The Buffalo Bills announced their full list of roster transactions on Tuesday evening, bringing them to the 53-man roster to maintain compliance with NFL rules. While we know that the first 24-72 hours immediately after the initial maneuvers are fluid, we can react to what we have and know that the roster isn’t likely to undergo a massive overhaul in the next few days. At least not until practice squads are sorted out and the bottom of some rosters experience some churn.
Let’s take a look at each position room…
Quarterbacks
Josh Allen
Mitchell Trubisky
The Bills could have saved some money on the cap this year by keeping Mike White and releasing Trubisky, but the former first-round pick by the Chicago Bears handily outplayed White in the preseason. Shane Buechele lands back with Buffalo as the practice squad quarterback.
Running Backs / Fullback
RB James Cook
Ray Davis
Ty Johnson
Reggie Gilliam
Wire to wire, this has been the projected outcome all along for the running backs room. While Frank Gore Jr. continues to look good in his reps during preseason, there wasn’t ever much likelihood of him bumping one of the other three tailbacks off the roster, and the Bills continue to remain committed to the flexibility that a fullback brings their roster. Gore passed through waivers and landed back on the Bills’ practice squad.
Wide Receivers
Keon Coleman
Joshua Palmer
Khalil Shakir
Curtis Samuel
Tyrell Shavers
Elijah Moore
Two questions have lingered around the Bills’ wide receivers room this offseason:
Would Tyrell Shavers make the team after spending the last two years on the practice squad?
Would the Bills keep six wide receivers?
The answer to both of those questions ended up being “yes.” Shavers got time with the special teams units over the course of the preseason and demonstrated his ability to contribute there to a point where the coaching staff clearly felt comfortable having him as an option for activity on game day. Post-draft signee Elijah Moore managed to make the roster as well, bringing a different skill set than some of the remainder of the room with his agility and separation skills.
Tight Ends
Dalton Kincaid
Dawson Knox
Jackson Hawes
Like the running back room, the tight ends seemed set barring injury since the draft. Hawes got some work in the receiving game in the last preseason game, but immediately slots in as the blocking TE3 who might get a surprisingly large amount of snaps from the jump.
Offensive Line
Dion Dawkins
David Edwards
Connor McGovern
O’Cyrus Torrence
Spencer Brown
Ryan Van Demark
Alec Anderson
Sedrick Van Pran-Granger
Chase Lundt
The Bills not keeping Kendrick Green is the biggest surprise here, and even that isn’t a shocker. He did sign back on with Buffalo’s practice squad as a utility interior offensive lineman. Sixth-round pick Chase Lundt manages to make it to the initial 53, breaking the trend of many late Day 3 picks from the team not making the roster.
Defensive Line
Gregory Rousseau
Joey Bosa
A.J. Epenesa
Javon Solomon
Landon Jackson
Ed Oliver
DaQuan Jones
T.J. Sanders
Deone Walker
DeWayne Carter
DeWayne Carter, despite being a second-year player and a Day 2 draft pick, had some noise around potentially being released. He hadn’t made a splash this offseason and his transition to one-tech defensive tackle hasn’t received glowing reviews. But he remains to continue his development. When Ogunjobi returns from suspension, that could change and is worth keeping an eye on. Veteran defensive tackle has been added to the Bills’ practice squad and will likely be a call up at some point during the season.
Linebackers
Terrel Bernard
Matt Milano
Dorian Williams
Joe Andreessen
Shaq Thompson
Thompson’s spot on the team was confirmed after Baylon Spector was waived/injured on August 6 and the team decided to release newcomer Jimmy Ciarlo and 2024 fifth-round selection Edefuan Ulofoshio. Ciarlo returns to the team’s practice squad, while Ulofoshio remains unsigned.
Defensive backs
Christian Benford
Tre’Davious White
Taron Johnson
Cam Lewis
Dorian Strong
Ja’Marcus Ingram
Taylor Rapp
Cole Bishop
Damar Hamlin
Jordan Hancock
The door opened for Ingram to make the team — in spite of the numerous investments made this offseason — when the Bills released former starter Dane Jackson. Of course, Jackson didn’t go far, returning as a member of the practice squad. Jordan Hancock impressed this preseason, but could be a game day inactive due to numbers at safety, where he played primarily.
Specialists
K Tyler Bass
P Brad Robbins
LS Reid Ferguson
RET Brandon Codrington
Codrington versus Laviska Shenault Jr. was one of the few battles worth keeping an eye on this offseason, and while the team would likely prefer a return man who can offer more in a “from scrimmage” role than Codrington, he was an effective returner last year. With the potential added emphasis on kickoff returns this year, he could be an asset worth keeping for that alone.
Overall, if we’re ranking the “surprises” in with initial roster, I’d place them like this, from most surprising to least:
Kendrick Green released
Codrington being the return man without displayed scrimmage value
Ja’Marcus Ingram over Dane Jackson
Tyrell Shavers makes the roster
And even then, none of those three would classify as being even moderately shocking. The truth is, when you have a good roster, cutdown day is boring. Gone are the days where an undrafted free agent can come in and end up being a surprise starter for your team. So we embrace the monotony of another late August day in the hopes that our February will be much more exciting.
Did you see anything that was legitimately surprising to you? Sound off in the comments below!
...and that’s the way the cookie crumbles. I’m Bruce Nolan with Buffalo Rumblings. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram @BruceExclusive and look for new episodes of “The Bruce Exclusive” every Thursday on the Rumblings Cast Network — see more in my LinkTree!
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