The NFC North Round-Up: Each Team’s Biggest Roster Surprise
Josh Frey
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Rosters have officially been cut down to 53 players across the NFL, and there were some big moves made along the way. With all the news that has broken over the past couple days, it only seemed right to put out a mid-week version of The NFC North Round-Up series to discuss the moves. Here is each NFC North team’s biggest roster surprise of the week.
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Chicago Bears Claim OT Alex Leatherwood
The Bears have had a multitude of struggles along their offensive line this summer, including their 2021 second-round pick at tackle, Teven Jenkins. With Jenkins on the trade block, Chicago has brought in another offensive linemen from the 2021 draft class, Alex Leatherwood. After just one season in Las Vegas, the Raiders waived last spring’s 17th overall pick due to a disastrous season. This move is especially surprising because Leatherwood still carries around $6 million against the cap over the next three seasons, but perhaps a change of scenery can turn around the young offensive lineman’s career.
Jermar Jefferson Gets the Axe in Detroit
The Detroit Lions have a talented group of running backs on their roster led by D’Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams. That said, there simply wasn’t enough room in the backfield for everyone. They made a surprise cut yesterday of a talented 2021 draft pick, RB Jermar Jefferson, after adding defensive lineman Benito Jones. Back at the beginning of August, head coach Dan Campbell named Jefferson as one of the players who had made the biggest jump this offseason, so the RB no longer being on the roster is a big surprise.
Green Bay Keeps All 11 Draft Picks
The Green Bay Packers roster remained largely the same as what was expected, but the most noteworthy tidbit from their initial 53-man roster is that they kept all 11 draft picks from the 2022 class, including their four seventh-round selections. In fact, 21 of their 53 players were drafted between 2020 and 2022. There’s certainly a youth movement in Green Bay to surround QB Aaron Rodgers with talent in the closing years of his career.
Vikings Cut DT Armon Watts
The Minnesota Vikings were one of the leagues busier teams in terms of roster-shuffling as they not only trimmed their roster, but they made multiple trades over the past 48 hours, including bringing in WR Jalen Reagor. That said, the most surprising move for the team, and possibly in the entire league, was the waiving of defensive lineman Armon Watts.
Watts has been listed as a starter on Minnesota’s preseason depth charts, so this decision threw just about everyone off-guard. We will see who emerges as the starter between James Lynch and Esezi Otomewo. As for Watts, he was quickly picked up off waivers by the Chicago Bears and will have his first revenge game against the Vikings in Week 5.
Kellen Mond Gets a Fresh Start
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing as well as minors in History, Human Biology, and Journalism. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh can often be found training for a marathon, playing video games, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. For more of his takes, NFL and otherwise, check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken