Jimmy Gaines

Bills Claim Dalton Freeman, Kevin Reddick

The Bills announced that they have claimed center Dalton Freeman and linebacker Kevin Reddick off waivers as a part of today’s moves. Here’s the full rundown:

Claimed Off Waivers:

  • Dalton Freeman, C (waived by Jets)
  • Kevin Reddick, LB (waived by Panthers)

Released:

  • Jimmy Gaines, LB

Waived/Injured:

  • Tyson Chandler, OT

Freeman was released on August 30th by the Jets and Rex Ryan wasted little time in orchestrating a reunion. The 6-5, 291 pound Clemson product originally entered the NFL as an UDFA in 2013 with the Gang Green. Freeman played in all 16 games last season for the Jets, starting one.

Reddick originally entered the NFL as an UDFA in 2013 with the Saints before having stints with the Panthers and Chargers.

Bills Sign 10 To Reserve/Futures Contracts

Today is the first day that teams can begin signing players who didn’t finish the regular season on an NFL roster to reserve/futures contracts for the 2015 season, and the Bills have locked up 10 such players, according to a team release.

Here’s the full list of the players to ink futures deals with the team. Of these 10 players, all but one finished the year on the Bills’ practice squad:

Defensive end Ike Igbinosun was the only player to finish the season on Buffalo’s taxi squad and not receive a futures contract from the team. Meanwhile, Holley was the only one to sign a deal after not being on the practice squad, though he spent time earlier in the season on the unit before being placed on the injured list.

For a refresher on how reserve/futures contracts work, be sure to check out our glossary entry.

Sunday/Monday 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 are noted below.

Additionally, as of 11:00am CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. For the 2014 and 2015 seasons, changes were made to practice squad rules that allow teams to carry eight players instead of 10, and the eligibility requirements for those extra two spots were also loosened. 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:

Miami Dolphins:

New England Patriots:

New York Jets:

Bills Sign Colton Schmidt, Cut T.J. Graham, Others

The Bills have signed punter Colton Schmidt, reports Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). Schmidt, a California-Davis product, has also spent time with the 49ers. Additionally, the team announced it has trimmed its roster to 53 by cutting the following 10 players:

Bills Notes: Roster, Ownership, Sale

Wide receiver T.J. Graham, tight end Tony Moeaki, and linebacker Jimmy Gaines are among the players whose roster spots are in jeopardy for the Bills as August’s cutdown dates approach, writes Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News. Still, even as Buffalo prepares for the regular season, its play on the field is taking a back seat in the news these days to the sale of the franchise, so let’s check out the latest reports on that process….

  • The Buffalo Fan Alliance, a Bills fan group, has discovered documents referring to Rogers Communications consultant, Roger Rai, as part of the ownership group “attempting to acquire and move the Buffalo Bills to Toronto,” writes John Wawrow of The Associated Press. The Rogers family is part of the Toronto-based group led by Jon Bon Jovi pursuing the Bills, but Rai that he’s not involved with that group, and that any references connecting him to an attempted purchase of the franchise is “a mistake on my behalf.”
  • Whether or not Rai is involved, and whether or not that Toronto group wants to move the Bills to Canada, things aren’t looking particularly good for Bon Jovi and company. Tim Graham of the Buffalo News tweets that there’s “major tension” within the group lately, with the partners not getting along.
  • Meanwhile, multiple sources who spoke to John Kryk of the Toronto Sun about the Toronto group’s meeting with the Bills sellers described the sitdown as “purely perfunctory.” According to Kryk, defeat for Bon Jovi’s group seems “more inevitable than ever.”
  • At least two Los Angeles-based parties signed the Bills’ non-disclosure agreement, but abandoned any pursuit of the franchise once they found out how difficult it would be to relocate the team to L.A., says Graham in a story for the Buffalo News. According to Graham, philanthropist Eli Broad, who is worth an estimated $6.9 billion, was one potential suitor who signed the non-disclosure agreement but was discouraged about his chances of moving the club west.