Bills’ Taiwan Jones Done For Season
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.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/1/17
Here are today’s practice squad transactions.
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: TE Jason Croom
- Cut: TE Ryan O’Malley
Oakland Raiders
- Signed: RB Elijah Hood
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: DB Tyvis Powell
Panthers Only Discussed Benjamin With Bills
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.
Bills GM: We Will Not Release Anquan Boldin
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.
Bills Expect Anquan Boldin To Stay Retired
- Bills general manager Brandon Beane expects veteran wide receiver Anquan Boldin to stay retired now that he wasn’t traded at the deadline, tweets Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News. Beane & Co. allowed Boldin — who expressed interest in returning from a brief retirement — to seek a trade, but he presumably wasn’t able to find a suitable landing spot. Buffalo had already expressed that it wouldn’t consider releasing Boldin, who inked a one-year deal with the club earlier this season. The 37-year-old Boldin could still return to the Bills, although Beane’s comments suggest that isn’t a likely outcome.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/31/17
Today’s practice squad updates:
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: G Jason King, T Steven Moore
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: LB Marquavius Lewis
- Released: LB Nick Vigil
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: TE Evan Baylis
- Released: TE Bucky Hodges
Detroit Lions
- Released: T Storm Norton
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: WR Rodney Adams
New York Giants
- Signed: LB Trevor Bates
- Released: WR Kalif Raymond
Washington Redskins
- Released: T Andreas Knappe
Bills Had Interest In Martavis Bryant
- Before acquiring wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin from the Panthers, the Bills had interest in fellow pass-catcher Martavis Bryant, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (Twitter link). However, the Steelers never seemed to express any serious interest in dealing Bryant despite his off-field question marks. Ultimately, Buffalo shipped third- and seventh-round picks to Carolina for Benjamin, whom Bills general manager Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott are familiar with given the pair’s time with the Panthers.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/31/17
Today’s minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Activated from injured reserve: LB LaRoy Reynolds
- Placed on injured reserve: LB Jordan Tripp
Baltimore Ravens
- Promoted to active roster: OL Maurquice Shakir
- Released: WR Griff Whalen
Buffalo Bills
- Released: RB Joe Banyard
Detroit Lions
- Signed: OL Don Barclay
- Waived: OL Dan Skipper
Houston Texans
- Signed: T Kendall Lamm
- Signed off Patriots‘ practice squad: DL Angelo Blackson
- Placed on injured reserve: DL Christian Covington (story)
Miami Dolphins
- Activated from PUP: WR Rashawn Scott
- Placed on injured reserve: S Nate Allen, OL Anthony Steen
New York Giants
- Signed: DE Devin Taylor
- Placed on injured reserve: DE Nordly Capi
New York Jets
- Signed: DE Xavier Cooper
- Placed on injured reserve: TE Jordan Leggett
- Waived: DL Ed Stinson
Philadelphia Eagles
- Placed on injured reserve: LB Jordan Hicks (story)
San Francisco 49ers
- Released from injured reserve: CB Will Redmond
Panthers Trade WR Kelvin Benjamin To Bills
The Panthers have traded wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin to the Bills, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). The buzzer beating deal comes as one of the biggest trades of the week, and that’s saying a lot for what has been a historically eventful deadline. In return, the Panthers receive Buffalo’s third- and seventh-round picks in 2018, a league source tells Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link). 
Benjamin’s name was not involved in rumors leading up to the NFL’s Halloween trade deadline. However, it was the old connection between executive Brandon Beane and Carolina that brought the deal together. The Bills traded away one of the game’s brightest talents in Sammy Watkins earlier this year, but they have replaced him with another big target.
The Bills are off to a 5-2 start with a very real chance of toppling the Patriots for the AFC East crown. The move to acquire Benjamin reads as a go-for-it deal, and Buffalo fans are happy to see that in the wake of the Marcell Dareus trade.
Benjamin, 26, was a first-round pick of the Panthers in 2014 when Beane was in the front office and Sean McDermott was on the sidelines. In that season, he caught 73 passes for 1,008 yards and nine scores. Unfortunately, the 2015 season was lost to injury and the football world is still waiting for Benjamin to replicate that season. The good news is that the health and conditioning problems that were plaguing the Florida State product appear to be behind him. In his half-season for Carolina this year, he has 32 grabs for 475 yards and two touchdowns.
The Panthers previously exercised the fifth-year option on Benjamin, meaning that the Bills will have him under contract through the 2018 season. His paltry $2.44MM cap number will increase to $8.46MM under the option, which is guaranteed for injury only.
Bills Still Open To Trading Veterans
- Despite the fact that the Bills have jumped out to a surprisingly strong start, La Canfora says the team is still willing to move some of its veteran pieces. However, it has already been reported that Cordy Glenn and Anquan Boldin are available, and La Canfora does not add any other names to the list of Bills who could be on the move.