Training camp is underway, and as exciting as the return of football is, we sometimes have to remember that real jobs are on the line for players and many of them could be facing dramatically different circumstances in a few weeks time.

This year the NFL changed league rules to have a single roster cutdown day on August 29th where all teams will cut down to 53 players, which means almost half of the training camp’s 90-man roster will be without a job by the end of that day.

For fantasy purposes, the decisions teams make can have big impacts, so it’s always best to be ahead of the curve by considering what might change and how it could affect the players you roster, regardless of fantasy format.

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Seven Surprising Players on the Roster Bubble (Fantasy Football 2023)

Clyde Edwards-Helaire (RB – KC)

The problem with spending a first-round pick on a luxury asset such as a running back is that when they fail to work out, it becomes a rather sad case of wondering where else that pick could have been spent instead. The Chiefs selected Clyde Edwards-Helaire with the 32nd overall pick, one selection before the Bengals chose Tee Higgins who was followed off the draft board by Michael Pittman Jr. and D’Andre Swift, not to mention Jonathan Taylor who went 41st overall to the Colts.

It’s hard to criticize too much about the Chiefs’ team building when they are fresh off another Super Bowl win, but it’s also fair to say that Edwards-Helaire has been a categoric failure, falling to at best running back three on the team’s depth chart behind seventh-round selection Isiah Pacheco and 31-year old Jerick McKinnon. Cutting Edwards-Helaire would only save the Chiefs $865,726, but for a team with the second-least amount of cap space, that’s significant, particularly when salary cap issues have kept them out of the DeAndre Hopkins and Odell Beckham deals.

Bears Receivers Velus Jones Jr. & Chase Claypool

The Bears are a year or two off being where they want to be, at the least, and the addition of DJ Moore doesn’t hide the deficiency behind him that left Justin Fields with nobody reliable to throw to in 2022. Velus Jones Jr. was drafted in the third round of the 2022 draft and enters his sophomore year in the NFL at age 26, a year older than fellow Bears receiver, Chase Claypool. Last year the pair combined for 255 total scrimmage yards for the Bears and when you consider that the Bears traded the 32nd overall pick in this year’s draft to acquire Claypool, it’s an awful lot of unrealized draft capital so far. Velus Jones could simply not be good enough to be an NFL receiver and Claypool seems to be followed around by question marks around his attitude, including this quote;

“I have heard from a few people inside that building that he is not somebody who is very self-motivated,” ESPN’s 1000’s Marc Silverman said on Waddle & Silvy. “… All I can tell you is it isn’t trending in a way that the Bears have wanted it to trend in this offseason.”

The Bears might not wish to give up on Claypool so soon, and while they’re not in a position to need the cap space, they would save $3m by releasing Claypool. If the attitude doesn’t fit the team ethos, it might be more prudent to cut their losses now.

Cordarrelle Patterson (RB – ATL)

Falcons fans will be quick to tell you that Cordarelle Patterson is a beloved part of their team, and it’s true that Arthur Smith is one of the few coaches to unlock Patterson’s magic outside of special teams, but it’s quite hard to avoid the fact that the Falcons are tenth in cap space remaining and would save $4.3m by cutting him.

Perhaps the team sees Patterson as someone they can utilize in the receiving game more often this year now that they possess a backfield of Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier but at 32 years old, it’s no sure thing that Patterson could stand up to an expanded role. The best deal all around might involve Patterson reworking his deal, but if not, the team moving on feels like a very possible outcome.

Curtis Samuel (WR – WAS)

It’s been two years since Curtis Samuel signed a three-year, $34.5 million contract with $23 million in guarantees as he left the Carolina Panthers for the Washington Commanders. At the time the offensive coordinator was Scott Turner who had followed Ron Rivera from Carolina and sought to bring Samuel along and into the mix. Samuel was fresh off a WR26 finish in total PPR points, before managing only 37 routes run in his first year in Washington due to injuries.

With Jahan Dotson impressive during his rookie campaign, it’s entirely possible the Commanders don’t see Samuel as a necessity anymore, particularly given that they can cut or trade him and save $10m against the cap.

Keep an Eye on

Marquise Brown (WR – ARI)

Brown is in a contract year, only a year after the Cardinals traded a first-round pick for him. He shares the same agent as DK Metcalf, AJ Brown and Deebo Samuel, who all leveraged contracts last offseason.

The Cardinals might want more time to evaluate Brown, but he could force a trade out of Arizona if he is committed to being paid this summer.

Albert Okwuegbunam (TE – DEN)

This time a year ago Okwuegbunam was a favorite to break out among tight ends, but the Broncos coaching staff saw it differently and rarely utilized him in 2022.

Now with another set of coaching staff at the reigns, Okwuegbunam needs to prove he deserves playing time behind Greg Dulcich, and it will largely come down to if he can better Adam Trautman who Sean Payton traded for from his former team the New Orleans Saints.

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