Rogue One had plenty of direct and indirect references to the original Star Wars trilogy, so the absence of nerf herders in the final version of the script was not a big blow to the movie itself.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story contains plenty of references, whether direct or subtle, to the original Star Wars trilogy that the movie’s timeline immediately precedes.
Although nerf herders have been referenced in subsequent Star Wars books since their first mention by Leia, Rogue One would have been the characters’ first on-screen appearance in the franchise.
Despite cutting the nerf herders from the script, the makers of Rogue One still felt obligated to include the appearance of other original trilogy characters, like the entirely-CGI version of Grand Moff Tarkin.