The Buffalo Bills had to make a few moves to get their roster down to 75 players before the 4 pm deadline on Tuesday. Who failed to make the roster?
The Buffalo Bills weren’t the only team forced to cut their roster down by the 4 pm deadline on Tuesday. Now, every team in the league is down to 75 players as they prepare their soon-to-be 53-man roster.
For Buffalo, we saw 16 players leave the Bills’ roster on Tuesday as the team cut 9 players and sent another 7 to injured lists and reserve lists. To start, let’s take a look at the players placed on the Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list: Shaq Lawson and Marcus Easley.
For those who aren’t aware, the PUP list is used when a player is still injured after preseason action. When placed on the list, it guarantees that the player will be unable to play for the first six weeks of the season. When that timeline is finished, the team can activate him to the 53-man roster if ready to return.
Both Lawson and Easley were expected to be featured on this list and will both definitely be a great addition when they return. Lawson was the team’s first round draft pick this year and will be a major part of their defense when healthy. In his absence, the team is expected to use a lot of Manny Lawson and Lorenzo Alexander. As for Easley, he will be largely missed as a part of the Bills’ special teams unit.
Rookie wide receiver Kolby Listenbee was placed on the Reserve/Non-Football Injury list and will also miss the first six weeks of the season. After dealing with a double sports hernia and pelvic inflammation, he will need this added time to recover and return fully healthy.
The one player placed on the Injured Reserve list was rookie Reggie Ragland, who tore his ACL during training camp. In addition, three players were waived with injuries: Chris Gragg, Jonathan Dowling and Justin Renfrow. The main waive was Gragg, although the team informed him that they plan on re-signing him next season when he is ready to play.
That wraps it up for the injured crew. Let’s look at who got cut — meaning they are no longer a part of the team. The list is as follows:
If you look at the amount of yards and catches Little had compared to the rest of the receivers this preseason, you would wonder why the team cut him. Then you remember the amount of drops he had and realize it makes perfect sense. Obviously, Rex Ryan isn’t a fan of missed opportunities and didn’t wait long to take this one: cutting him.
After a lot of hype, Eric Striker’s journey with the Bills has also come to an end after he found himself too far down the depth chart. It might’ve been due to his lack of size at the position, but the team obviously didn’t see him fitting in with the defense.
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In addition, it seems the team is excited to have Brandon Spikes back as they released David Hawthorne on Tuesday — who was signed on the same day as Spikes.
The team has until September 3rd at 4 pm to get their roster down to the official 53-man roster for the regular season. They will finish their preseason against the Detroit Lions on Thursday.
Which roster cut were you most surprised with on Tuesday? Leave your comments below!