One team’s “trash” is another team’s treasure when it comes to roster cuts around the NFL. Whether teams are moving on from a previous regime’s draft selections or they simply have an overabundance of depth on their rosters, we see a lot of turnover at this time of year thanks to the NFL’s mandatory cutdown from 90-player rosters to just 53.

And with the rules surrounding practice squad additions more favorable to teams than they’ve ever been (16 player practice squads, up to six vested veterans allowed), teams are able to make pretty substantial upgrades at this time of year that we didn’t always used to see.

Which NFL teams were the biggest winners at roster cut time this year?

The Detroit Lions have a stacked roster that appears more than ready to challenge the San Francisco 49ers for the NFC crown in 2024.

The Lions only kept four wide receivers on their initial 53-man roster, but they were able to make some nice waves after roster cuts by adding a couple of key veterans who could end up playing rather large roles on this team going forward. The most notable addition for the Lions was veteran wide receiver Tim Patrick, formerly of the Denver Broncos, who will help replace the void being left behind by Josh Reynolds (who incidentally plays for the Broncos now).

The Lions were also able to bring back 2023 trade acquisition Donovan Peoples-Jones to their practice squad to fortify the receiver position as well as adding veteran Allen Robinson, a nice upside play and use of those veteran slots.

Say what you want about their offseason strategy, but I kind of like the Cowboys bringing in veteran running back Dalvin Cook after roster cuts were finalized.

Why not?

The Cowboys not only added Dalvin Cook to the practice squad (with the obvious intent of calling him up later) but they were able to bring back veteran Carl Lawson to the practice squad as well. They also put a number of players on waivers who could have been snatched by other teams, but they got back a few camp darlings like cornerback Kemon Hall and wide receiver Jalen Cropper.

The rich get richer, as per usual when it comes to GM Brett Veach and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Despite having the worst waiver priority position (literally last), the Chiefs were able to reel in some pretty big fish after roster cuts. The most notable name is probably running back Samaje Perine, who has been a killer for this team as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals and even last year for the Denver Broncos, who ended a long losing streak against Kansas City.

The Chiefs added quarterback Bailey Zappe to the practice squad, putting him in a good position to rehab his overall value. They were able to bring back key names like Lucas Niang (OT), Nikko Remigio (WR), and Justyn Ross (WR) to the practice squad. We also saw the Chiefs steal 2023 sixth-round pick Eric Scott Jr. off of waivers from the Cowboys. He is coming off of a strong preseason and camp.

Kansas City knows how to fill out a roster and they put on a master class this year at roster cut time.