Fernando Medina-USA TODAY Sports
All NFL teams have to cut down their roster from 90 to 75 by Tuesday afternoon, but the Jacksonville Jaguars got a head start by releasing 13 players and adding another to injured reserve to get down to the limit on Sunday.
The most notable name among the first round of cuts for the Jaguars was veteran long snapper Jeremy Cain, who has been with the team since 2009. Other than Cain the Jaguars also released Luke Ingram, Ken Parrish, Mark Asper, Lionel Smith, Maalik Bomar, Jeremiah Green, J.D. Griggs, Paul Hazel, Jamal Miles, Ray Polk and Roderick Tomlin.
With the release of Cain and Ingram, the Jaguars have decided their three man training camp battle for the long snapper position. The last man standing is undrafted free agent Carson Tinker from Alabama. The move makes sense given that Tinker will be making significantly less money than the veteran Cain would have been making.
Perhaps the only move among these cuts that could be questioned is the release of the LEO project Hazel who has flashed in training camp as a potential pass rushing specialist. The problem with Hazel is that he needs to add some size to fill out his frame. If Hazel clears waivers, he will be an ideal practice squad candidate for the Jaguars.
The Jaguars also placed seventh-round draft pick Jeremy Harris on the injured reserve list on Sunday with a back injury that has kept him out the majority of training camp. While the severity of Harris’ injury is unknown, this move is likely a way for the Jaguars to stash a player who was not quite ready to compete for a spot on the 53-man roster.
The Jaguars have one more preseason game on Thursday night against the Atlanta Falcons before they have to cut 22 more players to get down to 53.
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