The San Francisco 49ers and the rest of the NFL have a Tuesday deadline to make their first official roster cuts of 2011. Originally the rules required teams to cut down to 75 players, but the rule was changed to 80 for this season. Teams will make final roster cuts down to the regular season 53-man roster this weekend following the conclusion of the preseason schedule.
As the 49ers make their initial roster cuts, undrafted free agents and some first and second year street free agents are unlikely to last through Tuesday. Some of the undrafted free agents that could get cut include:
DL Brian Bulcke
OL Donovan Edwards
WR Chris Hogan
WR Joe Hastings
DB Anthony West
OT Derek Hall
OT Kenny Wiggins
RB Seth Smith
WR Tyler Beiler
Among the fairly "green" veterans on the roster, some potential cuts include:
OG Nick Howell
TE Nate Lawrie
WR Kevin Jurovich
The ten cuts on Tuesday will include many of these players. However, it is also possible the cuts could include more veteran players. One player who pops to mind is fullback Moran Norris. He is a Frank Gore favorite and has a good chance of making the roster. At the same time, the coaching staff likely knows as much as they'll ever know about Norris. If they wanted to give some additional playing time this Thursday to a younger, less known player, it would make sense to cut Norris and provide that additional time. Additionally, cutting Norris now gives him a couple extra days to latch on with another team.
This is not to say Norris or other established veterans will get a pink slip Thursday. In fact, I would argue if Norris survives Tuesday's cut, he is likely to survive this weekend's cut. If the team still wants to keep him around after Tuesday, I'm not sure how much can change before the final cuts this weekend.