Two 2026 Alabama starters—defensive back Domani Jackson and running back JAM Miller—were released during final NFL roster cuts this week, part of the league-wide reduction to 53-man rosters by Tuesday's 4pm ET deadline. Both players entered the league as undrafted free agents in April, Jackson signing with an NFC West club, Miller with an AFC North team.
Jackson started 11 games at cornerback for Alabama's 2025 unit that finished top-15 in pass defense efficiency. Miller logged 847 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns in his final collegiate season, rotating with Crimson Tide's primary back. Neither player received a roster guarantee at signing—standard for undrafted talent—and both were competing against draft picks and veterans on restructured deals. Jackson was beaten out by a fifth-round selection from Oregon; Miller's roster spot went to a running back acquired via August trade from Detroit for a conditional 2027 seventh-rounder.
The cuts matter because they extend a rougher trend line for recent Alabama NFL transitions. Of the 14 Crimson Tide players who entered the league as undrafted free agents between 2024 and 2026, only 4 remain on active rosters entering Week 1. That's down from 9 of 12 in the 2021-2023 cohort. Alabama's draft stock remains elite—6 first-rounders in the past two classes—but the talent depth below that tier is thinning faster than it did during the program's 2015-2020 peak, when coordinators could sell second- and third-string starters as NFL-ready rotational pieces. Recruiting analysts have noted Alabama's 2024 and 2025 classes ranked 3rd and 5th nationally, a step below the back-to-back No. 1 hauls from 2021-2022. The gap shows up not in star power but in the margins—the players who used to make rosters as special-teamers or camp bodies.
For Tuscaloosa's program, the immediate risk is modest. Head coach Kalen DeBoer inherited a $280 million athletics budget and a recruiting apparatus that still signs five-stars at scale. But NFL front offices track these data points when evaluating draft boards, and two position coaches—corners and running backs—are now tied to recent players who couldn't stick. One Power 4 personnel director, speaking anonymously at last week's combine debrief, said his team's Alabama grade adjustments for 2027 draft prep include "a half-round penalty" on developmental defensive backs and "extra medical scrutiny" on skill-position players after watching durability issues in camp reports. That language doesn't crater Alabama's brand, but it does push borderline third-rounders into compensatory-pick territory, a $1.2 million salary difference on rookie deals.
Jackson and Miller are expected to land on practice squads by week's end—both are still inside 25 years old and eligible for developmental deals that pay $12,000 weekly during the season. Jackson drew interest from two NFC teams that carry only four active cornerbacks and need practice-squad depth for scout-team reps. Miller's agent has fielded calls from three AFC clubs, though one source close to negotiations said the running back market is "impossibly tight" this cycle, with 47 backs released league-wide chasing roughly 18 practice-squad openings.
Watch for Alabama's pro day results in March 2027, when NFL scouts return to Tuscaloosa to time the next draft class. If this year's crop of borderline prospects—linebackers, safeties, rotational edge rushers—runs measurables that mirror Jackson's and Miller's pre-draft numbers, expect teams to adjust board positioning earlier than usual. Also: whether DeBoer's staff makes a January hire to replace the running backs coach, whose contract expires after the College Football Playoff semifinal.
The 53-man deadline passed. The conveyor belt still runs, but the quality-control line just got stricter.