For Greg Salas, The Opportunity Is Now

Going into the 2015 NFL Season, Greg Salas was ready to make an impression. He was ready to show the Lions he could help them win. The impression, however, was never able to culminate.

During the final preseason game, Salas was leading the Lions in yardage and was poised to make the roster. All the promise came to an end as Salas suffered a serious knee injury and was soon after cut from the Lions.

Ironically, a few months later the team he was injured against signed him to a contract. The Buffalo Bills signed Salas to help deepen the wide receiver position as it had been dwindling due to injuries.

“My confidence has never wavered throughout my NFL career,” – Greg Salas

Salas was then again signed to the roster in January of this year.

With OTA’s starting up and training camp around the corner, the Bills are hoping to find the potential replacement for Chris Hogan as their third receiver.

Hogan may not have blown people away with his statistics and he may not have even been a thought for your fantasy team, but he was the third receiver that was there when you needed him.

Many teams crave these type of players. The players that grind for a roster spot. The players that fall under the label “on the roster bubble” as training camp goes on. They’re the players that can either make an impact or take up a roster spot but they are the players that will give 100 percent and play their heart out.

This is not to say that starters do not have this grind or motivation but there’s always some sort of beauty in the struggle.

“My confidence has never wavered throughout my NFL career,” Salas said to Chris Brown of Buffalobills.com“. When you get an opportunity to make plays you do it and you come through and work extremely hard and everything will work out.”

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This mindset is like that of many players who struggle each year and bounce around from team to team, looking for a home. Salas very much falls into this category of player but carries himself a different way. He doesn’t let his situation affect his attitude and his perspective of the game.

Greg Salas has been a part of six NFL teams in five years. The longest was two years with the New York Jets.

When looking back at his college career, you start to question why he has had to struggle this much for work in the NFL.

A record-breaker at the University of Hawaii, Salas set the single-season records for receptions and yards during his final year. He had more yardage than any other NCAA receiver during that year and was also was First-Team All-WAC for the second consecutive season.

Although this success at Hawaii was phenomenal, Salas still had an uphill battle in the NFL. As an athlete who came from a conference that wasn’t a power conference, Salas had a lot to prove.

After being drafted by the Rams in 2011, Salas has had brief stints with the Patriots, Eagles, Jets, Lions, and now the Bills.

Aug 22, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets wide receiver Greg Salas (17) on the sidelines against the New York Giants during the first quarter at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports /

Salas saw limited action for the Bills in 2016 and only played in the final two games of the regular season but that didn’t stop coaches from noticing his skills.

“He had no missed assignments. He did everything right off a week and a half of practice.” said Bills receivers coach Sanjay Lal to Buffalobills.com.

We saw this discipline come to a point of fruition when Salas recorded three receptions for 41 yards against the Jets in Week 17. These receptions were all 3rd-and-long completions that helped the Bills end the Jets playoff hopes.

So what makes this stint different? What is to say that after this season Salas moves on to another team, only to be stashed on the depth chart or practice squad and only to see the field in times of injury?

I believe that this time is different and that this team is different.

Salas has a real opportunity with the exit of Chris Hogan to the Patriots.

When you look at the Buffalo Bills you see a group of outcasts, undrafted free agents, undersized players, and players who were labeled as “projects”.

When I look at the Buffalo Bills I see a team of grinders. I see a team of motivated, undervalued individuals who combine their determination and can reach new heights.

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Salas is a part of that group. The position he is in is enough to keep a man humble enough to play harder and want more, which fits him perfectly.

Salas may not be the biggest piece of this motivated roster but he is still a piece. They all are and piece by piece, the Bills are becoming something special.

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