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Back in July I put a post together entitled "How Your Favorite NFL Team's 90 Man Roster was Assembled". It was a worthwhile activity because it resulted in some interesting nuggets.
I stated I would revisit this activity again once the NFL teams cut their rosters down to 53. I waited until after Week 1 of the NFL to chart this data because of the vested veteran rule. NFL rosters are generally more settled after the first week.
Let's jump right into the new data. Table columns are sortable if you click the top row.
YEAR CHART:
| Team | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | Total* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardinals | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 29 | 60 | ||||||||
| Seahawks | 1 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 15 | 12 | 20 | 62 | |||||||||
| 49ers | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 7 | 29 | 67 | ||||||
| Rams | 1 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 22 | 20 | 58 | ||||||||||
| Eagles | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 24 | 58 | |||||||
| Cowboys | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 16 | 18 | 58 | |||||||
| Giants | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 11 | 18 | 58 | |||||
| Redskins | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 17 | 17 | 13 | 64 | |||||||
| Falcons | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 14 | 15 | 58 | ||||||||
| Panthers | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 14 | 21 | 61 | |||||
| Saints | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 17 | 60 | ||||||
| Buccaneers | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 13 | 26 | 61 | ||||||||
| Bears | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 57 | ||||||
| Lions | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 23 | 56 | ||||||||
| Packers | 1 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 15 | 61 | |||||||
| Vikings | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 18 | 12 | 58 | ||||||
| Broncos | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 16 | 19 | 62 | |||||||
| Chiefs | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 33 | 58 | |||||||
| Raiders | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 16 | 29 | 60 | ||||||||
| Chargers | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 14 | 26 | 61 | |||||||
| Bills | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 22 | 59 | |||||||||
| Dolphins | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 13 | 19 | 55 | ||||||||
| Patriots | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 13 | 30 | 65 | |||||
| Jets | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 14 | 21 | 59 | ||||||||
| Texans | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 13 | 19 | 61 | |||||||
| Colts | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 23 | 23 | 61 | ||||||||
| Jaguars | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 12 | 28 | 57 | |||||||
| Titans | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 22 | 57 | ||||||||
| Ravens | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 20 | 61 | |||||||
| Bengals | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 9 | 16 | 13 | 62 | |||||||
| Browns | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 12 | 28 | 59 | ||||||||
| Steelers | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 22 | 62 |
Observations:
• The Chiefs have the most players acquired in 2013 with 33. The Vikings have the least with 12.
• The only team to not have a player on their roster acquired in 2009 is the Dallas Cowboys. From 2010-2013, every NFL team has at least one player acquired in each of those years.
• The 49ers have 67 players under team control. 14 of them are exempt from counting against the 53 man roster for now. The Dolphins only have 55.
METHOD CHART:
| Team | Draft | Undrafted FA | Free Agent | Trade | Waiver/PS | Total* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardinals | 27 | 8 | 21 | 2 | 2 | 60 |
| Seahawks | 29 | 8 | 18 | 4 | 3 | 62 |
| 49ers | 31 | 11 | 20 | 3 | 2 | 67 |
| Rams | 23 | 17 | 15 | 3 | 58 | |
| Eagles | 28 | 7 | 16 | 5 | 2 | 58 |
| Cowboys | 26 | 13 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 58 |
| Giants | 28 | 8 | 19 | 2 | 1 | 58 |
| Redskins | 30 | 3 | 26 | 2 | 3 | 64 |
| Falcons | 37 | 9 | 10 | 2 | 58 | |
| Panthers | 26 | 9 | 20 | 4 | 2 | 61 |
| Saints | 20 | 15 | 22 | 2 | 1 | 60 |
| Buccaneers | 25 | 5 | 25 | 3 | 3 | 61 |
| Bears | 22 | 6 | 24 | 4 | 1 | 57 |
| Lions | 24 | 4 | 21 | 4 | 3 | 56 |
| Packers | 38 | 10 | 11 | 2 | 61 | |
| Vikings | 34 | 8 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 58 |
| Broncos | 27 | 7 | 23 | 2 | 3 | 62 |
| Chiefs | 29 | 4 | 13 | 3 | 9 | 58 |
| Raiders | 25 | 7 | 22 | 1 | 5 | 60 |
| Chargers | 26 | 8 | 21 | 2 | 4 | 61 |
| Bills | 27 | 5 | 19 | 1 | 7 | 59 |
| Dolphins | 29 | 5 | 15 | 6 | 55 | |
| Patriots | 29 | 14 | 16 | 2 | 4 | 65 |
| Jets | 22 | 6 | 23 | 4 | 4 | 59 |
| Texans | 31 | 16 | 12 | 2 | 61 | |
| Colts | 22 | 6 | 23 | 7 | 3 | 61 |
| Jaguars | 23 | 8 | 12 | 1 | 13 | 57 |
| Titans | 31 | 4 | 20 | 2 | 57 | |
| Ravens | 35 | 8 | 17 | 1 | 61 | |
| Bengals | 33 | 9 | 14 | 2 | 4 | 62 |
| Browns | 25 | 8 | 13 | 3 | 10 | 59 |
| Steelers | 31 | 9 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 62 |
Observations:
• The Packers have the most amount of players acquired through the draft at 38. The Saints have the least at 20.
• The Rams have the most undrafted free agents with 17. Lowest: Redskins with 3.
• Most free agents: Redskins with 26. Least: Falcons with 10.
• Most players acquired via trade: Colts with 7 (Eagles are second at 5). Least: four-way tie between Packers/Dolphins/Rams/Titans with 0.
• Most players acquired via Waiver/PS: Jaguars with 13. Least: three-way tie between Ravens/Falcons/Texans with 0.
Bonus Eagles pie chart (method) 53 man roster:
Compare this to the pie chart from the Eagles 90 man roster, and you will see some differences. Undrafted FA and Free Agent categories are down while the Draft is up.
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Chart note: while teams are only allowed to have 53 players on their active roster, some are placed on special lists such as Injured Reserve, Non-Football Injury, Suspension, etc. This is why the total row is higher than 53.
Once again, a big thanks goes out to Pro Football Rosters for making this data easily available.
Enjoy!