The NFL Draft sends a not-so-subtle message to players already on active rosters: prepare to be replaced.

Zac Stacy knew the jig was up when the Rams took running back Todd Gurley with their first-round pick, tweeting his dismay as soon as it happened. It didn’t take the team long to turn Stacy from disgruntled to gruntled, shipping him to the Jets in exchange for the 224th pick in the draft.

The payoff won’t be quite so quick for the majority of the league’s veterans. Here’s a look at some other veterans who may soon be looking for new homes, whether it is on the bench or in a different uniform.

Tre Mason, Rams

In truth, Stacy had already been displaced by Mason, who took over as St. Louis’ starting running back halfway through last season and ran for 765 yards on 179 carries.

Now Mason finds himself in the same potential spot as Stacy – a second-year former SEC back fending off a challenge from a talented rookie out of the SEC.

However, the Rams still have a use for Mason. Gurley has yet to hit the field since his college career ended with a torn ACL, so the Rams probably won’t want to throw him directly into the fire as an every-down back at the season’s outset.

A year from now we may be singing a different tune, but Mason certainly won’t hurt his cause to be another team’s feature back in 2016 by giving St. Louis an effective 1-2 punch in the upcoming season.

Zach Mettenberger, Titans

Sorry, dude.

Tennessee made it clear that its only use for Mettenberger is as a backup, and right now no other team is in a quarterback situation so desperate that he would get a realistic shot at starting for them. Like Mason, he’ll likely have to bide his time this year and hope some team with a decent supporting cast but is truly desperate behind center – hello, Cleveland and Buffalo – is willing to roll the dice.

Bishop Sankey, Titans

Mettenberger’s backfield mate from last year could also see his playing time in decline.

Sankey was remarkably underwhelming in his rookie campaign, rushing for 569 yards on 152 carries while losing a pair of fumbles. A team doesn’t draft a guy in the fifth round with the intention of making him a starter, but Minnesota’s David Cobb is absolutely going to push Sankey for playing time. It will be interesting to see if Cobb, who comes from a power rushing attack under Golden Gophers coach Jerry Kill, displaces Sankey entirely.

Muhammad Wilkerson/Sheldon Richardson, Jets

Leonard Williams was regarded by many as the top overall talent in this year’s draft. So when he was unexpectedly sitting there at No. 6, what was New York supposed to do? Even though defensive line was the Jets biggest, and arguably only, strength last season, you simply don’t leave that kind of talent sitting on the board.

So now what?

With Wilkerson’s fifth-year option coming up after next season, logic dictates this will probably be the only year of financial feasibility for the Jets new super-line. Or will New York elect to keep him and let go of Richardson instead? Might some other team in need of help up front offer the Jets a suitable trade solution? Any way you look at it, you can rest assured this arrangement will be temporary.

Devonta Freeman, Falcons

Any running back who is good enough to make it past the line of scrimmage at Indiana is good enough to start in the NFL – which is to say there haven’t been many of them.

Tevin Coleman is the exception. Freeman is Atlanta’s nominal starter heading to next season – Antone Smith remains a solid option as a speedy third-down weapon – but that isn’t going to last very long.

Andrew Whitworth/Andre Smith, Bengals

The Bengals might as well have used a bullhorn to announce their intentions with their first two picks in the draft, though sending Ickey Woods up to the podium wasn’t too far off from that decibel level.

The Bengals went with offensive tackles in the first two rounds, taking Texas A&M’s Cedric Ogbuehi and Oregon’s Jake Fisher. Ogbuehi will spend training camp recovering from an ACL tear, but ultimately Whitworth and Smith will be pushed for their jobs as Cincinnati’s starting tackles. Both of their contracts are up after next season, so it’s likely their departures wouldn’t take place until then. In the meantime, the Bengals may be conjuring up some extremely beefy power packages in goal-line situations.