ORCHARD PARK, NY — With the Bills’ 31-26 loss to the Panthers on Saturday, the preseason is officially over.
With cutdown day looming on Tuesday afternoon, it was the final chance for the Bills’ bubble players to make enough of an impression to crack the 53-man roster. Only a handful of spots were up for grabs, and those players had an extended opportunity as the team rested all their starters and some key backups.
Who did enough to make the team for the 2024 season? Let’s get right to it.
Here is our final Bills 53-man roster projection of the summer, complete with a practice squad.
Quarterback (2)
Josh Allen, Mitchell Trubisky
The preseason finale didn’t help DiNucci or Brown’s chances to stick, which makes it most likely that the team’s third quarterback for the season isn’t currently on the roster. With a big wave of cuts next week, someone of value who could fill in for an injured Trubisky as the primary backup should be available. But this is a potentially complicated decision. Looks could be deceiving, but Trubisky was moving around on his knee quite gingerly during practice this week, which calls into question how ready he’d be for Week 1. They might be caught in a weird middle ground of needing an early-season backup but not having a 53-man roster spot available to convince the player they want to come to Buffalo. That is, unless the injured reserve is a potential outcome for Trubisky, though McDermott didn’t rule out anyone except Matt Milano for Week 1. If Trubisky is an IR candidate, don’t rule out a trade for a quarterback.
Waived: Ben DiNucci, Anthony Brown
Running Back (4)
James Cook, Ray Davis, Ty Johnson, Reggie Gilliam (FB)
Running back is an open-and-shut case. Cook is the starter, with Davis and Johnson as his primary backups. Gilliam is the team’s fullback while serving on all special teams units. The only question is if their practice squad running back is on the roster but Frank Gore Jr. is a relatively safe bet for that role.
Released: Darrynton Evans (with injury settlement)
Waived: Frank Gore Jr.
Wide receiver Tyrell Shavers has long-term potential on special teams. (Gregory Fisher / USA Today)
Wide Receiver (6)
Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman, Curtis Samuel, Mack Hollins, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Tyrell Shavers
The top five all seem safe. It comes down to whether the Bills want to keep a sixth and who that sixth would be. Although Shavers had the two special teams penalties against the Steelers, he seems like the type of young player the Bills would be motivated to keep. He can offer a lot long-term on special teams and possibly on offense, especially in a receiver room with two players coming up as free agents in the offseason. Shavers can become a core special teams player, and the Bills have four years of roster control. But he was one of the last to make the cut, without question. His situation was helped by the current injury situation at wide receiver, with Samuel and Valdes-Scantling currently sidelined.
Released: Andy Isabella, Damiere Byrd
Waived: Justin Shorter, KJ Hamler, Xavier Johnson, Deon Cain
Tight End (3)
Dalton Kincaid, Dawson Knox, Quintin Morris
Even with the Morris injury, they don’t need to keep an additional tight end to get by if he can’t play in Week 1. Gilliam can moonlight as the team’s third tight end until Morris is healthy. Zach Davidson has had a nice camp and preseason, but there isn’t a great risk that he’ll get claimed on waivers. He’ll be an instant addition to the practice squad once he clears waivers.
Waived: Zach Davidson, Tre’ McKitty
Offensive line (9)
Dion Dawkins, David Edwards, Connor McGovern, O’Cyrus Torrence, Spencer Brown, Ryan Van Demark, Alec Anderson, Sedrick Van Pran-Granger, Tylan Grable
The Bills likely aren’t going to subject any of Van Demark, Anderson, Van Pran-Granger or Grable to waivers, so it comes down to whether they will keep a tenth player in the group or just stick with nine. The top four candidates are La’El Collins, Will Clapp, Richard Gouraige and Kevin Jarvis, with Collins, for his experience, possibly being the best option. I ultimately went with nine because it was either Collins for one year, only because he has starting experience, or keeping Shavers and his long-term potential. On top of his struggles, Collins’ performance has shown he is a guard only, which certainly hurts his chances. It’s also notable that Collins’ last stop was as a practice squad player with the Cowboys in January before signing with Buffalo in the offseason. They could get him back to their practice squad if that holds. That’s worth the risk more than putting Shavers on waivers.
Injured reserve (season-ending): Travis Clayton
Released: La’El Collins, Will Clapp
Waived: Richard Gouraige, Kevin Jarvis, Mike Edwards, Gunner Britton, Keaton Bills
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Defensive end (6)
Greg Rousseau, A.J. Epenesa, Dawuane Smoot, Von Miller, Javon Solomon, Kingsley Jonathan
Keeping a sixth defensive end seems likely with this year’s roster, but it’s a matter of which one of Jonathan, Casey Toohill or Kameron Cline they keep. Much like last year’s preseason, Jonathan showed up well during games — this time, as a special teams player. Jonathan already had the edge as the best pass-rushing talent of the trio, and the special teams part was the final piece. Toohill didn’t play as much as Jonathan during the Panthers game, though that was likely due to this being Toohill’s first week back from a groin injury. The Bills can get one or both of Toohill and Cline back to the practice squad.
Released: Casey Toohill
Waived: Kameron Cline, Rondell Bothroyd
Defensive tackle (4)
Ed Oliver, DaQuan Jones, Austin Johnson, DeWayne Carter
Like running back, the defensive tackle group seems well-defined. Oliver and Jones are the starters. Johnson and Carter are their backups, and there is a big gap to the next ones on the depth chart. DeShawn Williams is a prime practice squad target for one of their six veteran spots.
Released: DeShawn Williams, Eli Ankou
Waived: Gable Steveson, Branson Deen
Linebacker (5)
Terrel Bernard, Dorian Williams, Baylon Spector, Nicholas Morrow, Joe Andreessen
Some will argue to keep six linebackers on the team, but that could be tough with how the rest of the roster looks now. Regardless of whether it’s five or six, the combination of Andreessen doing enough to make the team along with all of the injuries to the position has put him in an encouraging spot. He has the special teams background, he’s outplayed Ulofoshio on defense and the coaching staff loves him. They also need someone who can play middle linebacker while Spector is dealing with an injury. It might just happen for the Buffalo native. While it’s certainly a projection and perhaps a minor leap, if I had to guess one player that the team would like to put on the Isaiah Hodgins and Justin Shorter path — the rookie draft pick stashed on IR for the year — Ulofoshio would be my pick. The Shorter injury was unknown until cutdown day last year, so don’t rule it out as an option for Ulofoshio. If Ulofoshio’s rib injury has lingered since his return, that could open up the possibility of putting him on IR and keeping one of the two veteran linebackers — Morrow and Andreessen. Then the other veteran linebacker could go on the practice squad.
Injured reserve (in-season listing): Matt Milano, Edefuan Ulofoshio
Released: Deion Jones
Waived: Shayne Simon
Nickel (2)
Taron Johnson, Cam Lewis
It’s an easy call, as Johnson is one of their best starters on the team, and Lewis is dependable depth at both nickel and safety while serving a critical special teams role. Te’Cory Couch has had a nice summer, though. Don’t be surprised to see him hang around on the practice squad.
Waived: Te’Cory Couch
Cornerback (5)
Rasul Douglas, Christian Benford, Kaiir Elam, JaMarcus Ingram, Daequan Hardy
Douglas, Benford and Elam are all locks, leaving Ingram and Hardy as the up-in-the-air names. Ingram offers both positional versatility and special teams value to keep him around on the 53-man roster. Hardy did enough against the Panthers to secure a spot as the return specialist with potential that they can work with throughout the season to optimize his decision-making strategies.
Waived: Kyron Brown, Keni-H Lovely
GO DEEPER
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Safety (4)
Taylor Rapp, Cole Bishop, Mike Edwards, Damar Hamlin
The safety room is finally getting close to full health, and Lewis can chip in if necessary. Rapp will be the starting strong safety, and the other three names are in contention to start Week 1 at free safety. Outside of those four, no one else on the roster has pushed for a spot.
Released: Kareem Jackson, Terrell Burgess, Dee Delaney (with injury settlement)
Waived: Kendall Williamson
Specialists (3)
Tyler Bass (K), Sam Martin (P), Reid Ferguson (LS)
The struggles from Bass have been notable, but the Bills aren’t ready to give up on him. They have believed in his talent for a long time and also would owe a combined $7 million plus in dead cap over the next two years to release him. They might bring in a practice squad kicker, however. If the Bills need to clear out a roster spot to get another player to in-season injured reserve, don’t be surprised to see Ferguson released and then brought back a day later. Ferguson has only a few thousand dollars in dead cap.
Practice squad (16)
Veteran QB TBD*, RB Frank Gore Jr., WR Andy Isabella*, WR Justin Shorter, WR Xavier Johnson, TE Zach Davidson, OL La’El Collins*, IOL Kevin Jarvis, OT Richard Gouraige, DE Casey Toohill*, DE Kameron Cline, DT DeShawn Williams*, LB Deion Jones*, CB Te’Cory Couch, S Kendall Williamson, Kicker TBD
*Denotes a qualifying veteran by practice squad standards. Teams are only allowed six veterans on their practice squad.
Roster moves key
Injured reserve: Players that go on IR without going to the 53-man roster first will be out for the entire year if they stay with the team
Waived: A player with three or fewer vested years of experience will be subject to waivers if let go by the team.
Released: A player with four or more vested years of experience is not subject to waivers if let go by the team and will be free to sign anywhere immediately.
(Top photo of Joe Andreessen: Gregory Fisher / USA Today)
