As Colts’ Kenny Moore II discovered, NFL cut day can open another door

INDIANAPOLIS – Kenny Moore II’s status with the Indianapolis Colts is secure.

While hundreds of players across the NFL landscape are leery of answering their cell phones as Tuesday’s 4 p.m. deadline to cut rosters from 90 to 53 looms, Moore isn’t one of them.

He’s a Pro Bowl cornerback, one of the league’s top nickels and arguably one of the Colts’ more indispensable players. He signed a three-year, $30 million contract in March, the second life-altering deal extended by the team in six years.

But cut time hasn’t always been quiet time for Moore.

He remembers September 2017.

The New England Patriots had signed him as an undrafted rookie out of Valdosta State. Moore believed he had had a solid offseason/training camp.

“I felt like I had done everything I could and I was going to let the pieces shake out,’’ he said Sunday. “My teammates were more confident in me than I was in myself.’’

But true job security in New England was reserved for the established veterans, a group that included Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Stephon Gilmore, Brandin Cooks and others.

As the cut deadline neared, Moore and a slew of Patriots rookies were at the team hotel.

Waiting.

“We were up talking about, ‘What’s going to happen? What’s going to happen?’’ Moore said. “They were all saying, ‘You’re going to be on a team regardless.’

“I honestly didn’t understand the process, the waiver process. All I knew was the team has got to cut down to 53 guys.’’

Moore reasoned that if he failed to survive the final cut, “I’m just going to find my way.’’

He had dropped out of school, so if the NFL door closed completely, he would return to Valdosta State and earn his degree.

“Try to be an editor or whatever it was from there,’’ he smiled.

The call came, Moore was waived. But he wasn’t unemployed for long.

“I got the call the next day that I was going to be a Colt,’’ he said.

One door closed, another opened.

The Colts were dealing with injuries at the position, and in need of a viable cornerback. The 5-9, 190-pound Moore didn’t exactly match general manager Chris Ballard’s positional criteria, but others on his staff lobbied for Ballard to claim him.

You know the rest.

Jack Doyle followed a similar path.

The Cathedral High School product signed with the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted rookie in 2013, was waived on cut day and immediately claimed by the Colts. He would carve out a nine year career in Indy that saw him selected to two Pro Bowls, appear in 131 games, generate 295 receptions and 24 touchdowns and pile up $37.9 million in career earnings.

That’s why coach Shane Steichen attempts to meet with as many players as possible when they’re released. He has a message to share.

Keep chasing your dream .

“Just keep fighting,’’ Steichen said. “You’ve got a dream, go chase it and keep going.’’

A player who isn’t a fit for one team for whatever reason might find a better opportunity elsewhere. That’s the value of putting up solid video during preseason games.

“Someone could see the tape,’’ Steichen said. “There are 31 teams watching it and they get picked up and go have careers somewhere else.

“Sometimes you bring these guys back. They did enough and they’re still out there. Just keep working and keep chasing your dream.’’

After rosters are cut to 53 and jettisoned players are exposed to the waiver wire, a team begins assembling its 16-player practice squad Wednesday. Many of the players released by the Colts will return.

Ryan Kelly never has had to worry about cut day. The 2016 first-round draft pick is the longest-tenured Colt and a four-time Pro Bowl selection and a 2020 second-team All-Pro.

But he understands the nature of the personnel business.

“(The) later you are in the draft, (or) undrafted guys, I guess it’s a steep climb to make it in the NFL,’’ Kelly said. “And I think what you see is over time, from April when these guys get in here to where they are now, the margin of error for those guys is so small, right?

“And they ultimately contribute so much to our group. Speaking from an offensive line perspective, those guys, you see them working on their craft every single day and you know, at the end of the day, there’s limited spots that we can bring.’’

The Colts have 13 offensive linemen on their roster. They might carry only nine on the 53, with a couple added to the practice squad.

This phase of the NFL calendar is tough on players, and Steichen. He mentioned the “relationships you build with these players.

“That’s what’s hard about this business.’’ Probably the hardest part about it is releasing guys because they put so much into it and you’ve got to cut this thing down.

“It’s the nature of the beast, nature of the business. . . . but you try to keep those relationships going. I’ve been a part of a team where you cut guys, and I still talk to the guys that are on other teams. You see them when you play each other and you still have those relationships.’’

Money issue

The difference between a player making the cut to 53 and being signed to the practice squad is significant.

A rookie on the active roster has a minimum per-week salary of $44,166. The weekly pay for a practice squad player ranges from a minimum of $12,500 to a maximum of $21,300, depending upon the player’s experience. The minimum per-week salary for a practice squad player with at least two years experience is $16,800.

You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51 .

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