Here are today’s practice squad moves.
Buffalo Bills
Green Bay Packers
New England Patriots
New York Jets
The Colts have cut Vontae Davis, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The defensive back will be subject to waivers since the league’s trade deadline has passed. 
It has been a perplexing couple of weeks for Davis. First, Davis was withheld from Sunday’s game against the Texans for reasons that were not exactly clear. The Colts swore up and down that Davis’ absence was not injury-related. Afterwards, there were conflicting reports. Some indicated that the Colts were covering up Davis’ previously unreported groin injury. There was also talk that Davis had been demoted from the starting lineup and was not taking the news well. Then, on Wednesday night, we learned that Davis’ season is likely over thanks to the aforementioned groin issue.
Given everything going on with the 29-year-old, we’re not expecting another team to claim him and the final year of his four-year, $36MM contract. Once he passes through waivers, Davis will still have to determine whether he wants to go through with season-ending surgery and teams will have to figure out whether it’s worthwhile to bring him into the locker room after things deteriorated so quickly in Indianapolis.
If he doesn’t get the surgery, the Bills might be one team to keep in mind for Davis. Buffalo showed interest in acquiring the veteran before the trade deadline, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter).
Although Davis’ entire body of work has been impressive, he has looked like a shell of himself over the last season-and-a-half. He currently rates as the NFL’s No. 94 cornerback out of 117 qualifiers, according to Pro Football Focus. Last year, PFF had Davis as one of the ten worst qualified corners in the league. It’s a major drop for a player who earned an excellent 95.1 overall score in 2014 and followed it up with a strong 81.9 mark in ’15.
Today’s workout updates:
Arizona Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons
Buffalo Bills
Chicago Bears
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
New York Jets
San Francisco 49ers
Today’s practice squad updates:
Arizona Cardinals
Buffalo Bills
Indianapolis Colts
San Francisco 49ers
The Bills are swapping running backs. Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News reports (via Twitter) that the team has signed Travaris Cadet and placed Taiwan Jones on the injured reserve. We learned earlier this week that Jones had a broken arm and would miss the rest of the season.
Jones joined Buffalo this past offseason, and after compiling 829 return yards in 2015, the team was expecting the 29-year-old to contribute on special teams. However, the former fourth-rounder only returned a pair of kicks this season, and he hauled in a lone 11-yard reception.
Cadet was signed by the Jets in late September, but he was ultimately released by the team last week. The 28-year-old saw the field in three games this season, compiling three receptions for 26 yards. The veteran could conceivably play a similar role as Jones, as Cadet has plenty of experience in the return game. He’ll slot in behind LeSean McCoy and Mike Tolbert on the running back depth chart.
Taiwan Jones‘ season is over. Bills coach Sean McDermott informed reporters on Friday morning that the running back and key special teamer is going on injured reserve with a broken arm. 
Jones, 29, joined up with the Bills this summer after he was released by the Raiders. He didn’t come with a lengthy offensive resume, but he did have lots of experience in the third facet of the game. Last year, he was seventh among Raiders players in special teams snaps, and he’s not far removed from leading the AFC in kick return yards (829) in 2015.
This year, Jones appeared in all eight games as a special teamer. He returned two kicks for a total of 50 yards and had one reception on offense.
Here are today’s practice squad transactions.
Buffalo Bills
Oakland Raiders
San Francisco 49ers
The Bills and Panthers stunned everyone with a buzzer-beating deal to send Kelvin Benjamin up north. Here’s another surprise: the Panthers did not discuss a potential Benjamin deal with anyone besides Buffalo, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). 
One would imagine that multiple teams had interest in acquiring a young WR1 like Benjamin. Then again, the Panthers weren’t exactly shopping him hard in the days leading up to the deadline. Before Tuesday at 4pm/3pm CT, Benjamin’s name did not surface in any trade rumors.
The Panthers only negotiated with one team, but they came away with a pretty solid deal. They’ve now added third and seventh round picks to their stockpile for the 2018 draft, and that’s more than they would have received in compensation had they allowed Benjamin to walk as a free agent following the ’18 season. The previous regime led by Dave Gettleman was intent on extending Benjamin and keeping him for the long-term, but Marty Hurney‘s front office did not see a future for the former FSU star in Carolina.
Leading up to the deadline, Anquan Boldin expressed interest in returning to football for a team other than the Bills. Buffalo allowed him to seek a trade, but nothing came to fruition before Tuesday’s 4pm ET/3pm CT deadline. Now that the deadline has come and gone, GM Brandon Beane reiterated that the team will not grant him his release. 
“We made a commitment to Anquan, and he made a commitment to us back in [training] camp,” Beane told SiriusXM (transcript via ESPN.com’s Mike Rodak). “He left for the reasons he mentioned back in August. We invested in him — invested time and committed to him — and we wouldn’t want to just put him out on the market to see him go sign with the Patriots or the Dolphins or anybody that can get in our way or work against us.”
The Bills have surprised everyone by getting off to a 5-2 start and one would think that Boldin would be eager to play for a playoff contender. However, it sounds like Boldin is hoping to play closer to his family in Florida. Meanwhile, Beane is not expecting the 37-year-old to have a change of heart about suiting up for Buffalo.
Last year, Boldin had perfect attendance for the Lions in the regular season and hauled in 67 catches for 584 yards and eight touchdowns. He still has some football left in the tank, but it doesn’t sound like he’ll show his stuff in 2017.