. JT Woods may even be on this list as well. All these players won’t be waived, but it’s a list to keep and eye on, as their roster spots are no where near safe at this point.

Waiver Claim Day: What Fruit Shakes Lose?

Some riches typically fall from the branches when the rosters get trimmed down to 53 and teams have to make difficult cuts.

Chargers Fans are expecting Easton Stick to be replaced in the coming days, whether it be by waiver claim or by trade. At the time of this writing however, news dropped that the waiver claim would in fact be for a running back, Jim Harbaugh’s own Hassan Haskins.

As speculated above, this could signal Patterson being waived, and hopefully landing on the practice squad tomorrow.

Vested Veteran Shake-Up… Pre-and Post Week 1 Rosters

The third phase of the roster cuts boils down to terms negotiated in the CBA aimed at benefitting veterans, but often just burns the fringe-players. If a vested veteran is on a 53-man roster through Week 1, their base salary becomes fully guaranteed. If a team signs a vested veteran to their active roster after Week 1, these guarantees don’t come into play.

Breiden Fehoko broke 2022’s camp on the active roster, after Christian Covington was released on cut day. Covington was signed to the practice squad, and Fehoko believed he had finally “made the team” after being a practice squad call-up in his previous seasons. After Week 1, Fehoko was waived and landed back on the practice squad, and Covington was brought back on the active roster. Covington missed out on the fully guaranteed year, and Fehoko went through a media circus around his “making the team” only to be cut a week later. It was an incredibly awkward and rare miscue from the Chargers social media team.

Donald Parham may have fallen victim to this same concept. Stone Smartt will receive no additional guarantees if he is on the active roster in Week 1. If Parham was rostered in Week 1, his base salary would be fully guaranteed, but if he’s signed after Week 1, those guarantees are no longer an issue. It wouldn’t be a shock to see Parham brought back to the practice squad, and back on the active roster by Week 2.

Tony Jefferson is another name to look out for. He may have been seen as a player that played too well in his final preseason game to cast off to the initial waiver/cuts vultures – but he is also a player they might not want on a fully guaranteed contract. Should the Chargers find positional upgrades elsewhere, Jefferson might be a late cut-and-stash, before signing him back to the active roster in Week 2.

What do you think, StormCloud? How else might this roster shake up in the coming days?