Madden 21: When can we expect the Week 1, 53-man roster update

When will the final 53-man roster update for Madden 21 release?

Madden 21 officially launched this week, but you may want to hold off before starting up your Franchise mode. That’s because these are the finalized team rosters.

As we all know, COVID-19 threw a wrench in the NFL’s offseason. For starters, training camp rosters only consist of 80 players as opposed to the typical 90, so there are less players that need to be cut and therefore, probably a bit easier for EA to manage with Madden 21‘s first major roster update of the season (which is usually the largest).

While players can be cut at any time, the absolute deadline for the finalized 53-man roster is September 5. In other words, don’t expect the Week 1 roster update any earlier than September 5. Of course, it also takes some time to make all these changes in the game, so it’s almost certain the update won’t arrive until a few days later.

Week 1 of the 2020-21 NFL season kicks off with the regular-season opener on September 10. In previous years, the Week 1 roster update has gone live on the night of the regular-season opener, so it’s likely September 10 is the target date. That gives EA a five day turnaround.

As we all know, this first roster update of the season is usually the largest and typically contains over 1,500 changes. That’s a lot to ask from EA in such a short amount of time.