Buffalo Bills: Brandon Powell among the initial round of cuts
The Buffalo Bills began the process of trimming the roster on Monday by trading defensive end Darryl Johnson to the Carolina Panthers. However, before the trade of the pass rusher the team announced they were releasing three players.
Among those players was wide receiver/kick returner Brandon Powell, who the Bills signed as a free agent in the offseason. While he was considered a long-shot to make the roster, the Buffalo Bills were looking for a replacement for returner Andre Roberts.
If there was a path to a spot on the 53-man roster, it would have been in this role as Powell has experience both as a kick returner and punt returner. Last season with the Falcons, Powell had 17 kick returns for an average of 20.2 yards per kickoff and 17 punt returns for an average of 8.9 yards per punt.
In the first two preseason games, Powell returned a punt and a kickoff return in each game. However, the last preseason game against the Green Bay Packers he didn’t get a chance to return either which could have been an indication that he was out of contention for the job.
The other two players the Buffalo Bills released were two players the team recently signed in running back Kerrith Whyte and cornerback Tim Lewis. These were two players that joined the Bills late in training camp as they were signed just last week.
Both players were added due in large part to some potential injuries at those positions and the Buffalo Bills needed the depth heading into the game against the Packers.
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While the Buffalo Bills were able to free up three roster spots on Monday, they will have their work cut out for them on Tuesday. The Bills, along with other NFL teams, will need to get down to 53-players by Tuesday at 4 PM EST.