NFL teams must trim to 53 players, then fill 17-man practice squads by the deadline

The Washington Commanders, like every NFL team, must reduce their offseason roster to 53 active players by 6 p.m. ET on cutdown day. The cut process happens before the deadline, and teams typically use the minutes that follow to sign many of the players they just released to practice squads, giving them a second chance to develop within the organization.

Under the NFL’s roster structure, practice squads exist as a developmental roster option. Each team can carry a 17-man practice squad, and teams can sign eligible players to it after cuts. That practical reality means roster moves do not end at 53. They shift from “active roster” to “practice squad” and can still meaningfully affect team depth, weekly preparation, and who is available for call-ups as the season approaches.

Eligibility matters because not every player is automatically entitled to a practice squad spot. The NFL’s practice squad rules define who is eligible based on experience and other league parameters, and the rules also cover how the practice squad is used during the season. For teams, it is not simply about filling 17 slots. It is about doing so within the boundaries of the league’s eligibility framework.

Cutdown day also connects to the waiver system. When a player is released during the cut window, other teams may have an opportunity to claim him before he can land elsewhere. That is why teams weigh carefully which players to keep, which to release, and which to try to protect by attempting to get them onto their own practice squad. Even if a player is not retained on the active roster, teams can still try to secure him for practice-team reps, but the path to doing so runs through the league’s transaction rules.

The Commanders’ situation is an example of how these rules shape the day-to-day mechanics of roster management. With the organization required to reach a 53-player ceiling, the remaining players after cuts become the pool that can be pursued for the practice squad. According to the league rules explained by Yahoo Sports, the practice squad signing process is built to follow the 53-player cut so teams can continue building a full developmental unit.

There is also a competitive element to the practice squad. Other teams can target players on each club’s practice squad based on the NFL’s practice squad interaction rules. Those constraints can influence who a team wants to place on its squad, because players may not be fully “owned” in the way an active-roster player is. For the Commanders, that makes the selection process on cutdown day more than a simple staffing exercise.

As the deadline passes, watch for which released players the Commanders attempt to re-sign to their practice squad and whether other teams intervene. In the background, the practice squad rules will determine who can be signed, how many spots are available, and which players can be protected for development. For fans, the immediate window after the 53-player cut is often where the most important secondary roster decisions take place. For the teams, it is where the season-long roster plan continues to take shape.