NFL cutdown day has a certain finality to it. With rosters being trimmed from 90 to 53 players, it marks a key point in the transition from the offseason to the regular season. It also crushes the dreams of hundreds of players hoping to find a spot on a team.
And yet, it is not the be-all and end-all that it appears to be. Yes, it shows the painful reality that some roster hopefuls are simply not considered good or valuable enough. But it also is only one snapshot in an always-evolving process: no NFL roster is ever final, and what can be true one day doesn’t have to be the next.