North Bay’s Ryan Hunter was one of the seven Canadian players who were among the nearly 1200 players cut by Saturday afternoon’s cutdown deadline as NFL teams trimmed their 90-man training camp rosters to 53, in preparation for the start of the regular season next week.
Hunter, was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent out of Bowling Green a week after the NFL Draft.
The offensive lineman earned some quality playing time in the pre-season games but still was unable to make the Chiefs 53-man roster.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid says cutting players like Hunter is not an easy thing to do.
“It’s probably the most difficult day from a coaching standpoint because these kids have given their heart and soul to you for a time,” said Head Coach Andy Reid on the Chiefs website.
“So, when you see the ones that make it, it gives you a little boost and the ones that don’t make it pull you back a little bit. It’s good and bad throughout the day. You’d love for them all to make it, but it’s just not how it works.”
Some NFL media sources believe Hunter’s impressive training camp should allow him to be picked up as a developmental prospect on another NFL team’s practice squad.
Another option for Hunter could be to join the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts, who drafted him in the first round of the CFL Draft this past spring.
