NFL Cutdown Day 2026: Aaron Donald Is Back, OBJ Survives, Quarterback Chaos Continues and the League Gets Real

NFL preseason is officially over, and Sunday brought one of the harshest days on the league calendar.

Every team had to trim its roster from 90 players down to an initial 53-man group by 6 p.m. ET, which meant more than 1,000 players around the league suddenly found themselves either unemployed, waiting on waivers or hoping for a practice squad call. Some names were expected. Some were surprising. A handful of trades came together simply because teams would rather get a future sixth-round pick than lose a player for nothing.

And then Aaron Donald decided to come out of retirement.

So much for a normal cutdown day.

The biggest story in football Sunday had nothing to do with somebody getting cut. Aaron Donald is officially returning to the Los Angeles Rams after more than two years away from football, agreeing to a one-year, $20 million contract that can reportedly reach $30 million through incentives. Donald is 35 years old and hasn't played an NFL snap since the 2023 season, but if there is one human being I am not betting against after two years away from football, it is probably Aaron Donald. The guy retired as one of the greatest defensive players in NFL history and apparently spent retirement continuing to work out like he was preparing to fight a bear.

What makes this comeback completely ridiculous is the defensive front Donald is walking into.

The Rams already went out and acquired Myles Garrett from Cleveland earlier this offseason. Garrett is coming off a season in which he set the NFL single-season sack record with 23 and won his second Defensive Player of the Year award. Now you're putting Aaron Donald next to him. Good luck.

Between Donald and Garrett alone, the Rams now have five combined Defensive Player of the Year awards, 17 Pro Bowls and more than 230 career sacks. Add Braden Fiske, Byron Young, Kobie Turner and the rest of that defensive front, and Los Angeles basically decided quarterbacks had too much fun last season.

There is obviously going to be a question about what Donald actually looks like after two full years away. Being in incredible physical condition and being ready to take on NFL double teams for 60 snaps are two completely different things. But he doesn't need to be 2018 Aaron Donald for this move to be terrifying. If he's even 75 or 80 percent of the player he used to be, offenses now have to decide whether they want to slide protection toward Myles Garrett or Aaron Donald.

That's not really a decision.

That's choosing how you want to die.

Donald coming back also makes the Rams one of the most interesting teams in football heading into Week 1. Matthew Stafford is coming off an MVP season, Los Angeles already made one of the biggest trades of the offseason by acquiring Garrett, and now one of the greatest defensive players ever has decided he wants another ring. It feels like the Rams looked around at the defending champion Seahawks and decided the NFC West needed to become completely insane.

The other feel-good story of cutdown day came from New York.

Odell Beckham Jr. officially made the Giants' initial 53-man roster.

OBJ returned to the franchise that drafted him 12th overall in 2014 after spending the entire 2025 season out of football. At 33 years old, this wasn't some ceremonial reunion where the Giants were simply bringing back a franchise legend for training camp. Beckham actually had to earn a roster spot, and he did enough during the preseason to convince new head coach John Harbaugh that he still belongs in the NFL. Beckham finished the preseason with seven catches for 76 yards and had three receptions for 53 yards in the finale against the Jets.

I actually love this story.

OBJ's first run with the Giants was one of the most electric stretches from any receiver we've seen over the last decade. The one-handed catch against Dallas turned him into a superstar overnight, and for several years he was basically the only reason people outside New York were tuning into Giants games.

Obviously, things did not end particularly well the first time around.

He was traded to Cleveland, eventually forced his way out of that situation, won a Super Bowl with the Rams and then bounced around between Baltimore and Miami while injuries gradually took away some of the explosiveness that made him special.

Now he's back where everything started.

Nobody should expect 2016 Odell Beckham. That player doesn't exist anymore. But the Giants don't need him to catch 100 passes. Malik Nabers remains the centerpiece of the receiving corps, and Beckham can operate as an experienced rotational option who understands how to find space, make contested catches and provide leadership to a relatively young offense. With Calvin Austin III tearing his ACL and missing the season, keeping Beckham became even more logical.

If he gives the Giants 500 or 600 yards and a handful of touchdowns, this reunion will have been worth it.

Then we get to Cleveland, because apparently the Browns are physically incapable of having a normal quarterback situation.

Dillon Gabriel injured his back during Cleveland's preseason finale against New England and was placed on injured reserve Sunday with a designation to return. Gabriel will miss at least the first four games of the season, but instead of forcing Cleveland to make a decision between its quarterbacks, the injury basically allowed the Browns to kick the decision down the road.

Cleveland's initial 53-man roster will carry Deshaun Watson, Shedeur Sanders and sixth-round rookie Taylen Green. Gabriel remains under team control on IR, meaning the Browns effectively still have four quarterbacks once he becomes eligible to return. Watson has already been named the Week 1 starter, Sanders is the backup, and Green showed enough athletic upside in the preseason finale to justify keeping him around.

That makes the next month extremely interesting.

There really isn't a logical reason to carry four quarterbacks once Gabriel returns unless Cleveland genuinely believes it needs all four. More likely, this gives Andrew Berry additional time to see whether a quarterback-needy team suffers an injury during September and becomes desperate enough to make a trade.

Gabriel himself could potentially have value. Sanders could certainly generate calls depending on how Cleveland views his long-term future. Even Watson's situation could eventually become interesting depending on how he performs.

The Browns don't have to make that decision today. That's the key. Putting Gabriel on IR bought them four weeks.

And considering how often NFL teams lose quarterbacks during the first month of the season, waiting could actually increase the value of whoever Cleveland eventually decides it can move.

As a Browns fan, though, this is also hilariously on brand.

We finally get through the preseason, name a starter, build a strong defense and start convincing ourselves everything might be relatively normal...

And we still have four quarterbacks involved. Never change, Cleveland.

One of the biggest quarterback names actually released Sunday came out of Tennessee, where the Titans waived Will Levis.

That basically ends one of the stranger recent quarterback experiments in the league. Tennessee traded up to select Levis with the 33rd pick in the 2023 draft and briefly looked like it might have found something when he threw four touchdowns in his NFL debut. But the consistency never arrived. He went 3-6 as a rookie starter, 2-10 in 2024, then missed all of 2025 after shoulder surgery. Once Tennessee drafted Cam Ward first overall in 2025, Levis' long-term path basically disappeared.

The Titans signed Mitchell Trubisky to back up Ward, and that ultimately left Levis without a spot. I would be shocked if he remains unemployed for long.

Teams are always looking for quarterbacks with starting experience, and Levis is still young enough that somebody will convince themselves they can fix him. Maybe he becomes a backup somewhere and rebuilds his career. Maybe a coach falls in love with the arm talent again.

But his time as the potential franchise quarterback in Tennessee is officially over.

Dallas also made one of the more surprising decisions of the day by waiving running back Jaydon Blue.

Blue had generated plenty of buzz during training camp and flashed explosive ability, but Dallas ultimately decided to move forward with Javonte Williams and rookie Tahj Brooks ahead of him. The Cowboys also released veteran receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling and running back Phil Mafah as part of their roster reduction.

Blue is another player I would expect to receive waiver interest immediately.

Running back value has obviously changed around the NFL, but teams are constantly looking for cheap explosive depth. A player with Blue's speed and receiving ability is exactly the type of guy somebody claims Monday morning and suddenly finds a role for by October.

Buffalo moved on from Mecole Hardman after the veteran receiver failed to separate himself during camp. Hardman will always have a place in Chiefs history because of his postseason moments, but his inability to establish himself consistently as a receiver outside Kansas City has followed him throughout his career. Buffalo's decision to experiment with other players in the return game also removed one of Hardman's biggest reasons for making the roster.

Kansas City itself made some notable cuts, including veteran pass rusher Emmanuel Ogbah and former first-round corner Kaiir Elam.

Elam's career remains one of the stranger stories from the 2022 draft. Buffalo selected him in the first round hoping he'd become a foundational corner, but he never developed into the player the Bills expected. Kansas City represented another opportunity to reset his career, and now he's back on the market again.

The offensive line market also got an interesting name when Chicago released Jedrick Wills.

The former Browns first-round pick never developed into the long-term left tackle Cleveland hoped it was drafting in 2020, but experienced tackles almost always find work somewhere. There are too many teams with questionable offensive lines for Wills to stay available long unless there are medical or performance concerns that we don't fully know about.

Pittsburgh made several notable veteran cuts as well, including linebackers Elandon Roberts and Malik Harrison and defensive lineman Dean Lowry.

Roberts is probably the biggest name there. He's been a productive, physical linebacker for years and brings championship experience from his time in New England. This feels much more like a roster numbers situation than a player who suddenly can't play anymore. I would expect another team to bring him in quickly.

The Steelers also traded running back Kaleb Johnson to Green Bay rather than simply releasing him, which is exactly what smart teams try to do on cutdown weekend. If you already know a player isn't making your 53, make calls around the league and see if someone will give you anything before putting him on waivers.

Green Bay clearly saw an opportunity. The Packers also traded quarterback Kyle McCord to Miami for a 2028 sixth-round pick, giving the Dolphins another developmental quarterback while Green Bay turns a player it likely wasn't going to keep into future draft capital.

That might not feel like a significant move today, but this is how NFL roster building works.

Sixth-round picks are lottery tickets.

If you're going to cut someone anyway and another team offers you one, take it.

Atlanta and Chicago completed one of the more interesting actual player-for-player deals when the Falcons acquired defensive tackle Gervon Dexter in exchange for defensive back Clark Phillips III and a fifth-round pick. Dexter was a second-round selection in 2023 and already has 13.5 sacks through three NFL seasons, so Atlanta is clearly betting that it can unlock another level from him inside its defensive front. Chicago gets secondary help and additional draft capital.

The Jets also addressed their offensive line by acquiring center Jordan Meredith from Las Vegas, sending a 2027 sixth-round pick to the Raiders while receiving a 2029 seventh in return. Again, not sexy.

But these are the trades that can matter when someone gets hurt in November.

One of the more surprising cuts at quarterback came in Tampa Bay, where the Buccaneers released Jake Browning and decided to make undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels the backup behind Baker Mayfield. That is a pretty strong statement about what Tampa saw from Daniels this summer. Browning has actual starting experience from his time in Cincinnati, so he immediately becomes one of the more attractive veteran quarterbacks available.

Jacksonville released Nick Mullens, Carolina released Kyle Trask, Cincinnati released Josh Johnson and Buffalo released Shane Buechele, meaning the backup quarterback market suddenly has several experienced names available at exactly the moment teams are evaluating whether they trust their current No. 2.

That is why cutdown day doesn't really end when the deadline arrives. The initial 53-man roster is exactly that. Initial.

Monday's waiver period will result in another round of movement. Teams near the top of the waiver order will have opportunities to add young players who unexpectedly became available. Veterans who aren't subject to waivers can immediately start negotiating with new teams. Practice squads will begin filling up.

There will be another wave of moves before Week 1.

But after Sunday, we finally have a much clearer picture of what the 2026 NFL season is going to look like.

Aaron Donald is playing football again.

Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald are somehow teammates.

Odell Beckham Jr. is wearing Giants blue again.

The Browns still haven't figured out how to have fewer than four quarterbacks in their organization.

Will Levis is looking for a new team.

Young players who looked like breakout candidates two weeks ago are suddenly on waivers.

And hundreds of guys who spent their entire lives trying to make an NFL roster are sitting by their phones hoping the next call comes.

That's the brutal side of cutdown day.

For every Aaron Donald comeback or OBJ reunion, there are dozens of players whose NFL dream may have ended Sunday afternoon.

The preseason is over. The fake football is finished.

The rosters are almost set.

Now we finally get to see which of these decisions actually mattered.