And then there were 53. On Tuesday, every team across the NFL needed to whittle down their offseason 90-man rosters to an opening group consisting of 53 players. Even if some players put together strong summers, squeezes along various rosters sometimes make those efforts moot. That said, just because a player didn’t make one of the 32 opening rosters, doesn’t mean there isn’t a home for them somewhere in the NFL.
While Tuesday’s deadline highlights players getting waived or cut, this is an avenue for the continuation of roster building as we inch closer to Week 1. With that in mind, we’ve collected several notable players who are now seeking a new team and identified a possible landing spot.
After spending the first two years of his career with the Falcons, Ridder was traded to the Arizona Cardinals this offseason in a rare player-for-player swap with wideout Rondale Moore. Ridder battled for the QB2 position behind Kyler Murray with Clayton Tune and drew the short straw. The 24-year-old started 13 games for Atlanta last season and went 6-7.
Potential landing spot: Los Angeles Rams. This may not be a permanent home for Ridder, but an intriguing pitstop. The Rams, of course, have Matthew Stafford as their starter and signed Jimmy Garoppolo to be the backup this offseason. However, Garoppolo is suspended for the first two games of the season, leaving the backup job to Stetson Bennett. Could Ridder cling on as the emergency quarterback under former offensive coordinator Dave Ragone? Maybe he can stick around as a practice squad option and develop in the highly sought-after shadow of Sean McVay.
Zappe was a fourth-round pick of the Patriots in 2022 and had his moments over his two-season tenure. He started a total of eight games for the organization, including the final six games of the 2023 campaign. He went 4-4 in those starts and did struggle down the stretch as the Patriots closed out last year. Still, he is an ideal backup quarterback who can be relied upon to make spot stars in a pinch.
Potential landing spot: Los Angeles Chargers. There’s a world where Zappe ends back up with the Patriots via the practice squad, but if we’re looking outside of Foxborough the Chargers could make some sense. At the moment, Easton Stick is slated to be the backup behind Justin Herbert and one could make a good case that Zappe would be an upgrade at that spot. In his four starts last season, Stick went 0-4 and had an 85.6 passer rating.
When the Kansas City Chiefs traded for Toney in October of 2022, it momentarily felt like the former first-round wideout was going to be a lethal pairing with Patrick Mahomes. While Toney did have some key plays during his Chiefs tenure — and has two Super Bowl rings to show for it — he never reached the highs that most were anticipating he may. This summer, he fell behind in a revamped Chiefs receiver room and is now looking for a new team hoping to tap into his raw ability.
Potential landing spot: Washington Commanders. The Commanders just got rid of former first-round pick Jahan Dotson in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles, and there are a decent amount of question marks behind Terry McLaurin at the receiver position. Toney’s talent could be enticing for this new Washington coaching staff, including offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury.
Brown has been a productive receiver over the past couple of seasons stretched between the Cowboys and Texans. He’s posted back-to-back campaigns of at least 550 yards receiving and had two monster showings in 2023. In Week 9, he caught all six of his targets for 153 yards and a touchdown to then follow that up the following week with a seven-catch, 172-yard performance. Given that explosive capability, he should be a valued target for teams in the hunt for depth at the receiver position.
Potential landing spot: Los Angeles Chargers. L.A. looks like it’ll lean on Joshua Palmer, Quentin Johnston and rookie Ladd McConkey after moving on from Keenan Allen and Mike Williams this offseason. While Palmer is underrated and both McConkey and Johnston have potential, it wouldn’t hurt to give Justin Herbert another outlet like Brown, who could factor into the target share.
Perine continues to be a reliable pass-catching option out of the backfield even as he enters his age-29 season. While the Broncos are moving in a different direction with Javonte Williams and Jaleel McLaughlin, Perine could be a savvy addition for any team looking to bolster its backfield. Last season, he caught 50 of his 56 targets for 455 yards.
Potential landing spot: Green Bay Packers. With the news that running back AJ Dillon is gone for the year, this makes too much sense for Green Bay. Perine could be an ideal addition to a depleted backfield behind Josh Jacobs to work in passing down situations.
Farley was the No. 22 overall pick of the Tennessee Titans in 2021 out of Virginia Tech. He was unable to live up to that draft billing, in part, due to an array of injuries he suffered throughout his tenure in Nashville. Farley has suffered two ACL tears dating back to college and also missed the 2023 season due to a back injury. Given that the Titans have a totally new regime that has no ties to him and spent the offseason adding L’Jarius Sneed and Chidobe Awuzie, his release wasn’t a surprise.
Potential landing spot: Cleveland Browns. It’s tough to find a team that may be willing to buy in on Farley considering all of his prior injuries. However, the Browns could be interesting simply due to Farley’s connection with Mike Vrabel, who is currently serving the organization as a coaching and personnel consultant. Vrabel was the head coach when Tennessee selected Farley so that familiarity could be an avenue for him to land on an NFL roster (53 man or practice squad). For the Browns, this is a low-risk, buy-low move to possibly add a talented defensive back to your secondary.
The Minnesota Vikings selected Cine with the No. 32 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Georgia. His rookie season was cut short due to a compound fracture in his left leg and was limited to seven games a season ago. Cine totaled one tackle.
Possible landing spot: New York Giants. The club lost Xavier McKinney at the start of free agency and continue to have questions at the safety position heading into the regular season. While Cine shouldn’t be looked at as a savior at the position, the Giants are the type of rebuilding team that should try to catch lightning in a bottle with Cine’s untapped potential. So long that he stays healthy, of course.
Marshall spent the last three seasons with the Carolina Panthers after the club selected the LSU product in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft. The former national champion flashed at times during his tenure in the league, but has yet to put it all together. His best season in the NFL came in 2022 when he caught 28 passes for 490 yards and a touchdown. He appeared in nine games for the club in 2023
Potential landing spot: Buffalo Bills. After the departure of both Stefon Diggs (via trade) and Gabe Davis (free agency) this offseason, there are 241 total targets now up for grabs in Buffalo. While rookie Keon Coleman along with fellow wideouts Khalil Shakir and Curtis Samuel and tight end Dalton Kincaid will adopt some of those targets, there are questions in the receiver room. Marshall could be a worthy gamble to see if he can build some chemistry with Josh Allen. The organization also just got an up-close look at Marshall in the preseason finale where he caught three balls for 39 yards and a touchdown.
Spiller was a fourth-round draft pick of the Chargers in 2022 out of Texas A&M. While there was some hype surrounding the former All-SEC back coming into the last couple of seasons, it never materialized. He played in just 15 games for the Chargers and rushed 55 times for 137 yards. He also caught all nine of his targets for 47 yards.
Potential landing spot: Las Vegas Raiders. The easy line to draw for Spiller is to Las Vegas where Tom Telesco is currently serving as a general manager. He held that same role with the Chargers and drafted Spiller, so it’s possible that he still has an affinity for the player and would be interested in seeing if they can finally tap into his potential with the Raiders. The club also isn’t exactly loaded at the position either with Zamir White and Alexander Mattison rounding out the top of the depth chart.
Patrick had a rough go of it over the last two years after suffering season-ending injuries the previous two summers. In 2022, his campaign was erased due to a torn ACL, and a torn Achilles sidelined him for 2023. However, Patrick is healthy and has shown he can produce in an NFL offense when that’s the case. Over his past two seasons when he was on the field (2020 and 2021), Patrick caught at least 50 balls for 700 yards and five touchdowns.
Potential landing spot: Pittsburgh Steelers. George Pickens is running the show in the receiver room, but there are questions on the depth chart after him. Beyond Pickens, the team has Van Jefferson and Calvin Austin III headlining the receiver room.