NFL cut day is upon us as the LA Chargers and the rest of the league are cutting the roster from 80 players all the way to 53 players before Tuesday's 1 p.m. deadline. Of the 27 players that will be cut today, the Chargers can bring back 16 to be on the team's practice squad.
Today is a day full of surprising cuts from around the league, which included the Chargers cutting preseason standout Michael Bandy. While disappointing for most fans, cutting a WR6 candidate is far from being the end of the world, especially with all of the talent on the team ahead of him.
At least the Chargers don't have to cut a recent first-round pick like the Las Vegas Raiders had to do. As bad as Jerry Tillery has been, he has still been far better than the Raiders' 2021 first-round pick, Alex Leatherwood. After just one year in the league, the Raiders had to cut the player who they expected to anchor their offensive line, showcasing just how bad their O-line situation is.
it gets even worse than that for the Raiders. Not only did they have to cut their 2021 first-round pick, but they also desperately tried to trade Leatherwood before making that decision. According to Ian Rapoport, Leatherwood was offered to all 32 teams. Nobody was interested.
They tried to trade him to eveyone. Got 32 nos. https://t.co/2BwfIyZs4H
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 30, 2022
The Raiders' trash is not the Chargers' treasure as the Bolts have no interest in Alex Leatherwood.
There has been a narrative all offseason that the LA Chargers need help at the right tackle position and even that could not convince the Chargers to take a flier on a recent first-round pick. Obviously it is impossible to blame the Chargers for saying no as anyone who has watched Leatherwood in his career knows that he is a massive work in progress.
Las Vegas was obviously desperate enough to the point that they would have easily taken a seventh-round pick for the same player that they just drafted with the 17th overall pick 17 months ago. Even that is too pricey for the Chargers, who probably would not have traded a water cooler for Leatherwood if that was the offer.
It will be interesting to see where Leatherwood ends up. Nobody likes seeing an NFL career end that quickly and there will likely be some team that is willing to take a flier on him and try to develop him down the line.
And just because it would be even funnier for Chargers fans, fans should actually be rooting for Leatherwood to succeed. How hilarious would it be if he ended up on some NFC team that turned him into a Pro Bowl offensive lineman?