The House vs. NCAA Settlement is expected to be finalized soon, and with that comes roster caps for each sport.

However, federal judge Claudia Wilken recently informed the NCAA she would not approve the settlement unless some changes are made regarding new roster limits. During a recent hearing, Wilken suggested the NCAA consider delaying its new roster size rules to “grandfather in” current athletes in the first years of the settlement.

The settlement agreement initially required schools to trim their rosters. Football for instance, which has as many as 120 players (85 scholarships + walk-ons) will be forced to trim down to 105 scholarship players on July 1.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney believes grandfathering athletes onto rosters is the correct way to go about it, as he told The Clemson Insider in an exclusive interview at the ACC Spring Meetings in Amelia Island, Fla.

“You grandfather all the kids that were on the roster, and you give them an opportunity to finish. That’s the right thing to do,” Swinney said. “And to me, it’s low-hanging fruit. It avoids a lawsuit, most likely.

“The crazy thing, we said this last summer, but now that it’s gotten to the finish line, it’s pretty obvious – you’re going to take an opportunity away that otherwise would be there. It might matriculate three or four years or so, but we’ve got some kids that are going on their fourth year or their fifth year that we’re going to have to cut. Now, the good news, we don’t have to cut till the first week of [the Aug. 30 season opener vs.] LSU, to 105.”

Still, making those cuts is something Swinney has admittedly been “dreading.” He has not been a fan of having to cut his walk-on program and has expressed how difficult it would be to cut players this summer in order to meet the requirement.

Swinney, though, pointed out that some of Clemson’s players have already “kind of cut themselves” ahead of the deadline – knowing they would likely end up getting cut in the end.

“We haven’t cut anybody yet – we had some kids that cut themselves because they knew, well, I’ve got to go through mat drills, spring ball, summer workouts, fall camp, just to get cut,” Swinney said.

“And that was really sad for me because it’s just unbelievably tough and committed young people that are chasing their dreams and just trying to be the best version of themselves, and relationships and all the things that come from being a part of a team. So, I think it’s the right thing to do. Hopefully that gets resolved this week.”

Judge Wilken made it clear she will deny the settlement unless some changes are made as far as new roster limits are concerned, and Swinney hopes those amendments come to fruition.

“We’ll see, but I think it’s a win for the young people that have sacrificed a lot to create opportunity for themselves in life through doing the work,” Swinney said.

What does all of this mean for Clemson, in particular?

“What it means for Clemson is, again, the kids that have been on our roster last year would have the opportunity to finish,” he said. “We might have a freshman that was a guy last year that maybe’s not going to be in your 105, but now he’s grandfathered in for the next three years or whatever, so you would matriculate down. I still think there’s some other kinks and things that need to be worked out, but that would be a real blessing, for sure.”