LeSean McCoy Accuser Issues New Statement
- The ex-girlfriend of LeSean McCoy issued a new statement yesterday, saying that she is still waiting for “justice to be served.” McCoy has consistently denied any wrongdoing and has not yet been punished by either the Bills or the NFL.
Bills' Coleman Could Immediately Contribute
- The Bills traded for former first-round wideout Corey Coleman last night, and Joe Buscaglia of WKBW.com believes the receiver could have an immediate impact on his new team. The writer points out that Kelvin Benjamin and Jeremy Kerley are the only two players locked in at the top of the Bills depth chart, and this was emphasized when the coaching staff add recently-recovered Andre Holmes to the first team during camp (Zay Jones has since recovered from his injury, as well). At the very least, Coleman will provide the Bills with unmatched speed, a skill set that the team’s fellow receivers are lacking.
[SOURCE LINK]
Browns Get Seventh-Rounder For Coleman
In 2016, the Browns selected Corey Coleman with the No. 15 overall pick. This week, when they shipped the wide receiver to the Bills, all they got in return was a 2020 seventh-round choice, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). 
[RELATED: Browns Trade Corey Coleman To Bills]
Coleman has flashed at times during his two NFL seasons, but he has struggled for the most part. Injuries have been a big part of the problem, including two hand fractures.
When considering the Browns’ needs at wide receiver, the weak return in the deal shows how little the Browns expected out of Coleman this year. While the Browns added Jarvis Landry in free agency, Josh Gordon‘s status is up in the air as he tries to stay on the straight and narrow. At the same time, it sounds like the Browns are confident in their other receivers such as Rashard Higgins and Antonio Callaway.
For his career, Coleman has 56 catches for 718 yards and five touchdowns. With the Bills, he has a chance to shine alongside Kelvin Benjamin and Zay Jones. With tons of question marks around Jones, Coleman should have an opportunity to make an impact.
Browns To Trade Corey Coleman To Bills
The Browns are cutting bait on their 2016 first-round pick, and the Bills will take a chance on a young wide receiver with two years remaining on his contract.
Cleveland agreed to trade Corey Coleman to Buffalo in exchange for a draft pick, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The Browns will receive a late-round pick for Coleman, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter). The Browns announced the trade.
Coleman’s shown intermittent promise with the Browns, but for the most part, his first two NFL seasons have not gone well. The Baylor product’s struggled with injuries — most notably, two hand breaks — and saw the GM who drafted him ousted last year. And this offseason, Coleman’s been mentioned as either a trade candidate or a player who needed a strong training camp to have a key role with the Browns this season. He’ll now have to learn a new offense to make an impact in Year 3.
This also continues a Browns/Bills trade pipeline. The sides most notably agreed on a deal that sent the Browns Tyrod Taylor in exchange for a third-round pick, and John Dorsey dealt with the Bills during the 2017 draft as well (albeit with former GM Doug Whaley) in a trade that routed Patrick Mahomes to Kansas City.
This is also interesting because Coleman appears as a starter on the Browns’ first 2018 depth chart. Josh Gordon is away from the team, and Coleman’s name is listed with the first-stringers alongside Jarvis Landry. With the 2016 No. 15 overall pick now Buffalo-bound, players like Rashard Higgins and Antonio Callaway will have clearer paths to playing time. Dorsey also expects Gordon to return to the Browns at some point, and it’s believed the former All-Pro pass-catcher is getting closer to rejoining his team.
Just 24, Coleman is signed through the 2019 season and could be under Bills control through 2020 via the fifth-year option. That decision is due in May, making Coleman’s 2018 season pivotal.
The first wideout chosen in the 2016 draft, Coleman played well early in his career — posting a 104-yard, two-touchdown day in his second NFL game — before breaking his hand in September 2016. He has yet to record another 100-yard game and was not much of a factor for an abysmal Browns passing offense last season.
For his career, Coleman has 56 catches for 718 yards and five touchdowns. He’ll join a Bills receiving corps fronted by Kelvin Benjamin and Zay Jones. Beyond those two, and Benjamin is only signed through 2018, there isn’t much clarity. The Bills’ activated Jones off their NFI list earlier Sunday.
This trade also comes on the same day the Eagles extended the power structure responsible for trading up to draft Carson Wentz. The Browns traded down out of that No. 2 spot and ended up at No. 15, selecting Coleman. None of Cleveland’s eight first-round picks from 2012-16 is still with the franchise.
Bills Activate Zay Jones Off NFI
- Bills receiver Zay Jones has been activated off the active/non-football injury list, but was wearing a red contact jersey during his first day back at practice, tweets Joe Buscaglia of WKBW. Jones underwent knee surgery in May and missed Buffalo’s offseason program, but the club has expressed hope that Jones — who was selected in the second round of the 2017 draft — will be ready for the regular season. After an offseason which included not only an operation but a bizarre arrest, the Bills have been adamant that Jones won’t be handed a starting spot. Buffalo’s wideout depth chart is among the worst in the league, though, so it will be surprising if Jones isn’t lining up opposite Kelvin Benjamin as the Bills’ No. 2 pass-catcher.
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/5/18
Today’s minor moves:
Buffalo Bills
- Waived: WR Quan Bray
Kansas City Chiefs
- Claimed off waivers: C Jack Allen
- Waived/injured: C Tejan Koroma
New Orleans Saints
- Re-signed: S Rickey Jefferson, TE John Phillips
- Waived/injured: OL John Fullington
- Waived from injured reserve: WR Eldridge Massington, WR Josh Smith
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: G Chris Gonzalez
- Waived: S Corey Griffin
Bills Notes: Washington, OL
- Bills defensive tackle Adolphus Washington may be in roster trouble, Joe Buscaglia of WKBW writes. The 2016 third-round pick has been struggling in practice while the team has given Harrison Phillips work at Washington’s three-technique position. Bills GM Brandon Beane hasn’t been shy about jettisoning players from the old regime, so Buscaglia wonders if Washington could go on the trade block between now and September. It’s not quite clear what the Bills could fetch for Washington, however, given uneven performance over the last two years.
- The Bills‘ new look offensive line is long on experience but may be short on talent, Sal Maiorana of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle writes. The Bills are coming into 2018 without Cordy Glenn, Eric Wood, and Richie Incognito, three players who have started a combined 347 games and made five Pro Bowls. Of the Bills’ current 15 linemen, they have zero Pro Bowlers or even players that have been considered for a Pro Bowl.
Brandon Beane On Bills’ QB Decision
Second-year Bills GM Brandon’s Beane went through a lot to trade up and land Josh Allen, making two deals — with the Bengals and Buccaneers — to vault the Bills into that No. 7 spot.
When asked about his first-round quarterback’s chances of earning earlier-than-expected playing time, Beane said it could come down to how he looks in the Bills’ first preseason game.
“I think you give everybody the fair amount of reps now. Right now we’re going with Nathan (Peterman) and A.J. (McCarron) with the majority of the ones and twos, but giving Josh at least a period a day – at least,” Beane said, via John Kryk of the Toronto Sun. “And we’ll do that through the first preseason game, and then we’ll adjust from there and decide, Are we going to keep it the same? Are we going to give him more reps? Or are we going to give him less? Everything is earned here.”
Buffalo snapped major North American sports’ longest playoff drought last season by booking the AFC’s No. 6 seed in dramatic fashion, and that progress may impact the team’s quarterback decision.
Although the Bills’ offense will look remarkably different, given that Tyrod Taylor and three key offensive linemen are out of the picture, last year’s work may prompt the GM and coaching staff to go with one of the veteran signal-callers while the Wyoming-produced prodigy observes to start the season.
“Some people say, ‘Hey, don’t play a rookie at all.’ And some people say go ahead and play him no matter what,” Beane said. “And I think the thing is you’ve got to be fair to the other – when you get your 53-man roster – the other 52 players. Because everybody wants to win now, including Sean (McDermott) and I. And so (the players) see the same practice. They watch the same practices; they’ll watch the same preseason games. And if you’re not putting the best guy out there I think they’re going to lose their respect for you.”
Beane said he will be involved in the decision, along with McDermott and new OC Brian Daboll. Ownership will not steer the team one way or another in this matter, per Beane. Daboll last served as an NFL coordinator for the 2012 Chiefs, who went 2-14, but he served as national champion Alabama’s OC last season.
“It will be a group decision,” Beane said. “There’s Sean and I. We’ll obviously talk. There’s Brian Daboll. He’ll be involved. He knows more than everybody who’s hitting everything. He’s in every meeting with these quarterbacks. It’s his offense.
“… We’ll talk to (owners Terry and Kim Pegula) about the evaluation process. ‘Hey, this is what A.J. did well in Game 1 … this is what he’s got to improve on.’ Or, ‘This is what Josh did what, and what he’s got to improve on.’ And same with Nathan. So, yeah, we’ll definitely talk.”
Despite his five-interception disaster in Los Angeles last season, Peterman showed well in minicamp. McCarron would seemingly be the best bet for veteran stability, but Allen’s displayed improvement in training camp. Allen was viewed as a longer project than peers Josh Rosen or Sam Darnold coming into the draft.
“(Allen) was behind, being in the draft, whereas both A.J. and Nate were already learning Brian Daboll’s system a month-plus before Josh got there,” Beane told Kryk regarding Allen’s summer progression. “But definitely, by the time we left there in June he was mentally there. Now it’s just catching him up physically, knowing all the plays – it’s a big playbook – and getting the guys lined up. But he has done a great job to this point.”
Bills Sign DE Ryan Russell
The Bills have agreed to a one-year deal with free agent defensive end Ryan Russell, reports Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk (Twitter link).
Buffalo has been interested in Russell for some time, as the club visited with the veteran lineman in May before bringing him in for another visit on Saturday. That’s been the only known league-wide interest in Russell, whom the Buccaneers allowed to hit the open market in the spring after opting not to tender him as a restricted free agent.
Russell, a fifth-round pick in the 2015, draft, appeared in 14 games and made six starts for the Buccaneers a season ago in a campaign that was his most active to date. The 26-year-old played on 456 defensive snaps for Tampa Bay (nearly triple his career snap count to that point), managing two sacks and 12 tackles in that time. Russell also chipped on special teams, seeing action on roughly 20% of the Bucs’ ST snaps.
The Bills had been on the lookout for defensive line help, as they worked out former Bronco Jared Crick before inking Russell while also signing interior defender John Hughes. Russell, for his part, will compete for reserve snaps behind Jerry Hughes, Trent Murphy, and Shaq Lawson.
In order to create a roster spot for Russell, Buffalo has waived defensive end Owa Odighizuwa, the club announced.
Leslier Frazier: Shaq Lawson Still Has His Best Football Ahead Of Him
- Embattled Bills DE Shaq Lawson could be on his way out of Buffalo, but DC Leslie Frazier isn’t casting him aside just yet. Frazier said Lawson’s best football is ahead of him, and that he is much too young to say that 2018 is a make-or-break year (via Joe Buscaglia of WKBW on Twitter). However, as Mike Rodak of ESPN.com tweets, Frazier also refers to Trent Murphy as the team’s starting left end, which is further evidence that Lawson has ground to make up if he wants to remain a Bill.