Bills RB LeSean McCoy among notable dismissals on NFL's cutdown day

The cruelest day of the NFL’s long calendar arrived Saturday with teams setting their 53-player rosters.

Among the more prominent dismissals were Bills veteran running back LeSean McCoy, backup QBs Brian Hoyer in New England and Kevin Hogan in Denver and receivers Laquon Treadwell of Minnesota and Demaryius Thomas of New England.

“It’s always a hard day because … you ruin a lot of dreams,” Broncos general manager John Elway said. “It’s the hard part of the business.”

The final weekend before the NFL kicks off its 100th season saw teams scrambling to get stars into their headquarters. The Seahawks were working to acquire Jadeveon Clowney from the Texans and the Cowboys were ramping up efforts to get holdout running back Ezekiel Elliott back in time for opening weekend.

The Texans were the busiest team in the league. They also acquired left tackle Laremy Tunsil from the Dolphins in a deal that netted them receiver Kenny Sills, a person familiar with the deal told the Associated Press. Houston also sent O-lineman Martinas Rankin to the Chiefs for RB Carlos Hyde.

Tunsil improves a line that allowed Deshaun Watson to get sacked an NFL-high 62 times last season.

Bills GM Brandon Beane cited the emergence of rookie RB Devin Singletary in the team’s surprising decision to cut McCoy, the 31-year-old former Pitt star.

“It was very difficult,” Beane said. “I believed in LeSean the whole time and again, it was down to the last minute we decided to go in this direction.”

Overall, nearly 1,200 players were told they didn’t make the cut this weekend. Some will land with other teams and others will sign onto practice squads Sunday. But the vast majority of them won’t ever play professional football again, making way for another influx of college stars next April.

Other players with local ties who were cut include: Eagles OL Stefen Wisniewski (Central Catholic/Penn State); Detroit Lions QB Tom Savage (Pitt); Bills WR David Sills (West Virginia) and DB Lafayette Pitts (Woodland Hills/Pitt); Broncos OL Adam Bisnowaty (Fox Chapel/Pitt) and FB George Aston (Pitt); Patriots OL Jaryd Jones-Smith (Pitt); Jaguars WR Quadree Henderson (Pitt); Chiefs TE Manasseh Garner (Brashear/Pitt); Los Angeles Chargers LB Elijah Zeise (North Allegheny/Pitt); Atlanta Falcons OL John Wetzel (Brashear) and Buccaneers TE Scott Orndoff (Seton LaSalle/Pitt).

In other notable moves:

• The Patriots released Tom Brady’s backup, Hoyer, who was beaten out by rookie Jarrett Stidham , a fourth-rounder from Auburn.

• The Falcons brought back 44-year-old K Matt Bryant after failing to find his successor in the preseason.

• Browns veteran P Britton Colquitt lost his job to an undrafted rookie Jamie Gillan, aka “The Scottish Hammer .”

• The Vikings jettisoned K Kaare Vedvik, whom they had acquired from Baltimore on Aug. 11 for a fifth-round draft pick.

• The Eagles released their two top rushers from last season: Josh Adams and Wendell Smallwood, and Wisniewski, the starting left guard for the 2017 Super Bowl championship team.

• 49ers RB Jerick McKinnon went on IR, meaning he will miss a second straight season after having complications in his recovery from a knee injury.

• The Jets cut third-round pick Jachai Polite, a pass rusher from Florida who was selected by previous GM Mike Maccagnan, who was fired a few weeks after the draft and replaced by Joe Douglas.