I always find it a bit amusing when people make a big deal out of roster cutdown day at the end of the preseason. The "final" 53-man roster for an NFL team is anything but, as front offices scour the cut lists for players they feel are improvements on their current personnel or make a call to another GM asking exactly how committed they are to their third QB or fourth RB... Sunday's flurry of fantasy-relevant news may have been a little busier than normal, but only a little. In the modern NFL, there is really no such thing as a "final" 53-man roster.

• the big bombshell of course was the trade of Christine Michael from the Seahawks to the Cowboys for a conditional seventh-round pick. The rumor mill has had Dallas attached to everyone from Adrian Peterson to Ray Rice ever since DeMarco Murray walked out the door, but all along the Jones boys have insisted that they were content to head into Week 1 letting Joseph Randle and/or Darren McFadden handle the load. That might still be the case, but at least they now have a Plan C. Michael was a conbine darling in 2013, getting plucked in the second round by the 'Hawks on the basis of a truly incredible SPARQ score (the same draft, incidentally, in which Randle dropped to the fifth round despite a much more productive college career), but he was never able to make an impression while stuck behind Marshawn Lynch. The big complaint about Michael through his first two years in the league were not his talent or skill but his consistency and focus, so if the 'Boys can solve that riddle he certainly has the ability to be a three-down bell cow, but if they can't mold him into Murray's heir they invested very little in him in order to make the attempt. Don't blow your FAAB budget grabbing him now despite all the media attention, as he's still third on the depth chart and could stay there for a while, but if you can scoop him up on the cheap his potential upside as the lead back behind that fearsome Dallas o-line makes him one of the more interesting lottery tickets out there
• speaking of interesting lottery tickets, let's not forget the guy who made Michael expendable in Seattle. Thomas Rawls was a long shot undrafted free agent coming into camp, but after this trade and Robert Turbin's injury he now only has old man Fred Jackson between him and the job as Lynch's main backup. That's not a role that typically has much fantasy value, but if the unthinkable happens and Beast Mode breaks down, Rawls suddenly becomes a very hot commodity. In fact, in dynasty leagues, I'd probably be targeting Rawls over Michael right now, given that there's a reasonable chance this is Lynch's last season as a Seahawk
• other running back action Sunday included Terrance West getting dealt from the Browns to the Titans, where he'll fill in as Bishop Sankey's backup at least while rookie David Cobb is on IR with a calf injury; Montee Ball getting unceremoniously dumped by the Broncos, who apparently couldn't even get that conditional seventh-round pick for him; and Jay Ajayi, another rookie considered an intriguing sleeper in many circles, also hitting IR due to some cracked ribs. West didn't show much in Cleveland last year, so even if you think Sankey is a bust, West doesn't exactly have much upside either
• after being cut by the Giants, James Jones immediately headed back to Green Bay and seems set to re-sign with his original club. He struggled last year with the Raiders due to their inability or reluctance to stretch the field with him, but back with the Pack he should resume the role that saw him average 62 catches, 801 yards and 8.5 TDs on 96 targets between 2012 and 2013. Of course he's now two years older, but with Jordy Nelson out of action, Aaron Rodgers' familiarity with Jones should allow him to make up through volume whatever step he might have lost. Davante Adams obviously sees a downgrade as he has additional competition for looks, but Ty Montgomery and Jeff Janis also become much less interesting darts as well
• does anyone else have a bad feeling about the Steelers offense this year? I've seen Ben Roesthlisberger touted as a top-2 QB ahead of Rodgers, but Le'Veon Bell is suspended for two games, Martavis Bryant for four, and perhaps most importantly, starting center Maurkice Pouncey is now on IR after having surgery to repair a broken fibula. I'm not saying they'll be awful, but teams almost always struggle when their starting center goes down suddenly as the continuity of the entire unit is disrupted, and the drop-off in quality from Pouncey to either Cody Wallace or Doug Legursky is fairly steep
• in oh-so-vital kicker news, Nick Novak and Caleb Sturgis both lost their jobs to rookies (to Josh Lambo and Andrew Franks, respectively). This may not be a big deal to you, but back in May I did a tongue-in-cheek kicker ranking based on the new PAT rules. Sturgis came in 29th out of 32 in those rankings, and Novak brought up the absolute rear at 32. If I'm actually a genius and it's not just dumb luck, then look for Dan Carpenter and Nick Folk to finish in the top five in kicker scoring this year, while Stephen Gostkowski slips out of the top 10