Teams began paring down their rosters in earnest today prior to the August 30 deadline to get down to 75 players (and then down to their initial 53-man rosters by September 3). While there have been no big surprises yet and likely won't be until that second roster deadline, the roster churn did create a little transaction action and settled at least a few vaguely fantasy-relevant job battles.

• perhaps the "biggest"name cut loose Monday was Donteea Dye, who was waived/injured by the Buccaneers due to a hamstring strain. Bernard Reedy, who's bounced around practice squads the last few years without seeing any regular season action, now figures to be Tampa's primary kick returner but won't be any higher than fourth on the WR depth chart.
• Oakland's Sebastian Janikowski, Cincinnati's Mike Nugent and Houston's Nick Novak all survived training camp challenges to their kicking jobs when the Raiders waived Giorgio Tavecchio, the Bengals waived Zach Hocker and the Texans placed Ka'imi Fairbairn on IR. The fact that Houston didn't just cut Fairbairn loose should make Novak nervous though. Don't be surprised if the club brings in another late challenger from among the kickers other teams let go. Travis Coons, however, didn't make it, getting cut by the Browns in favor of Patrick Murray.
• undrafted rookie Brandon Burks appears poised to claim the Packers' No. 3 RB spot after John Crockett hurt his shoulder Friday. Given Eddie Lacy's propensity to, well, be Eddie Lacy, the lower rungs of Green Bay's depth chart are a little more interesting than those of some other teams. Burks has shown flashes this preseason, albeit not against first string defenses, including a nifty 19-yard TD scamper in the fourth quarter Friday. He's not worth rostering yet, but stash his name away in the back of your head for now.
• the Chargers claimed Gus Johnson off waivers from the Falcons to replace Brandon Oliver (Achilles) in their backfield mess behind Melvin Gordon and Danny Woodhead. There's no guarantee Johnson makes the final roster but it's not exactly a vote of confidence in the two guys already in camp, Dreamius Smith and Kenneth Farrow, that the front office is looking for other options to fill the No. 3 RB role.
• in IDP news, Sean Lee has a knee injury. Wait, maybe "news" isn't quite the right word. No word on the severity yet, but with Rolando McClain already suspended for 10 games and likely never coming back to the Cowboys they were already very thin at linebacker, so they can ill afford to lose the oft-injured Lee too. Good thing the offense is at full strength and can still outscore the oppositi... oh, right.
• in happier IDP news, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians seems confident Tyrann Mathieu (knee) will be ready to go and at "full speed" for Week 1 even though he won't see any preseason action.
• Coons wasn't the only special teams player in Cleveland to lose their job Monday. Hue Jackson attempted to make a big statement to his roster Monday by having three-time Pro Bowl punter Andy Lee traded to Carolina after he failed to make much effort to stop a touchdown return in Friday's preseason game against the Bucs. The Browns actually made out like bandits here. They got Lee last year from the 49ers for a 2017 seventh round pick, then flip him this season for a 2018 fourth rounder and a replacement punter in Kasey Redfern (while sending their extra 2017 seventh to Carolina to complete the deal). Score one for the pointy-headed sabermetricians in the front office. What impact this "message" has on more prominent players like Josh Gordon, if any, remains to be seen, but at least Jackson showed that mangy bunch of misfits in the locker room who's boss.