Welcome to this week’s Bills Mailbag. Initial 53-man rosters have to be set by 4 p.m. Tuesday, so big decisions loom throughout the NFL. Let’s get right to your questions …
Bills Chiefs AFC Championship second (copy)
Former Bills cornerback Rasul Douglas, right, remains an unrestricted free agent. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
Doug Pagano asks: It’s hard to believe cornerback Rasul Douglas, wide receiver Amari Cooper and safety Justin Simmons are still free agents this close to the start of the regular season. Why do you think that’s happening? If the Bills are going all in, I think Pro Bowler Simmons would be a big upgrade over current safety options.
Jay: It’s a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league, Doug. The last time we saw Douglas on the field for the Bills, he struggled in the AFC championship game. Cooper was basically a bust as a trade addition last year. The lack of interest in both of them as free agents speaks loudly. I’ve not followed Simmons’ career closely enough to know whether he would be an upgrade over what the Bills currently have at safety.
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It’s pretty clear the team is trying to see it through with Cole Bishop as the starter opposite Taylor Rapp. I can understand that. Bishop was a second-round draft pick. Because of injury, the team still doesn’t know what it has in him. It’s right to give him a long-enough look to form an answer. Keep in mind, too, that head coach Sean McDermott has said before that he considers safety one of the three hardest positions to learn at the NFL level, along with quarterback and middle linebacker. Even someone as accomplished as Simmons is going to need time to adapt to the Bills’ defense.
With notebook in hand, Buffalo Bills punter Brad Robbins becomes more aggressive
“I've made my own punting yardage book,” Robbins told The Buffalo News. “So, I have a yardage book on what shots I want to use on different places on the field that I keep with me.”
Dan De Federicis asks: I see that some 53-man roster projections list Brandon Codrington as getting cut. This confuses me. I realize he doesn’t offer much on defense, but I don’t believe there are any other players projected to make the roster that have any punt return experience. Would a Super Bowl contender go into the season without having an experienced punt returner? Also, who do you think will be the biggest surprise to make the roster and biggest surprise to get cut?
Jay: I’m one of those who has Codrington not making the roster, and here’s why: The team didn’t think he was worth dressing during the postseason last year. In the most important moments, he was a healthy, inactive player. To me, that speaks volumes about his perceived importance to the roster. As you mentioned, Dan, he has very little value on defense. As such, he needs to be so good as a returner that he basically should be counted among the specialists with long snapper Reid Ferguson, kicker Tyler Bass and punter Brad Robbins. I’ve not seen anything this training camp to suggest Codrington is that type of special talent.
In my second 53-man roster projection, I had the team keeping Laviska Shenault Jr. The idea is he can handle kickoff and punt returns while playing the coverage units on special teams and perhaps chipping in a little bit on offense. It’s true that Shenault doesn’t have a lot of experience returning punts, but the team can use Khalil Shakir, at times, if it’s a situation in which they don’t feel comfortable using Shenault.
Bubble watch: Plenty still at stake for Bills in preseason finale
The team must cut its roster down to 53 players by 4 p.m. Tuesday. The final preseason game Saturday night serves as the last chance to impress for those on the roster bubble.
Ray asks: Whereas as the Bills have won only 38.5% of their preseason games since 2018, they have won 66.9% of their regular season games during the same time period. Jay, are Bills fans overreacting given some questionable play at safety, lack of reliable pass rush and field goal kicker questions? Or, are you in the “In McBeane We Trust” camp − understanding their concerns but reminding them that the Bills’ brain trust produces a quality product when it counts − Opening Day? I don’t know about you, but I am getting stressed out! Help us, Jay!
Jay: To quote Aaron Rodgers, Ray, “RELAX.” It’s the preseason. Josh Allen didn’t take a single snap. The team’s starters played sparingly. The reality is, the results of these games will be long forgotten in just a couple weeks.
Now, I’m not telling you it’s completely unfair to have some concerns. Heck, the team’s coaching staff does. Just listen to McDermott when he says they are still searching for an answer at safety next to Taylor Rapp. It’s true that Tyler Bass missed a lot of time in training camp and was unreliable, at times, last season. That’s a legitimate concern. The pass rush has to prove it’s better. The results in the preseason aren’t going to tell me that, though. Let’s see if Joey Bosa and Co. can get after Lamar Jackson in Week 1. That’s when we can really start to judge whether this team has made improvements on the significant side of the ball.
I understand some of the concern, given the way the first two preseason games went, but let’s wait until we see Allen play a full game before we start to sound any alarms.
Notebook: Tre'Davious White goes down in practice as Bills' injury concerns mount
Veteran cornerback Tre’Davious White limped off the field Thursday during practice inside Highmark Stadium with the assistance of teammates after suffering an apparent lower-body injury.
JM asks: How is the salary cap looking for 2026? As you mentioned in your Aug. 14 article, beside James Cook’s new contract, there were a lot of other contracts shuffled around (we can think of a biggie who hands the ball to Cook), not just this year, but the last couple of years. Is it time to pay Peter, whom we robbed to pay Paul? Can you even extrapolate to 2027?
Jay: Sports financial website spotrac.com is an invaluable resource for questions such as this. According to the fine folks there, the Bills are over the projected 2026 salary cap by nearly $7 million. That sounds awful, but it actually ranks No. 26 in the league in cap “space.” The worst cap situation in the league for next season, according to Spotrac, belongs to Minnesota, which is a whopping $57 million over next year’s projected cap. Of course, the key word there is “projected.” The league’s salary cap isn’t set, and as we have seen repeatedly, there are multiple ways that teams can create cap space, with roster cuts, trades and contract restructures being three big ones.
As for 2027, the Bills have an estimated $49 million in cap space, which sounds like a lot, but is actually the least of the 32 teams, again according to Spotrac. The takeaway here is that after redoing Josh Allen’s contract, the Bills have cost certainty at the most important position in the sport. However, Allen has a big cap number, and the team has paid a lot of its own players. That means, as long as this window of contention is open, we can expect salary cap space to be at a premium for general manager Brandon Beane.
Tim Kwiatkowski asks: When the UFL and other leagues were formed prior to the UFL, it was my opinion they would become the new “minor league” for the NFL and scouted heavily by NFL scouts, resulting in it being a feeder league for future players. Surprisingly, to the best of my knowledge, that has not happened. Any thoughts on why that is the case?
Jay: It has happened some, although perhaps not to the level you expected, Tim. In fact, just this past week, the Bills signed running back Jarveon Howard, who played for the St. Louis Battlehawks in the most recent UFL season, gaining 311 yards and three touchdowns. Fox Sports has a UFL tracker, and reported that NFL teams have conducted more than 160 workouts with 90 players who competed in the UFL, leading to more than 50 of those players signing NFL contracts. Admittedly, those players aren’t stars, which is probably why the signings go lightly reported and don’t wind up on the radar of the casual fan. I can assure you, though, that the Bills and every other NFL team scouts the UFL for talent.
Col Klink asks: Are you as worried as I am about the poor tackling and pass coverage? I know it was a preseason game, but every roll out pass, multiple receivers were running free.
Jay: As I mentioned above, we shouldn’t overreact about preseason games. The Bills don’t game plan for them. That doesn’t mean we should completely ignore the results, either. Poor tackling has been an issue that has had a negative impact on the defense in the past. I’ll be more concerned if that shows up in Week 1 against Derrick Henry when the Bills’ starters are on the field against the Ravens. As for open receivers, I’m less worried about that because of the point on game plans. What you’re looking for in preseason is for individual players to win their rep. Certainly, that did not happen against the Bears nearly often enough for the Bills, which is why it’s fair to have some concerns.
Jeff Rochwarger asks: Last year, we had the best turnover margin in the league. Josh Allen was MVP. Those results can’t get better. The defensive line, at least for the first eight games, is the same group that led to our defeat in Kansas City. Three defensive backs, who look like they’re starters for the team opening day, might not start for any other team in the league. Is this the most overrated team in the league?
Jay: Well, this is certainly a glass-half-empty take. Why can’t Allen win MVP again, and in the process put up better numbers? I agree that the defensive takeaways may not be sustainable.
To that end, the defense has to improve on third down. Defensive coordinator Bobby Babich is aware and has made it a priority. As for the defensive line, there are new pieces here. Joey Bosa could be an upgrade over Von Miller. The hope for Greg Rousseau is that his game takes another step forward. Behind Ed Oliver and DaQuan Jones are two new defensive tackles – rookies T.J. Sanders and Deone Walker. There has actually been a fair amount of change on the defensive line, and that’s before Michael Hoecht and Larry Ogunjobi are added to the mix following their suspensions.
As for the secondary, Christian Benford and Taron Johnson are stars. If Maxwell Hairston can return from his injury and become a starter, the cornerback position looks pretty good. Yes, it’s fair to be worried about the safeties, but let’s give Taylor Rapp and Cole Bishop some time together to see how it looks. I would not go so far as to say the Bills are the most overrated team in the league.
Gerald in Lewiston asks: All is fair in love and war, right? With that in mind, if we were to cut a player like Mike White, a quarterback with the team long enough to have a firm grip on play calls, system, etc., if the Patriots were to pick him up, would they make a concerted effort to “pry” information from him? Would it be all that valuable? How much honor is there? Would he be willing to lay it all out? Would the opposing team really want to apply any pressure on him?
Jay: With the amount of player movement in the league, this kind of thing happens all the time. It’s useful information, but in your example, the Bills would know what information White has and would take steps to make sure that was concealed as much as possible. To continue with your example, the Patriots would absolutely try to get as much information as possible from White, as they should. In White’s case, he’s on a new team. He would do everything in his power to help New England beat Buffalo, as he should. If he got released by the Patriots the day after that game and re-signed in Buffalo, then he would do everything in his power to help the Bills beat the Patriots the next time they played. The NFL is a cutthroat league. Teams will do whatever it takes to win within the rules, and sometimes in New England’s case, beyond them.
Thank you for all the questions this week. As a reminder, they can be submitted via X to @JaySkurski or by email to jskurski@buffnews.com.
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