The NFL’s annual bloodletting ritual of getting down to the mandatory 53-man, regular-season roster involved at least several tough choices for Green Bay General Manager Ted Thompson, coach Mike McCarthy and their staffs.

Injuries always play a key factor in who makes it and who doesn’t, and this year’s final maneuvers actually were made easier because of several players’ unfortunate circumstances after the final preseason contest against Kansas City.


Top backup offensive lineman Don Barclay and rookie wide receiver Jared Abbrederis went down with ACL tears early in training camp, so everyone knew they would be placed on injured reserve at some point. However, starting nose tackle B.J. Raji tore his bicep in the third practice game against Oakland and guys such as linebacker Nate Palmer, third-round draft pick and defensive lineman Khyri Thornton and backup offensive tackle Aaron Adams all were felled against the Chiefs, thus virtually eliminating any chances of them making the final cut and opening up spots for others.

Adams tore two knee ligaments and Thornton reportedly suffered a severe hamstring injury, so their situations didn’t matter. However, in Palmer’s case, his knee injury was expected to keep him out from four to eight weeks.

The recent change that allows each team to designate one injured reserve player for return during the regular season was a good move and it helped the Packers bring back wide receiver Randall Cobb in 2013.

He missed 10 games but returned for the Packers’ season-ending, playoff-clinching victory at Chicago. That also was the game in which quarterback Aaron Rodgers came back from his broken collarbone.

These three players and second-year center J.C. Tretter, who won the starting job, are classic examples of why the NFL’s system in dealing with injuries is archaic and convoluted.

Last year, Tretter was injured in the team’s first organized team activity and was thus eligible for the physically unable to perform list, or PUP – more confusion, so we won’t even go into this. He returned later in the year. And this year he went down in the third preseason contest and was tabbed the team’s injured reserve designated for return player and presumably will miss the first half of the regular season.

Palmer obviously could come back at some point this year but won’t get that opportunity. Many of the other injured players could return before the end of the regular season or for the playoffs, so why should they have to be placed on IR and miss the entire year?

It is much too rigid. They should adopt a system more like Major League Baseball’s disabled list: the player comes back when he’s ready. It’s that simple. Why mess with short-term injured reserve, permanent IR, etc., etc.

Cheating the IR system and hiding players, especially young guys, always has gone on and used to be a problem. But today the expanded practice squad – which was increased from eight to 10 this year and 2015 -- and stiffer fines take care of most of these offenses. Besides, if the IR rules were changed and much more flexible, wouldn’t that also eliminate hoarding players in such a fashion?

If say a promising rookie free agent gets hurt but only needs to sit out two or three weeks, teams would have to place him on their practice squad or the active roster upon his return, and thus open him up for signing with another team or force the team to release another player to make room.

This continual predicament also plays out every week in deciding what 46 players make the game-day roster.

The Packers and other teams draft/sign the players, they develop them and they pay them a lot of money. So why do only 46 get to suit up on game day instead of 53? It doesn’t make sense. I’m sure the fans who fork over oodles of dough to attend games, buy merchandise or sign up for the latest NFL cable television package would like to see players 47-53 earn some of that cash if they’re available.

The point is that teams that are better at judging and stockpiling talent shouldn’t be penalized for it. And numerous injuries should allow them that in-game maneuverability.

Let’s say Green Bay is leading 31-7 early in the fourth quarter. Why shouldn’t the Packers at least have the option of putting in their third-string tailback, No. 4 receiver or a raw rookie defensive lineman late in a lopsided game?

Let’s say in such a scenario that the second-string nose tackle gets injured, forcing the team to put their starter back in. Or maybe two backup defensive backs come up lame and a starting safety has to perform on special teams and that starter then gets hurt on a kickoff return. Usually there would be enough guys available among the allotted 46, but there would be at least one or two reserves sitting in street clothes who also could have stepped in.

A lot of young players and/or backups don’t get valuable game experience watching from the bench. Both teams in a blowout could benefit from seeing and evaluating three, four or five more players every week.

Coaches shouldn’t have to play these juggling acts. Fifty-three man rosters should mean 53 potentially eligible players, especially if injured guys could be put on a more flexible, maybe multitiered disabled list system.