HEADLINES

Richard Gouraige

Wednesday NFL Transactions: AFC East

August 28th, 2024 at 8:00pm CST by Sam Robinson

Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These Bills, Dolphins, Jets and Patriots moves are noted below.

Buffalo Bills

Signed:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

Miami Dolphins

Released:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

New England Patriots

Signed:

Claimed:

Released:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

New York Jets

Signed:

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Bills Pare Roster To 53; LB Matt Milano Receives IR-Return Designation

August 27th, 2024 at 5:03pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here is how the Bills dropped their roster to the 53-man limit:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

  • T Travis Clayton

Placed on IR (return designation)

Milano suffered a biceps tear and will aim to return late in the season, though the All-Pro linebacker’s injury trouble is obviously a big-picture concern at this point. The Bills are also using one of their eight IR activations, mandated for teams who take advantage of the new rule to designate IR-return players today, on a backup running back. That is a rather interesting decision, as Evans has totaled just 62 carries since being drafted in the 2020 third round.

Residing on the Bills’ roster bubble going into camp, Damar Hamlin made the team. Ditto Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who joined Hamlin on the bubble. The bubble burst — for the time being, at least — on Collins and Clapp, who were vying for swing spots. Collins had been shuttled to guard — where he had not played since 2016 — in recent practices. Jackson joined the Bills after they ran into some injury trouble at safety early in camp.

Steveson, who has an Olympic wrestling gold medal, could be a practice squad candidate. The Eagles carried Olympian hurdler Devon Allen on their P-squad for two years, though the latter has far more football seasoning compared to Steveson. Attempting to follow in his father’s footsteps by securing a Bills gig, Gore is a P-squad candidate, per the Buffalo News’ Ryan O’Halloran. He will need to clear waivers first.

Bills Shift La’el Collins To Guard; Latest On Team’s CB Situation

August 21st, 2024 at 4:17pm CST by Sam Robinson

La’el Collins has worked exclusively at tackle since 2017. The Cowboys’ position change at the time stuck, with the former first-round guard prospect quickly establishing himself as a right tackle starter. Eight years after he last played guard in a game, the former Dallas and Cincinnati starter’s last shot with Buffalo appears to hinge on a move back.

The Bills are now viewing Collins as a guard-only option, according to The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia (subscription required). This has been an interesting transition for the veteran blocker, as the Bills had hoped he would become a swing backup. But Collins has struggled, putting his roster spot in jeopardy.

A pre-camp assessment of Collins’ likelihood for the 53-man roster pointed to a bubble scenario forming, but the Bills guaranteed the 86-game starter $1.5MM upon signing him in April. Collins had visited late last season but did not sign. The Bengals cut Collins from their reserve/PUP list last September, leading to a missed season. Collins had sustained ACL and MCL tears in Week 16 of the 2022 campaign, and the Bengals were generally unhappy with their three-year, $21MM free agency investment in the veteran tackle.

Cincinnati had shut the door on Collins potentially moving to guard to accommodate Orlando Brown Jr.‘s arrival last year, but it appears the Bills view him differently. Collins started 14 games at guard from 2015-16, but a foot injury ended his run as an inside presence. Dallas shifted the LSU product to tackle before the 2017 season and used him as its RT starter in four of the next five seasons. This transition scored Collins two Cowboys extensions. Now 31, he faces a challenge to reacclimate to guard.

Collins and Will Clapp have struggled during the run-up to cutdown day, Buscaglia adds, noting the Bills subbed out the veterans for younger players while the second-team offense was in the game against the Steelers. Clapp started 11 Chargers games last season, filling in for Corey Linsley after the latter’s move to the NFI list, and has made 21 career starts. Clapp, 28, and Collins represent the only veteran backup options for Buffalo up front, but the team is trying UDFA Richard Gouraige at both tackle and guard.

Gouraige, a 2023 signee, spent last season on Buffalo’s practice squad. The team has 2023 swing tackle Ryan Van Demark and rookie fifth-rounder Sedrick Van Pran-Granger, an All-American center at Georgia, locked into roster spots. Ditto Alec Anderson, a 2022 UDFA, Buscaglia adds. Anderson has yet to play a regular-season snap, but it appears the Bills trust him more than the newly acquired vets.

Collins and Clapp would provide experience, and while there might be room on the Bills’ roster for one of the two, the team may not want to carry both. Clapp signed a one-year, $1.29MM deal with $288K guaranteed.

Elsewhere on the Bills’ roster, it does not look like Kaiir Elam is expected to unseat Christian Benford at cornerback. The latter, a former sixth-round pick who quickly usurped the ex-first-rounder back in 2022, has a “vise grip” on the team’s boundary CB job opposite Rasul Douglas, the Buffalo News’ Mark Gaughan writes.

Elam has only started eight games since being the No. 23 overall pick in 2022. Benford, conversely, has made 19 starts — including 14 last season. Elam tore an ankle ligament before last season and landed on IR after attempting to play through the malady. While Gaughan indicates Elam has not accounted himself poorly, Benford has been better and appears in no danger of losing his starting job. Pro Football Focus ranked Benford as last year’s eighth-best corner.

The Bills benched Elam in November 2022 and have not relied on him as a regular starter since. Even with Tre’Davious White now in Los Angeles, Elam appears on track to enter the season as a backup.

Wednesday NFL Transactions: AFC East

August 30th, 2023 at 6:50pm CST by Sam Robinson

Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These Bills, Dolphins, Jets and Patriots moves are noted below.

Buffalo Bills

Signed:

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Placed on IR:

Miami Dolphins

Signed:

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

New England Patriots

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

New York Jets

Signed: 

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Placed on IR:

Bills Reduce Roster To 53 Players

August 29th, 2023 at 7:16pm CST by Ben Levine

The Bills have been busy today, releasing a pair of offensive linemen, trading defensive end Boogie Basham to the Giants, and shifting Von Miller to the reserve/PUP list. The team eventually finalized their roster, cutting down their squad to 53 players:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

Dean Marlowe was traded to the Bills last November, and the safety began his second stint with the organization after spending three-plus seasons with the organization between 2017 and 2020. The veteran ended up starting a pair of playoff games for Buffalo, collecting seven tackles and an interception. The 31-year-old re-signed with the Bills back in May.

A.J. Klein was another former Bills player added midway through the 2022 season. It was a whirlwind season for the veteran LB. Klein was released by Buffalo in March, and he ended up spending time with the Giants, Ravens, and Bears before returning to the Bills in November. He collected 11 tackles in six games before putting up zeros in a pair of playoff games.

Bills Sign 7-Man UDFA Class

May 12th, 2023 at 10:00pm CST by Ely Allen

With rookie minicamps underway, the remainder of the undrafted free agent classes are finding their way to the surface. Here is Buffalo’s seven-man class:

After drafting Florida’s Justin Shorter in the fifth round, the Bills stacked the wide receiver room with undrafted talent. All four bring an interesting element to a receiving corps led by Stefon Diggs and Gabriel Davis. Johnson is a smaller deep ball threat with return abilities. Shavers not only has elite size at 6-foot-6, 210 pounds, he also can contribute on special teams, as evidenced by the three blocked punt returns for touchdowns in his college career. Wayne was super productive in Mobile catching 111 passes for 1,446 yards and 11 touchdowns in his final two seasons at South Alabama.

Mims was also ultra productive in college. As a first-team All-Mountain West running back for Fresno State, the stout back had 1,372 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns on the ground as a fifth-year senior. Mims joins a crowded room that has some young talent and some veteran leadership but no bell-cow.

Dale didn’t light up the stat sheet as a defensive tackle, but he started 12 games as a senior for the Crimson Tide and had 5.5 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss over his career in Tuscaloosa. He’ll have to shine in order to break through a rotation that could include Ed Oliver, DaQuan Jones, Jordan Phillips, Tim Settle, Poona Ford, and Eli Ankou.

Gouraige joins his line-mate, Bills second-round guard O’Cyrus Torrence, and Shorter as the third rookie Gator at mini-camp. Gouraige started his last two seasons as Florida’s blindside tackle. He brings an impressive athleticism having played both offensive and defensive line, as well as basketball, in high school.