Earlier this week, Bills GM Brandon Beane caused a stir by saying that he would release players who refused to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Since then, the league has spoken with Beane to let him know that teams cannot cut players solely for not getting their shots (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). 
“Yeah, I would [cut them], because it would be an advantage,” Beane said on One Bills Live (via the New York Post). “I think there’s going to be some incentives if you have X -percent of your players and staff vaccinated. You can live normal…let’s just call it, back to the old days.”
“If you don’t, it’s going to look more like last year…I hope that, if those are the rules, we’ll be able to get enough people vaccinated and not have to deal with all the headaches from a year ago.”
The NFL has previously said that the vaccine would not be mandatory for players. However, players who do get vaccinated will have less restrictions put upon them, including distancing requirements.
How about PUP list them.
Do they need to provide a reason for cutting people anyways?
That was my thought, too.
Yeah, seriously. They can cut someone and just not announce why or say it’s salary cap-related.
Beane’s comments were taken out of context. During the interview he was asked about roster trimming making tough cuts and if players were even otherwise would vaccination play a role in final determination. Any other GM in the same position would weigh that. Especially if it ultimately meant a more normal season.
Context is everything. That makes a lot of sense too. All else being equal, the best ability is, has been, and will always be Availability.
Yeah, sure you are Brandon. Let’s see how fast you change your mind if Josh Allen didn’t get vaccinated.
So right, amk1920. It’s always a different world between the starting QB and the team’s 2nd team long snapper.
It’s funny because Allen has already made comments about a month ago about how he is ‘debating’ whether or not to get it. Not sure if there was ever a follow-up on that.
Eh it’s out of context. He was asked about fringe players making the roster and was asked if the vaccine would make the difference, and he said yes simply because it makes the most sense. More players with the vaccines means less restrictions, as he said probably some leeway etc.
Any nfl player on the fringes who isn’t taking the vaccine is kinda bringing it upon themselves.
It shouldn’t be a factor. Fridge players are competing against other fringe players. Only football should matter. Not their hesitancy to take a vaccine we still don’t know much about.
Okay, dude misses 14 days BC he can’t stay away from the barber shop or BC he’s just out trying to live a ‘normal life’ but not vaccinated how does that help the team? Give me the guy that if he goes down it’s because of a football reason not Covid.
It would be different if this disease was lethal to young/healthy people. But a year of statistics has shown that to be the opposite. If you’re old/unhealthy, you have a risk. But these are professional athletes. Last time I checked, no 85 year olds play Linebacker in the NFL… People need to stop living as if it’s March 2020… Back then we thought 5% were gonna die. Be thankful we were wrong! Less than 1% are affected, and the number gets lower and lower the younger you are. Turn off cable news, that live case tracker has made everyone scared to go outside and live your life!
The disease has caused permanent damage to those same people. Just because they didn’t die from it doesn’t mean they won’t sufffer because of it. Most of the people who end up in the ICU are young people. The vaccine protects people from even getting the disease. So you want to get CoVid hope you don’t die from it.
“Most of the people who end up in the ICU are young people.”
That statement is just 100% false.
You can still get Covid even if fully vaccinated @steven. There isn’t enough evidence to support that it “protects people from even getting the disease”. That may come with time and additional studies but it’s not true now.
Sir, this is a Wendy’s
We don’t know what the long-term effects of COVID are. It could cause problems down the road, maybe even decades later. And there are plenty of people who have been ‘fine’ but took a long time to recover (see Derrick Rose of the Knicks).
That said, we also don’t know what the long-term effects of any of these vaccines are. imo, it’s a personal choice, but please let’s dispense with downplaying the virus, especially with spurious ‘it’s not lethal to young people!’ logic.
I mean the only vaccine that caused long term effects on people was the swine flu vaccines in the 70s which showed an increased risk of developing Guillain-Barré syndrome, however no medical reason has been given for why they vaccines caused this. Even so, developing GBS is very rare, even from people who got the vaccine. It literally added 1 more case per 100,000 who got the vaccine however, that’s large enough to investigate it. There was also the Rotavirus vaccine that caused bowl blockages in infants, yet it was a rare case.
Is it likely that we find some sort of long-term effects? I mean, I’m not a medical expert but I doubt it due to how rigorous the vetting is for vaccines. Governments don’t play around with immunizations. I think having covid will open up more long term effects than the vaccine.
Most reports of vaccines causing effects like Narcolepsy, or multiple sclerosis are all not really connected.
There are risks to vaccines, people may be allergic, or have their personal reasons, but medically the benefits usually far outweigh the risks.
Article from the CDC with their analysis of vaccine risks: link to cdc.gov
Not a disease.
@jasonpen You’re right about one thing. Turn off cable Fox noise! This entire country would be smarter and a whole lot better off if the loud 20-25% who watch that misinformation and propaganda weren’t living in their own little alternate reality devoid of facts!
Say “can’t” all you want. When you’re making value judgments on a final roster spot, you can justify it on any number of factors.
Unless someone is dumb enough to outright declare vax status as the reason for a cut, there’s no proof.
They can and they will.
If you’re an UDFA, you’d better have that shot.
Ironically, you would have to suspend players who took a vaccine if it was proven that the vaccine had performance enhancing properties.
No, they wouldn’t. The vaccine is already sanctioned by the NFL and they’ve already encouraged people to get it. If they found out that it had PED qualities, there’s no way they’d even think about suspending anyone. Not only would it be illogical (as like 75% of the league would need to get suspended), but the NFLPA would never let it happen.
It would be completely hypocritical to suspend players for certain performance enhancing substances while turning a blind eye to a vaccine that had the same effect. Of course Goodell established himself as the king of hypocrites some time ago.
This GM should be terminated….period!
Ok snowflake
I saw my neighbors covid card tonight. It literally looked like a fake card. So cheap & cheesy. It was so bad he had to laminate himself so it wouldn’t fall apart.
It probably was a fake. The pandemic has been a dream opportunity for the scammers out there who are exploiting the fear of people to make money.
Dude you’re a clown. The card is basically the same as a DOT medical clearance card. Which you get laminated sometimes you also have to do it yourself depending on where you get it done. If it were made of gold and laser inscribed would that make it ‘legitimate’?
lmao what. You’re making my city look bad.
Too bad ignorance isn’t painful!
Luckily for Beane, NFL teams can cut players for any reason and don’t have to fill out a form explaining why.
His job is to put the best roster on the field that he can, week to week. Only healthy players make it to the field.