Along with the rest of the NFL, the Baltimore Ravens must cut their roster down to a maximum of 75 players as of 4pm (ET) on Monday, August 27th. With a current roster of 90 players, this means 15 guys will be handed their walking papaers and escorted out of the team's practice facility. There will probably not be any surprises in this first series of cuts, but after next week's final preseason game, teams must get down to the final roster size of 53 players by Friday, August 31st.
This will be when that the surprises on both who makes the team and who doesn't are known. There will have to be at least 22 players released, and there certainly will be those names on the list that perhaps no one saw it coming. Teams will have the opportunity to re-sign some of those players cut onto their Practice Squad. However, that cannot happen until Sunday, September 2nd, and only after all those players cut clear waivers, meaning that any other NFL team can sign them during this time.
A lot of the few roster spots available on this veteran Ravens team will be determined in next week's final exhibition game, as the starters figure to play very little if at all in the game at the St. Louis Rams. Look for those guys who impress in their final attempt to sway the coach's opinions in their direction to make or break the chance at an NFL career.