Bills To Work Out Paxton Lynch
One of the interested Paxton Lynch parties appears to be the Bills, whom Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter) will bring in the embattled former Broncos quarterback for a Tuesday audition.
Four teams are reportedly interested in bringing in Lynch for an audition, and the Bills make sense due to their quarterback depth chart. Nathan Peterman, who infamously threw five interceptions in a start against the Chargers last season, is set to be Buffalo’s Week 1 starter. Josh Allen is the backup after the Bills traded A.J. McCarron.
Lynch, though, still profiles as a developmental player. That makes the Buffalo fit interesting given their employment of a younger project passer in Allen. Lynch has made just four career starts and did not fare well this offseason, either, after 2017 Mr. Irrelevant Chad Kelly beat him out quickly for Denver’s backup job.
The Broncos went through three offensive coordinators during Lynch’s three years. One of those, Rick Dennison, was the Bills’ OC last year. But Brian Daboll is Buffalo’s top offensive voice now, meaning Lynch would have to process a fourth system if he joined the Bills.
Bills Will Host Orchard, Perriman For Visits
- Former second round pick Nate Orchard was cut by the Browns on Saturday, and is wasting no time setting up visits. The defensive lineman will visit with the Bills and Jets this week, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link).
- It had previously been announced that former first round pick Breshad Perriman would be visiting the Jets, and if he doesn’t sign with them he’ll then visit other teams including the nearby Giants and Bills, Rapoport tweets. Wherever the pass-catcher lands, it seems likely he’ll be heading east.
Nathan Peterman To Start Week 1 For Bills
After trading away A.J. McCarron to the Raiders, the Bills’ quarterback competition was down to two. Nathan Peterman has prevailed over Josh Allen for now, as the team announced Peterman will start Week 1 against the Ravens.
Peterman, a fifth round pick last year, struggled heavily in limited regular season action in 2017. But the Pittsburgh product was excellent this preseason, and performed well enough to stave off the start of the Allen-era, at least temporarily. While Allen will almost surely take over the job at some point, the team apparently decided he wasn’t ready. Allen’s preseason was a mixed bag, his potential was clear as ever, but he wasn’t always consistent.
The Bills’ schedule to start the season very likely has something to do with the decision to start Peterman. The first three weeks of the season, they play the Ravens, Chargers, and Vikings. That’s a tough slate of defenses for any quarterback to face, let alone a rookie making his first career starts, so it makes sense why they’d want Allen to avoid that.
The Bills traded Tyrod Taylor to the Browns this spring, all but confirming they planned to take a quarterback in the first round of the 2018 draft. The team used significant draft capital to move up to number seven overall to select Allen, and even if Peterman plays reasonably well, it’s only a matter of time before Allen is under center in Buffalo.
Sunday NFL Transactions: AFC East
Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC East teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Bills, Dolphins, Patriots, and Jets are noted below.
Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.
Here are Sunday’s AFC East transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:
Buffalo Bills
Claimed:
Cut:
Practice squad:
- RB Keith Ford
- DE Mike Love
- S Dean Marlowe
- WR Cam Phillips
- LB Corey Thompson
- OL Gerhard de Beer
- CB Levi Wallace
- OL De’Ondre Wesley
Miami Dolphins
Claimed:
- QB Luke Falk
- WR Tanner McEvoy
Placed on injured reserve:
- C Jake Brendel
- LB Mike Hull
Cut:
Practice squad:
- G Isaac Asiata
- WR Leonte Carroo
- WR Isaiah Ford
- CB Jalen Davis
- C Connor Hilland
- RB Jeremy Langford
- DE Cameron Malveaux
- DL Jamiyus Pittman
- LB Quentin Poling
- DL Jonathan Woodard
New England Patriots
Claimed:
- WR Chad Hansen
- WR Amara Darboh
Placed on injured reserve:
Practice squad:
- OL Cole Croston
- QB Danny Etling
- OL James Ferentz
- DL Trent Harris
- WR Riley McCarron
- DT Vincent Valentine
- RB Ralph Webb
- CB Jomal Wiltz
New York Jets
Practice squad:
- DB Brandon Bryant
- DB Jeremy Clark
- LB Frankie Luvu
- LB Anthony Wint
Bills Did Not Like Corey Coleman's Attitude
- The Bills cut Corey Coleman yesterday, less than one month after trading a non-conditional draft pick for him and assuming his guaranteed base salaries in each of the next years. Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com writes that Buffalo did not like Coleman’s attitude from the time he arrived, and the former first-rounder is also still dealing with tightness in his hamstrings. It is telling that the Bills would let Coleman go despite the team’s obvious need for receiving talent.
Bills Move Roster To 53 Players
The Bills have moved their roster to 53 players but cutting the following:
- DE Mat Boesen
- OG Ike Boettger
- DB Breon Borders
- DB Ryan Carter
- WR Kaelin Clay
- WR Corey Coleman
- OT Gerhard de Beer
- WR Malachi Dupre
- RB Keith Ford
- DT Rickey Hatley
- DE Albert Havili
- OT Josh James
- DE Mike Love
- DB Dean Marlowe
- TE Nick O’Leary
- WR Cam Phillips
- OT Mo Porter
- WR Austin Proehl
- C Adam Redmond
- WR Brandon Reilly
- RB Sam Rogers
- DE Ryan Russell
- LB Corey Thompson
- TE Keith Towbridge
- LB Tanner Vallejo
- DB Levi Wallace
- OT De’Ondre Wesley
- LB Xavier Woodson-Luster
- RB Travaris Cadet
- DE Terrence Fede
- DB Kelcie McCray
- P Jon Ryan
- WR Rod Streater
- DT Tyrunn Walker
Buffalo will take on dead money by releasing Coleman, whom it acquired from Cleveland earlier this year. Ryan lost out in the punting battle to Colton Schmidt.
Raiders To Acquire QB A.J. McCarron
The Raiders will acquire quarterback A.J. McCarron from the Bills, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Buffalo will receive a fifth-round pick, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Bills signed McCarron to compete for their starting job this spring, but he quickly fell behind both Josh Allen and Nathan Peterman.
Raiders coach Jon Gruden made clear that the team was in the market for a veteran backup quarterback and that they weren’t happy with the performances of returning players Connor Cook and E.J. Manuel. It’s unclear what the compensation is at this point, but it’s likely nothing more than a late round pick.
The Raiders haven’t announced all their cuts yet, but this means that at least one of Cook or Manuel will be sent packing, if not both. McCarron developed a reputation as one of the league’s better backups while holding Andy Dalton’s clipboard the past few seasons.
He was expected to have opportunities to start this offseason, but he was greeted with a quiet market in free agency. He didn’t draw much interest outside of Buffalo, and ended up signing a two-year deal there. The Bills will now move forward with Allen and Peterman, although they haven’t announced who will start between the two.
Bills Release WR Corey Coleman
Corey Coleman‘s brief tenure in Buffalo has come to an end. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that the Bills are releasing the wideout.
Following a pair of underwhelming seasons in Cleveland, Coleman was traded to the Bills earlier this month for a seventh-rounder. The move seemed to be of little risk for the Bills, who were hoping the receiver would show some of the promise that made him a 15th-overall pick in 2016 draft. However, he 24-year-old didn’t end up showing a whole lot in the preseason with his new team, hauling in only three receptions for seven yards.
After being traded at the beginning of the preseason, Coleman seemingly didn’t have enough time to crack Buffalo’s roster. With the wideout out of the picture, any one of Andre Holmes, Jeremy Kerley, or Kaelin Clay could push for the third receiver spot behind Kelvin Benjamin and Zay Jones.
Coleman had shown intermittent promise during his time with the Browns, although he had only managed to compile 56 receptions for 718 yards and five touchdowns in 19 career games. The former Baylor standout struggled with injuries — most notably, two hand breaks — and he saw the GM who drafted him ousted last year. Coleman was signed through the 2019 season and would have been under Bills control through 2020 via the fifth-year option.
Of course, considering Coleman’s brilliance in college, some time will surely take a shot at the wide receiver now that he’s a free agent. There are presumably plenty of receiver-needy teams that would be willing to sign the 5-foot-11, 185-pound wideout.
AFC Notes: Browns, Landry, Peterman
On the eve of roster cutdown day, here’s the latest out of the AFC:
- The Browns have turned to multiple players this offseason in search of Joe Thomas‘ replacement, but after moving well-regarded left guard Joel Bitonio to left tackle, it doesn’t appear the team is ready to slot him there in Week 1. Hue Jackson said Bitonio might be moving back to guard and has declined to say who will be his left tackle starter against the Steelers, per Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland (on Twitter). Austin Corbett‘s left guard job is also not certain, per Jackson (via Jeff Schudel of the Lorain Morning Journal, on Twitter). Rookie UDFA Desmond Harrison may be the latest name to get a crack at left tackle, which would be an interesting move for a team with Shon Coleman and Greg Robinson still on the roster.
- It appears the Titans may be without two of their top edge rushers when they suit up for Week 1. With Derrick Morgan already expected to be out because of meniscus surgery, Harold Landry suffered a sprained ankle — a second opinion revealing that this could be a high ankle sprain, per NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (via Twitter) — is uncertain for Tennessee’s opener. No joint damage occurred, but the Titans may opt to play it safe with their second-rounder.
- Working as both a camp kicker and punter with the Ravens, rookie UDFA Kaare Vedvik has drawn attention around the league this month. Teams are monitoring this situation, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link), since Vedvik will not be beating out Justin Tucker or Sam Koch.
- Nathan Peterman has a real shot to be the Bills‘ Week 1 starter, despite having made one of the worst starts in modern NFL history last season. Signs are pointing to Peterman to begin the year as the Bills’ starter, Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic writes. The 2017 fifth-round pick completed 80 percent of his preseason passes and watched the Bills deploy A.J. McCarron instead of him in Thursday night’s preseason finale, a game usually reserved for backups or players set to be cut. McCarron signed for two years and $8MM this offseason. Josh Allen is obviously the long-term option, but while he learns, Peterman may be the Bills’ guy.
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/28/18
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: RB Darius Victor
Buffalo Bills
- Released: S L.J. McCray
Cincinnati Bengals
- Signed: CB Darius Hillary
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: OL Kyle Bosch, OL Matthew Diaz
- Waived: WR Ricky Jeune, OL Dustin Stanton
Houston Texans
- Released: WR Chris Thompson
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Released from IR: S Don Carey
Los Angeles Chargers
- Claimed off waivers (Texans): DT Marcus Hardison
- Waived/injured: OL Zachary Crabtree
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: RB Larry Rose
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: TE Anthony Denham
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: RB Ja’Quan Gardner
- Waived: S Chanceller James
Tennessee Titans
- Waived: LB Deontae Skinner