Preseason finales are like appendixes. Everyone has one, and they're all just kind of...there.
That may be true for the roster locks around the league. Most of the players playing in tomorrow night's game between the Patriots and Giants likely won't make their respective 53-man squads.
But there's still plenty of players playing for plenty.
Five players -- not including Stephen Gostkowski, Ryan Allen and Joe Cardona -- saw action in last year's Patriots preseason finale and later survived cutdown day: Dion Lewis, Harvey Langi, LaAdrian Waddle, Jacob Hollister and Cole Croston.
Nine players who saw time for the Patriots in the summer finale ended up signing to the team's practice squad immediately after clearing waivers.
Six players ended up making the 53-man roster on other clubs, either after being traded or waived: Conor McDermott, James O'Shaughnessy, Jacoby Brissett, Austin Carr, Kenny Moore and Justin Coleman.
New England Patriots
Two Patriots participants in the preseason finale immediately made practice squads elsewhere after being cut, and eight more made rosters or practice squads more than a week after being released by the Patriots.
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Anyone want to tell those players there's nothing worth watching in Thursday's game at MetLife Stadium?
Here are five storylines we'll be tracking throughout the night.
DOES EDELMAN GO THE DISTANCE?
On the one hand, Julian Edelman is critical to the Patriots offensive operation from Week 5 and beyond and he shouldn't be put at risk. On the other, he has rust to knock off from a missed 2017 and he could use as much live action as possible before he serves his four-week suspension. How the Patriots handle Edelman's playing time will be fascinating to watch. With players facing suspensions in prior years, the team has used the preseason finale as a last-ditch effort to get the suspended player some real work. Tom Brady played 39 snaps in the fourth week of the preseason before serving his Deflategate suspension in 2016. In 2014, facing a suspension for a substance-abuse policy violation, Brandon Browner played a whopping 51 snaps.
WHAT DOES ETLING HAVE?
Danny Etling didn't play last week in Carolina as Brady and Brian Hoyer split the game evenly. He has taken 20 total snaps in preseason games No. 1 and 2, and he's completed two of his six attempts. One would think this would be Etling's game. Last year it was Brissett's, and he lit it up. Brissett was so good in his 66 snaps (28-for-38, 341 yards, four touchdowns, one pick), that the Colts referenced his stat line as one of the best in preseason history when they announced that they'd traded for him soon thereafter. Etling could be a practice-squad candidate if the Patriots feel as though he's progressing, but even if he isn't in New England's long-term plans, a good performance might make him a commodity elsewhere.
WHO IS THIS YEAR'S CROSTON?
Last summer, the Patriots ended up riding an undrafted rookie on their offensive line throughout the preseason. Cole Croston, out of Iowa, played a reserve role in the "dress rehearsal" No. 3 preseason game (29 snaps), but he saw 60-plus snaps in every other game and went the distance in the finale (66 snaps). Doesn't sound like the sort of workload given to a typical roster player, but Croston made the team. Might we see something similar this year? Maybe it will be seventh-round corner Keion Crossen. He's shown enough athleticism that he could be worth a flier as a 53-man player developed behind the scenes as Croston was last year. Especially since this game can be a showcase of sorts -- for players to make rosters or practice squads elsewhere -- if Crossen sees significant time and flashes, there may be a chance the Patriots would lose him if released. That could force their hand and present the club's decision-makers with a difficult decision. Crossen leads all defensive players in snaps played this preseason through three games (107).
MORE SAFETY WORK COMING FOR JASON McCOURTY?
Given the numbers we rattled off at the top, it's not necessarily the greatest sign for a player to be playing in preseason game No. 4 if he wants to make the final roster. Only three of the five non-specialists (meaning players not named Gostkowski, Allen and Cardona) who made it last year saw time offensively or defensively in the finale. Lewis and Langi only played in the kicking game. Still, I'm not sure it would be a bad thing for Jason McCourty to get some time at safety Thursday. It seems as though the experiment to move him to the last line of defense was a late-developing one. Is one week of practice and one game enough to know what he can do there? If they want to get a true sense for how he looks at safety in a non-practice setting, a few snaps against the Giants might help. He may not be considered a stone-cold lock, but I certainly wouldn't call it a sign of McCourty's impending release if he's playing.
PRACTICE SQUAD TRYOUT
The Patriots signed nine players to their practice squad last year as soon as the waiver period following cutdown day was finished. All nine saw time in the preseason finale. For players who've been injured and don't have a realistic shot at the 53-man roster, this could be a key night in improving their chances at a practice squad spot. We'll see if rookies Braxton Berrios or Ryan Izzo play Thursday, but if they do, it could be there chance to make a statement that they deserve to stick around. Etling, Croston, Vincent Valentine, Ryan Lewis and Riley McCarron are all players who have practice-squad eligibility and would make sense as priorities to keep around if the Patriots can't find room for them on the active roster.