Former Yale tight end Nate Lawrie, fullback Shane Bannon and defensive end Tom McCarthy survived the latest round of NFL cuts as teams had to get their rosters down to 80.

Lawrie was not among the latest round of cuts announced by the San Francisco 49ers as San Francisco waived wide receivers Tyler Beiler and Kevin Jurovich, running back Seth Smith, offensive linemen Donovan Edwards and Nick Powell, linebacker Scott McKillop and punter Sam Paulescu.

Kansas City let seven players recently and then waived kicker Todd Carter and placed offensive tackle Ryan O'Callaghan on injured reserve meaning that Bannon, a seventh-round pick of the Chiefs, is still in contention for a roster spot.

The Atlanta Falcons signed center Brett Romberg, received an injury settlement with receiver Tim Buckley and cut receiver Doug Beaumont, defensive back Kirk Belgrave, running back Philip Sylvester and linebackers LaMarcus Thompson and LB Youri Yenga meaning that McCarthy is among the 80 players on Atlanta's roster.

Each NFL team has to be down to 53 players by Saturday. The good news is that even if Bannon and McCarthy are cut, they have a chance to be named to their respective team's eight-member practice squad. Had they been cut today, they would not have realistic practice squad candidates. I'll have to brush up on my practice-squad rules to see if Lawrie still has eligibility to be named to San Francisco's practice squad.


Thanks to an alert blog reader for pointing out that defensive lineman Tevin Hood is on the roster of the University of San Diego football squad.

Hood played in four games as a non-scholarship player at Duke last season and planned on enrolling at Yale. Hood actually was at Yale for a couple of days this summer before telling coaches that he had a change of heart. Playing at San Diego will allow Hood to play immediately since he would have needed to sit out a season if he went to a Bowl Championship Series program and he will be closer to his family in Arizona.