Bills Place Josh Norman On IR
Josh Norman‘s Bills tenure will not include game action for a while. The team placed the veteran cornerback on IR Saturday.
Norman was already set to miss Week 1 with a hamstring injury. He will now be forced to miss at least two more games. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted the NFL to further alter its IR rule. Teams can activate an unlimited number of players from IR after three weeks, rather than the usual eight.
Buffalo signed Norman to a one-year, $6MM deal in March. Norman did not fare especially well for most of his four-year Washington tenure, but a Bills stay means a return to work with his former defensive coordinator in Sean McDermott. Those plans are now on hold.
The Bills also promoted cornerback Cam Lewis and defensive tackle Justin Zimmer from their practice squad Saturday.
Bills Release Andre Roberts, Trim Roster To 53
Here are the roster decisions the Bills made to move to the mandated 53-man regular-season limit.
Waived:
- OT Trey Adams
- DB Brian Allen
- TE Nate Becker
- DE Bryan Cox Jr.
- TE Jason Croom
- WR Robert Foster
- G Marquel Harrell
- DB Dane Jackson
- DB Cam Lewis
- DE Mike Love
- DB Dean Marlowe
- T Victor Salako
- DT Tanzel Smart
- LB Andre Smith
- DT Vincent Taylor
- DB Josh Thomas
- RB Christian Wade
- T Brandon Walton
- QB Davis Webb
- RB Antonio Williams
- WR Duke Williams (story)
- DT Justin Zimmer
Released:
- OL Evan Boehm
- WR Andre Roberts
Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform:
The Bills signed Roberts to a two-year deal in 2019, doing so after he earned All-Pro recognition for his kick-return work on the 2018 Jets. Roberts has 10 years’ experience and two Pro Bowls on his resume. The second of those two Pro Bowl nods came last season with the Bills. Buffalo enters the season with its best chance to win the AFC East in maybe 20 years, so cutting an accomplished player is certainly surprising.
Foster made a splash as a rookie in 2018, but the Bills have overhauled their receiver group since. John Brown and Cole Beasley led the way last year, and the team traded for Stefon Diggs and drafted two wideouts — fourth-rounder Gabriel Davis and sixth-rounder Isaiah Hodgins — this year. Foster will nonetheless be an interest name on waivers.
Buffalo traded for Andre Smith earlier this week. The third-year linebacker could well be brought back on the team’s 16-player practice squad. Teams can begin assembling their P-squads Sunday.
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, Jets and Patriots are noted below.
Additionally, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads today. 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
- Signed to practice squad:
- TE Nate Becker
- CB Cam Lewis
- OL Erik Magnuson
- DT Kyle Peko
- RB Christian Wade*
- WR Duke Williams
- DE Eddie Yarbrough
Miami Dolphins
- Claimed:
- DE Trent Harris
- LB Deon Lacey
- DE Avery Moss
- DB Steven Parker
- DB Ken Webster
- Waived:
- LB Terrill Hanks
- DB Montre Hartage
- TE Chris Myarick
- OL Zach Sterup
- DL Adolphus Washington
New England Patriots
- Signed to practice squad:
- TE Stephen Anderson
- LB Terez Hall
- FB Jakob Johnson
- DL Ufomba Kamalu
- LB Calvin Munson
- OL Dan Skipper
- OL Tyree St. Louis
- DL Nick Thurman
New York Jets
- Claimed:
- WR Braxton Berrios
- DE John Franklin
- DB Bennett Jackson
- K Kaare Vedvik
- Released:
- Waived:
- Signed to practice squad:
- OL Calvin Anderson
- OL Ben Braden
- CB Kyron Brown
- QB Luke Falk
- RB Valentine Holmes*
- LB Jamey Mosley
- WR Jeff Smith
* = International Pathway Program player
Bills Reach 53-Man Max
The Bills dropped a host of players on Saturday to reach the 53-man limit, but they also carved out spots by other means. Fifth-round linebacker Vosean Joseph (shoulder) and running back Senorise Perry (quad) were placed on IR while undrafted linebacker Tyrell Dodson was placed on the Commissioner’s exempt list.
Here’s the full list of cut players in Buffalo:
DE Sam Acho
TE Nate Becker
WR Victor Bolden Jr.
TE Kyle Carter
S Kurt Coleman
WR Nick Easley
DE Jeff Holland
QB Tyree Jackson
OT Jarron Jones
LB Deon Lacey
CB Cam Lewis
CB Ryan Lewis
OL Eric Magnuson
WR Ray-Ray McCloud
RB LeSean McCoy
K Chase McLaughlin
CB Captain Munnerlyn
RB Marcus Murphy
DT Kyle Peko
WR Cam Phillips
CB Lafayette Pitts
OL Demetrius Rhaney
CB Denzel Rice
WR David Sills
TE Keith Towbridge
RB Christian Wade
S Abraham Wallace
DT L.T. Walton
WR Duke Williams
DE Eddie Yarbrough
DT Roderick Young
Bills Sign Cody Ford, Five Other Draft Picks, Eight UDFAs
After signing first-round pick Ed Oliver earlier today, the Bills have signed six more draft picks and eight undrafted free agents.
Draft Picks
- 2-38: Cody Ford, T (Oklahoma)
- 3-74: Devin Singletary, RB (Florida Atlantic)
- 5-147: Vosean Joseph, LB (Florida)
- 6-181: Jaquan Johnson, S (Miami)
- 7-225: Darryl Johnson Jr., DE (North Carolina A&T)
- 7-228: Tommy Sweeney, TE (Boston College)
Ford, whom many teams had earmarked as a Day 1 selection, will give the Bills options along their revamped offensive line. He’s capable of playing either guard or tackle, so Buffalo can deploy the Oklahoma product in any number of ways. Singletary, meanwhile, becomes yet another new running back on the Bills’ roster, joining T.J. Yeldon and Frank Gore. LeSean McCoy, therefore, could potentially either become trade bait or be released.
UDFAs
- Tyrel Dodson, LB (Texas A&M)
- Nick Easley, WR (Iowa)
- Juwan Foggie, LB (Charlotte)
- Blake Hance, OL (Northwestern)
- Tyree Jackson, QB (Buffalo)
- Cam Lewis, CB (Buffalo)
- Chase McLaughlin, K (Illinois)
- David Sills, WR (West Virginia)
Jackson was widely expected to be drafted, but he was instead able to choose his destination and remain close to home. He received $75K guaranteed on his deal with the Bills, tweets Adam Schefter of ESPN.com.