It’s tough to make a career in the NFL. With just a handful of spots available on the 53-man roster each year, dozens of players get cut after competing for jobs over the summer. When the NFL’s roster cuts deadline passes at 3:00 p.m. CT on Saturday, more than 1,100 players will be out of work. Few people know that experience as well as retired New Orleans Saints wide receiver Lance Moore.
Moore’s NFL journey started with a stint on the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted rookie, before the Saints picked him up and sent him overseas for development with the since-defunct NFL Europe. His experience with being cut, claimed off of waivers, and changing teams (all within a span of just a few months) has stuck with him, even after ending his successful 10-year NFL career by signing a one-day contract with the Saints back in 2017.
He took to social media on Friday night, the eve of the NFL’s roster cuts deadline, to offer some advice to the many young players who will be in the same position he once found himself.
“For all the young players getting cut from NFL teams in the day or so,” Moore wrote from his official Twitter account, “you made it further than I did my rookie year. I got cut after the third preseason game. Ended up having a heck of a career. Being cut doesn’t have to be the end of your story. Get back to work!”
Moore found success in the NFL with his smooth route-running ability and rare level of concentration on contested catches, seeming to always get open against defensive backs and competing hard in clutch moments. And much of that was due to the time and work he put in to refine his craft. If anyone has something of value to offer rookies and players on the roster bubble around the league, it’s him.
