As things stand right now, there are almost 3,000 players on rosters across the National Football League; 2,880 to be exact.

By the time teams cut down to the 53-man active roster for the regular season, almost 1,200 of those players will be shown the door.

There will be a few seventh-rounders and undrafted free agents who make it to NFL clubs, à la quarterback Brock Purdy in San Francisco. But most will have the misfortune to be cut at some point this summer.

Others will be players caught in a limbo of sorts. Youngsters who have failed to live up to their draft slot, and veterans who didn't pan out after signing free-agent contracts. Those players are on the dreaded roster bubble.

Have a strong camp, and the players listed here will open the season on the 53-man roster. But there's little margin for error.

Here are eight NFL veterans who may face an uncertain summer.

James Bradberry, CB, Philadelphia Eagles

Not that long ago, James Bradberry of the Philadelphia Eagles was considered one of the better veteran cornerbacks in the NFL.

As recently as 2022, he was a second-team All-Pro who allowed just over 45 percent of the passes thrown in his direction to be completed with an outstanding passer rating against of just 51.6.

However, the bottom fell out of the Eagles secondary down the stretch last season, and Bradberry's play was a big part of that collapse. His passer rating against more than doubled, and his completion percentage against ballooned by over 14 points.

Eagles beat writer Reuben Frank was brutally frank in his assessment of the 30-year-old for NBC Sports Philadelphia in April:

"Bradberry has never been 30 before. And he's never been as bad as he was last year. Not many cornerbacks have.

"Since Stathead began tracking these things, the 11 TD passes Bradberry allowed last year are the most on record, and his 114.3 defensive passer rating is 2nd-worst among corners who were targeted at least 100 times (behind Sean Murphy-Bunting's 121.3 rating in 2020).

"Bradberry is a class act and a true professional and he helped the Eagles get to a Super Bowl two years ago. But let's be honest. He can't be a starting cornerback for the Eagles in 2024 if they want to get back there."

The Eagles spent their first two draft picks this year on cornerbacks in Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. Bradberry is already banged up and has been taking reps at safety.

Philadelphia won't get any salary-cap relief from releasing the 2016 second-rounder—just $4.3 million in dead cap money.

This would be strictly performance-based. And it may well happen.

Robert Woods, WR, Houston Texans

When Robert Woods signed with the Houston Texans in 2023, he was supposed to be a steadying veteran presence for a wideout corps filled with more questions than answers.

A lot can change in a year in the NFL.

While Nico Collins and Tank Dell were emerging as rising stars alongside rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud in 2023, Woods was mostly a non-factor in Houston's offense. He missed three games, tied a career low with 40 catches and posted just 426 receiving yards. It was the fewest receiving yards he has accrued in 11 professional seasons.

Now, the Texans have also added veteran receiver Stefon Diggs, who hasn't had less than 150 targets or 100 catches in each of the past four seasons. He has exceeded 1,000 receiving yards in each of the past six years.

Like Woods, Diggs is the wrong side of 30. But former Vikings teammate Case Keenum told reporters that the four-time Pro Bowler looks as dangerous as ever this season.

"It's really cool to get back out there and see Stefon on the practice field," he said. "And to watch him absolutely do some dirty things on some routes that I haven't seen anybody be able to do. He's a dynamic player and he has not lost a step."

Add in veteran tight end Dalton Schultz and running back Joe Mixon, who joined Houston via trade, and Woods could be sixth in target share in 2024.

That's awfully low in the pecking order for a player whose cap hit approaches $10 million this year.

Cole Holcomb, LB, Pittsburgh Steelers

Last year, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Cole Holcomb to be the team's No. 1 inside linebacker. But he made it just eight games into the season before suffering a major knee injury.

That led Pittsburgh back to the drawing board. It spent big bucks in free agency to lure Patrick Queen from the Ravens in March and used a Day 2 pick on North Carolina State's Payton Wilson, who may be the most NFL-ready off-ball linebacker in the class of 2024.

While appearing on the Adam and Gold Show, ESPN's Brooke Pryor indicated that Holcomb's injury could be more severe than originally believed—and the selection of Wilson was a hedge against the 24-year-old not being ready for Week 1.

"My understanding is it's not just a simple ACL tear and they're being very vague on what the specific injury is," she said. "I think this is in some ways insurance for the Cole Holcomb signing and gives them a starting-caliber inside linebacker to play when the season gets started, because Holcomb's recovery timeline isn't quite clear."

Holcomb's injury could make releasing him tricky. There are protections in place to ensure NFL teams can't just dump players who are hurt.

But every workout and day of training camp that he misses offers Wilson a chance to impress upon the coaching staff that he's capable of starting opposite Queen as a rookie.

And if Wilson earns the role, Holcomb may get healthy just in time to be shown the door.

Miles Sanders, RB, Carolina Panthers

When the Panthers gave Miles Sanders $25.4 million over four seasons last year to serve as Carolina's lead back, no one really batted an eye. After all, he had just become the first running back for the Philadelphia Eagles since LeSean McCoy in 2014 to top 1,000 yards on the ground.

However, his first season in Charlotte was poor. After gaining 1,269 yards on the ground at 4.9 yards per clip with 11 rushing scores in Philadelphia, he managed just 3.3 yards per carry in Carolina. His 432 rushing yards were a career low, he found the end zone just once on the ground and was supplanted as lead back by Chuba Hubbard.

Carolina upgraded the backfield in the 2024 draft, selecting Jonathon Brooks of Texas on Day 2. They also added veteran Rashaad Penny in free agency.

Sanders told reporters that the running back room is crowded now in Carolina, but he believes that could actually be a good thing:

"We had chemistry since I got in here last year starting with Chuba and Raheem (Blackshear). And now we got Jonathon, we got a couple of other new guys, we got (Rashaad) Penny, Penny in there too and (Mike) Boone. The guys are great. We all get along very well. We compete real good. And the chemistry in there, we all help each other to learn to the playbook."

After that calamitous 2023 campaign, the 27-year-old now appears no higher than third on the depth chart in the Panthers backfield.

Releasing him wouldn't offer much in the way of cap relief, but with touches looking few and far between for Sanders, the Panthers may decide to just rip off the band-aid and be done with it.

Treylon Burks, WR, Tennessee Titans

Treylon Burks entered the NFL under more than a little pressure. After dealing A.J. Brown to the Philadelphia Eagles, the Titans made him the 18th overall pick in the 2022 draft.

He was supposed to be the new Brown as Tennessee's new No. 1 wideout.

It hasn't worked out that way, though.

In two seasons in Nashville, Burks has caught 49 passes for 665 yards and a single score. He was nearly invisible in the Titans' offense a year ago with 30 targets, 16 receptions and 221 yards.

Despite those awful numbers, new Titans coach Brian Callahan said he expects Burks to have a role in the Tennessee offense in 2024.

"The work that he's put in has been really impressive," he told reporters. "I'm excited about what he can bring for us. We've told him that from the beginning he's going to play inside, he's going to play outside. He's going to carve out a role for himself."

Where that role is going to come from is the problem after the team added veterans Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd to a WR room that already included DeAndre Hopkins. That drops Burks to the No. 4 option at best—if he isn't passed by the likes of Nick Westbrook-Ikhine who had better numbers than the 24-year-old a year ago.

There's a reason why Burks has been connected in trade rumors to a number of teams. Being dealt is a more likely scenario than him being outright released, but neither outcome will net Tennessee much of a return.

Trent Brown, OT, Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals have seemingly been trying to put a solid offensive line in front of Joe Burrow from the moment he first took the field in the Queen City.

They have tried just about everything: high-round draft picks, veteran free agents. But the results have been mixed. Dan Fornek of FTN ranked Cincinnati's offensive line 16th in the league.

Orlando Brown Jr. is entrenched as the team's left tackle after an up-and-down 2023 season, but the team went with a two-pronged attack to replace Jonah Williams at right tackle—in addition to spending their first pick on Georgia's Amarius Mims, the Bengals signed veteran Trent Brown.

Brown told reporters that he's been very impressed by what he's seen from Mims, adding that he intends to help the 21-year-old any way he can.

"Just like any rookie who hasn't played football at this level yet, it's just some little things, really minor things, he needs to work on," he said. I feel like he will be an all-time starting tackle in this league."

"I always try to be a wealth of knowledge to all my young guys wherever I've been. I've always tried to help out where I can."

If Mims is as advertised and a quick learner, it's possible he could win the starting job in camp—Brown has a lengthy industry and wasn't especially effective with the New England Patriots a year ago.

Brown didn't sign with the Bengals for big money. But he signed with the expectation that he'd start. Being relegated to "swing" duty may not sit especially well with a 10th-year veteran who has been to a Pro Bowl and won a Super Bowl.

Bailey Zappe, QB, New England Patriots

Things can change on a dime in the NFL. Just ask New England Patriots quarterback Bailey Zappe.

The 25-year-old concluded the 2023 season as New England's starting quarterback, making half-a-dozen starts to close out the campaign. Over that span, he was 2-4, throwing six touchdown passes against seven interceptions.

Zappe got his shot to show he could be New England's long-term quarterback, but things didn't go so well.

Now, the landscape is vastly different in Boston. There's a new head coach in Jerod Mayo and a trio of new quarterbacks in veteran Jacoby Brissett and rookies Drake Maye and Joe Milton.

For his part, Brissett told reporters that he's been impressed by what Zappe brings to the table in Beantown.

"Man, I like Zap a lot. He just goes out there and competes," he said. "And, the elephant in the room…this is a tough situation for him, and he's accepted that. He's going out there every day, and competed, and is doing a really good job, and making a lot of plays. I'm excited for his growth."

Maye, who was the third overall pick in this year's draft, is the future in New England. Brissett, who has started 48 games for five teams over eight professional seasons, is probably the present. Milton is a raw prospect, but his physical tools are impressive.

The Patriots may well carry four quarterbacks into training camp, but there's no chance a quartet makes the 53-man roster.

And right now, Zappe appears to be the odd man out.

Drake Jackson, Edge, San Francisco 49ers

In 2022, the San Francisco 49ers used their first pick (61st overall after the Trey Lance debacle) on USC edge-rusher Drake Jackson. The hope was that he would emerge as a difference-maker opposite Nick Bosa in the Bay Area.

However, the selection hasn't turned out any better than the Lance one did, as Grant Cohn noted for All 49ers:

"In 2023, Jackson got an opportunity to be the primary edge-rusher opposite Bosa on passing downs. But he struggled in that role. He recorded three clean-up sacks Week 1 against the Steelers, then recorded zero sacks the rest of the season. After eight games, the 49ers shut down Jackson and never activated him again. They shut him down. Instead, they traded for Randy Gregory and Chase Young and simply forgot about Jackson.

"Now Jackson has one last chance to prove himself."

Through his first two professional seasons, the 23-year-old has missed 11 games and managed just six sacks.

Young and Gregory are no longer in San Francisco, but they have been replaced by veteran free agents Leonard Floyd and Yetur Gross-Matos. That pair will likely start opposite Bosa, with the latter playing in base sets and the former serving as a situational pass-rusher.

That leaves Jackson battling the likes of second-year pro Robert Beal Jr., veteran journeyman Alex Barrett, five-year veteran Austin Bryant and youngster Sam Okuayinonu for a reserve roster spot.

If Jackson doesn't impress in camp after spending most of his first two seasons either injured or being pushed around, the 49ers may do the same thing with him as they did with Lance: cut bait.