COVID-19 Restrictions a Potential Headache for NFL Coaches Ahead of Roster Cuts

Due to COVID-19 rules, NFL teams are handcuffed a bit when it comes to roster moves ahead of cutdown day.

Now that the New York Jets and the rest of the NFL have moved from training camp mode to regular-season mode, the protocols that the league put forward will be stretched to the limit. Roster moves will be challenging, as players grabbed off the waiver wire have COVID-19 tests to pass, slowing the process of getting a player acclimated.

“This is uncharted waters for us,” Gase said Thursday in his virtual post-training camp press conference. “It could be position-to-need. I mean, you might not have a choice where it's like, ‘Hey, we need this many, whatever it is, defensive linemen or linebackers’ and they don't have access to those guys. They didn't have him on their roster, was thin on it. You just don't know.”

It might be more difficult to sign a player off of another team’s practice squad since that player must go through the COVID-19 protocol before being added to the active roster. They need two negative tests, and that could take up to four days to get complete clearance.

“It’s hard,” Gase said. “It's tough to wait that long. It's not ideal, but it is what it is. That's what we're dealing with. That’s kind of the process that we have to go with. Like I said before, we can either look at it as throw your hands up and you get all upset over something that you can't really control right now. You just kind of roll with the punches and then you make an adjustment and you just understand what we're dealing with right now. We just have to be patient and try to do the right things.”

The league agreed to expand practice squad rosters to 16 players this season, so the reserves will be available should there be a potential outbreak. That includes six veterans rather than the normal limit of two.

Still, general manager Joe Douglas and his staff continue to scour the waiver wire looking for a player that can help or a talent they can’t pass up. With the limitations, however, it might deter them from pulling the proverbial trigger.

“I think (the list of potential waiver pickups) is big already,” Gase explained. “I mean remember the front office, that's all they do. It's like nonstop. They're combing through guys and they're always ready to go. If we have three injuries in one day, who are the next three guys, boom. I mean, these guys, this is all they do.”

Saturday is cutdown day in the NFL. The Jets’ roster must be pared to 53 players by 4:00 P.M.