The last cut is the deepest

Who would have thought that fantasy football players would need to be paying attention the day the National Football League reduces its rosters to 53 players. After all, that's the day the fifth- and sixth-string wide receivers hope not to hear the words, "Coach wants to see you. Bring your playbook." It's not supposed to be the day name-brand players are told to clean out their lockers.

Is it?

I know of at least one fantasy player who had Dominic Rhodes on the roster when the Buffalo Bills showed him the door. Rhodes was brought in during the off-season to shore up a running back platoon hampered by Marshawn Lynch's three-game suspension. Rhodes was supposed to be the primary backup to Fred Jackson at the start of the season. Now, as of Sunday morning, the Bills have just two running backs with NFL experience available for the first three games, including the Monday night season opener against the New England Patriots.

Rhodes' cut was surprising, but surprisingly, it wasn't even the most surprising cut Saturday. (Yes, I just used some version of "surprising" three times in a sentence. It was that surprising.) That "honor" goes to the Oakland Raiders for telling Jeff Garcia that his services were no longer required. I haven't heard about it personally, but it wouldn't surprise me to learn that fantasy players had found a spot for Garcia on their rosters. After all, he was brought in to compete with JaMarcus Russell (you know, the guy who can throw the ball 60+ yards on his knees) for the starting job. And keeping Garcia would have made it easier for the Raiders to pull Russell if he stinks out the joint.

But of course, these are the Raiders we're talking about.

Anyway, I'll be back Monday with thoughts about week 1 and the People's Pigskin lineup. In the meantime, you can vote in our snack poll here. And if you have any cut day horror stories, feel free to leave a comment. Enjoy your Sunday.