While the Buffalo Bills didn't add a true No. 1 receiver this offseason, they truly beefed up the room with veteran depth. Buffalo added a trio of seasoned receivers who are expected to compete for a spot on the depth chart down to the last day of camp.
The trio of Laviska Shenault, Joshua Palmer and Elijah Moore will be competing for a pair of 53-man roster spots. Nick Sabato of the Niagara Gazette predicts that Shenault will fall short, on the assumption that Buffalo would only carry five receivers, and Khalil Shakir, Curtis Samuel and Keon Coleman's jobs are all safe.
Keeping just five receivers would be less than Buffalo has carried in recent years, but it would give the Bills another spot for a cornerback, an obvious position of need after Rasul Douglas hit free agency. Cornerback, like receiver, has been a position Buffalo is just throwing a handful of veterans at, hoping one or two stick.
“The Bills taking five receivers without special teams value is unusual, but it makes room for an extra cornerback,” Sabato wrote.
Sabato further predicted the Bills would keep two of last season's practice squad players in Tyrell Shavers and Jalen Virgil, with rookie Kaden Prather being added to the practice squad.
Sabato isn't alone in predicting Shenault as the odd man out. Sal Maiorana of the Democrat & Chronicle predicted Shenault would struggle to make the final roster based on his merit as a receiver alone, especially with the addition of Moore. But, Maiorana noted that Shenault's ability and versatility in the return game could keep him in town.
“The Moore signing might push Shenault off the roster unless he can definitively win the kickoff return job and contribute elsewhere on special teams,” Maiorana wrote.
Shenault returned 16 kicks for 28.7 yards-per-return with one touchdown for the Seattle Seahawks last season.
WGR 550's Sal Capaccio suggested the Bills may have had that in mind when they signed Shenault. Bills' head coach Sean McDermott serves on the rules committee, and new that a rule change was coming that would encourage more kickoff returns, making Shenault more valuable.
“My assessment of the Bills Lavishka Shenault signing: I think it has a lot to do with the possibility of touchbacks on kickoffs being moved to the 35,” Capaccio shared in a post on X. “Sean McDermott is on the competition committee. He knows this could be happening (not a certainty).”