The San Diego Chargers released Roscoe Parrish and cut their roster down to 75 guys

The San Diego Chargers released veteran punt returner/wide receiver Roscoe Parrish yesterday.  Parrish spent seven seasons with the Buffalo Bills from 2005-2011.  Parrish also led the NFL in yards per punt return during the 2007 and 2008 NFL seasons.

Parrish missed a lot of games over the last two seasons as he did not play in eight games during the 2010 season and missed 14 games in 2011.  The Chargers ranked 22nd in yards per punt return last season among all teams, so Parrish was expected to help improve on this ranking. Parrish ranks second among all players in his career with an average of  12 yards per punt return.

San Diego also added former Denver Broncos return man/wide receiver Eddie Royal.  Royal ranks third among active players in yards per punt return at 11.9 yards for his career and is a better receiver than Parrish.  Royal and Patrick Crayton are capable of returning punts, so Parrish’s release was not a shock.

The Chargers also released wide receivers Jason Barnes and Jason Embree, defensive tackles Eddie Brown and Garrett Brown, long snapper Nick Guess, running back Michael Hayes, tight end Brad Taylor and offensive tackles Phil Trautwein and Michael Toudouze.

San Diego has to get their roster down to 53 players by Friday, so the final preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday will be the last shot for guys to make their cases.

Guard/offensive tackle Brandyn Dombrowski started 15 games and appeared in 46 of San Diego’s 48 regular season games from 2009-2011.  Dombrowski was placed on injured reserve yesterday while 2012 fifth round pick Johnnie Troutman was also placed on injured reserve.

It will be interesting to see which players survive roster cuts when the deadline is over at 6:00 p.m. PDT on Friday.