METAIRIE, La. ― Sean Payton could go without the next 24 hours.
You could say the same for Chris Reis, Pierson Prioleau and Jason McKie.
But the fact of the matter is this – the NFL mandates teams to cut rosters from 75 players to 53 by 3 p.m. Saturday.
“That’s the hardest part of the calendar year, the last week of preseason games where you have your final roster cut down,” Payton said. “That never gets easier or you never get used to that. I think it’s always one of the tough things about this job.”
Reis has been with the Saints every year since he left Georgia Tech and hasn’t been cut. But he knows he’s a career “bubble” player and he enjoys that role.
Still, he doesn’t hit the final week counting roster spots.
“I try to go out and do the best I can and let the coaches make that decision,” said Reis, a special teams standout during his time with the Saints.
McKie, meanwhile, already has been cut by the Saints. But they brought him back when Marcus Mailei was waived/reserve injured.
He takes the approach that just because a player is cut doesn’t necessarily mean he isn’t worthy of playing in the league.
“It just means there wasn’t a spot for you on that certain team,” McKie said. “That’s why you have to go out there and perform on the field and another team will look at you and maybe pick you up.”
And then there’s Prioleau, who has made a career of finding ways to stick around.
“It’s nerve-wracking,” he said. “All you can control is what you do when you’re on the field. It’s an unfortunate part of the business that everyone cant make the team because everyone is putting in everything they’ve got to try and be a part of this team so this team can get better so we can win games and possibly win a Super Bowl.”
