Trio of locals stick on initial NFL 53-man rosters

A trio of players will be representing Snohomish County in the NFL this season. At least for now

Running back Myles Gaskin (Miami), cornerback Kyler Gordon (Chicago) and offensive tackle Abraham Lucas (Seattle) survived Tuesday’s NFL cutdown day as teams trimmed their rosters from 80 to 53 players in advance of the start of the regular season.

Two others — quarterbacks Jacob Eason (Seattle) and Jake Luton (Jacksonville) — did not survive the final cuts.

Gaskin, a Lynnwood native who attended O’Dea High School, is entering his fourth season with Dolphins. Last year he led Miami in rushing with 612 yards on 173 carries, while chipping in with 49 receptions for 234 yards. He scored four receiving touchdowns and three rushing TDs.

However, Gaskin’s roster spot was considered tenuous after Miami signed running backs Chase Edmonds, Raheem Mostert and Sony Michel during the offseason. Gaskin carried 14 times for 78 yards during the preseason, and he was one of four running backs Miami kept as the Dolphins chose to keep both Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed while unexpectedly releasing Michel.

Gordon, a graduate of Archbishop Murphy High School, was selected by the Bears in the second round of this year’s draft. The former University of Washington star spent most of training camp sidelined with an undisclosed injury. However, he got into Chicago’s final two preseason games, and he had three tackles and a pass breakup in the Bears’ 21-20 victory over Cleveland in their preseason finale. Gordon appears set to serve as Chicago’s nickelback.

Lucas, who was a teammate of Gordon’s at Archbishop Murphy, was the Seahawks third-round pick in this year’s draft out of Washington State. Lucas, who’s been deployed at right tackle, impressed during the preseason and appears to have beaten out Jake Curhan as Seattle’s starter, giving the Seahawks rookies at both tackle spots as first-round selection Charles Cross is inked in as the starter at left tackle.

Eason, a graduate of Lake Stevens High School who’s in his third season in the NFL, spent training camp and the preseason as Seattle’s No. 3 quarterback while Geno Smith and Drew Lock dueled to become Russell Wilson’s successor. Eason, who Seattle claimed last season after he was waived by the Indianapolis Colts, appeared in two preseason games, going 19-for-39 for 148 yards and an interception. The question about Eason was whether Seattle would keep three quarterbacks on its active roster or go with just two. The Seahawks opted for two.

Luton, a graduate of Marysville Pilchuck High School who’s also in his third NFL season, was waived by the Jaguars last Friday after he was re-signed just days earlier. Luton appeared in one preseason game, going 12-for-21 for 92 yards with an interception.

Tuesday’s cutdown date does not set rosters for the regular season openers, which begin Sept. 8. Players cut at the deadline are subject to waivers and therefore can be claimed by another team. Players who pass through waivers can begin being signed to practice squads at 9 a.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday.