The big NFL roster cut down day is Saturday, Sept. 3 when teams will have to go from an 80-man roster limit to 53. Most 30 of the league's 32 teams played their final preseason game on Thursday night with two more completing the 2011 preseason schedule on Friday night.
Teams started training camp with a maximum of 90 players on the roster and on Aug. 30 they were forced to cut down to 80 players. On Saturday afternoon at 6:00 p.m. (ET), teams will be required to get down to 53 players which means each team will have 27 players let go in the next 24 hours.
Players will will be waived, released or placed on injured reserve to get down to the limit. Sometimes you'll see a high-paid veteran released at this point as well. If veterans are on the roster in Week 1, their salary for the entire year is guaranteed so some guys will be released right before the season only to re-sign elsewhere after the season starts.
Teams will also be creating practice squads in the few days. Each team is allowed eight players on the practice squad (check out the practice squad rules) but they have to release a player and expose him to the waiver wire before he can be re-signed to the practice squad so there's some strategy involved as far as which players go on the practice squad and which ones are kept on the 53-man roster.
The cuts will start coming on on Friday and continue through Saturday afternoon.