How Kansas State Wildcats are handling roster cuts in uncertain football times
Chris Klieman very reluctantly planned to cut nearly two dozen players from the Kansas State football team this spring to comply with new roster limits that are expected to cap a locker room at 105.
The thought of telling so many walk-ons that they could no longer suit up as Wildcats was enough for him to describe the state of college football as “a disaster” in terms of things that are happening away from the field.
But things can change fast in the modern era of college sports.
Judge digs in on roster limits at House vs. NCAA settlement
In an unexpected turn of events, it now appears that roster limits may be cut down gradually.
If the judge overseeing the landmark House vs. NCAA settlement has her way, a team like Kansas State could continue to roster nearly 125 players this season. There is a chance that all players on current football rosters will be “grandfathered” into the era of revenue sharing and not be counted against a team’s roster size.
That would remove the need for immediate cuts and allow teams to downsize over the next several years, rather than the next few months.
Klieman and K-State football players who are in danger of getting cut this spring will surely welcome that development. But there is no guarantee that such a change will be ultimately be made. Even if a change is approved, it could completely change what the Wildcats had planned for their April practices.
“You could say it does, but really that’s still coming, right?” K-State assistant head coach Van Malone said on Wednesday. “There’s still going to be some roster cuts. We just don’t exactly know what that’s going to look like, so we have to continually prepare for the inevitable.”
For now, it sounds like the Wildcats will continue to treat spring football practices as if they are tryouts for certain players ... with hopes of keeping them all.
In years past, K-State could roster as many players as it desired. No more than 85 were allowed to be on scholarship, but the Wildcats could invite many more recruits to Manhattan as walk-ons. Those extra players have helped so much over time that K-State values them more than many teams.
As such, its typical roster size floats around 125.
Chris Klieman doesn’t want to limit walk-ons at K-State
Forcing teams to bid farewell to those extra players didn’t make any sense to Klieman.
“I’m not in favor of this at all,” the coach said last week. “We have got a lot of kids that want to be in the program that are not going to be able to be in the program.”
Delaying the start of strict roster limits will no doubt bring a smile to his face in the short term.
But the Wildcats may still need to target a roster size of 105 in future seasons, and it’s never too early to begin that process.
“Even though we don’t think the 105 roster limit is coming tomorrow,” Malone said, “we know that something is coming along those lines, so we have got to keep preparing our team in that way.”
Malone thinks certain K-State players have practiced with more urgency this spring because they feel like they are fighting for a spot on the team. That has made some practices feel like NFL training camp.
Added pressure has helped K-State players learn to treat football like a job. That could help the Wildcats in the long run, even if no one ends up getting cut.
This story was originally published April 10, 2025 at 6:00 AM with the headline "How Kansas State Wildcats are handling roster cuts in uncertain football times."