I think the thing with McSorley is that all it takes is one handshake agreement with a vet and then you have him on IR and on standby should you need him later on. I don't think anyone would take him either, but is it really worth risking it? I mean, we only have 2 NFL level QBs on the roster right now. We're going to need a 3rd and potentially a 4th, even though neither would likely be on the 53.
But yeah Ferguson's play has made it hard to cut him. He looks like a different person out there, both physically and from a play standpoint. Argue about his pass rush all you want but he's been incredible setting the edge so far this year.
Ellis is an interesting one. He could be a handshake guy as well. Maybe even one of those PS vets that gets elevated a couple of times and waits for a roster spot to open.
OL is whatever to me honestly. I think Colon is in a good spot as the backup C, assuming Mekari stays as the super sub type. But if we find a swing T somewhere and Mekari gets more work inside, he's in much more danger.
DB is definitely the hard one. I think Levine is oddly in a good spot even if he is one of those handshake guys. Richards gone. Fort on IR. Going to need some veteran presence on that ST unit and might as well be the captain.
As for Boyle/Tomlinson... Tomlinson might be a guy that does what I just described for Ellis. Chills on the PS for a couple of weeks if Boyle isn't ready and gets elevated. Not sure he requires a 53 man spot right off the bat in either case.
i guess maybe im just lower on mcsorely than you - i dont think he's close to needing to be stashed on i/r when we've got the PS and on the roster he'd be highly likely to be a gameday inactive anyway - and if he gets claimed im honestly not that fussed - i think you just grab a vet or other QB who gets cut from another team and plug them into the PS and let them learn the playbook there but really think it's unlikely any team would be interested in mcsorely - think lots of teams have their own "mcsorely"s that they wouldnt be interested in ours
that's a good point on tomlinson and that PS activation rule really changes the way you construct the roster and makes it far more likely that you cut a vet you know no other team is interested in but might play snaps for you (be that on special teams or at "low value" positions like blocking TE etc.)
and i hadnt considered ellis as that kind of guy either but you're right it makes sense
but agree 100% on the colon situation and it becomes even more precarious if the team starts to trust Bredeson at C at all