Whether the NFL staggers training camp cuts or has a deadline for teams to trim their roster to 53 men all on the same day, it doesn’t matter. The conclusion of camp is a difficult one and something that New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll laments.
“To be completely honest, cutdown day sucks,” Daboll told reporters on Tuesday. “It really does because you develop relationships with players, you see how hard they work and to bring a player up to your office and let them know that we’re going in a different direction or they didn’t make the team, you get a lot of different reactions and I completely understand it. They’ve laid everything the have on the line and it’s a sports business but it’s a people business. If you have relationships with people, that’s not easy. It’s not easy for me.”
It will be especially difficult for Daboll here in 2023 because there is not only an abundance of talent at certain positions, but several players he’s been close with over the years are almost guaranteed to be in the crossfire.
The players aren’t immune to the emotions, either. Not only does their anxiety rise on cutdown day itself, they feel the growing pressure to perform leading up to the deadline.
“Look, they’re human, so you know that as it gets closer to a cutdown date, I’m sure some players feel that way,” Daboll said. “Again, you just try to be open and honest with everybody. The team is not cut down yet. There’s plenty of opportunities for people to show what they can do, particularly in this last game. Again, empathy goes a long way, I think.”
Teams have until 4:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday to reduce their respective roster to 53 players.
