INDIANAPOLIS — The Colts’ season opener is only a week away.
And that means that Indianapolis must reduce its roster from 77 players down to 53 by 4 p.m. Saturday, although that 53 is by no means the 53 who will take the field in Jacksonville next week.
NFL teams will continue to maneuver and manipulate their rosters into the beginning of next week, taking advantage of rules changes imposed by the new collective bargaining agreement and the special circumstances provided by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For example, a team must carry a player on the 53-man roster for at least one day before placing him on injured reserve if the team wants to bring that player back to the active roster at any point this season, and there will likely be a lot more of those players this year.