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Bills roster cuts tracker 2024: Here is every move Buffalo has made on their way to trim down to 53 players

By Jon Helmkamp,

8 hours ago

For the Buffalo Bills, the 2024 NFL preseason is officially over. All eyes now turn to roster cut down day.

The Bills have a ton of questions and crucial decisions to make ahead of the 53-man roster deadline on Tuesday, Aug. 27 at 4:00 p.m. ET. How will Bills GM Brandon Beane and HC Sean McDermott fill out the roster? There's plenty of tough choices that have to be made.

2024 NFL roster cuts important details

Each NFL team must cut their training camp 90-man roster down to 53, this year with there being only one cut down day. There are multiple designations the team can put on a player before cut down day.

Release: Players with four or more accrued seasons (vested veterans) can be released. If that happens, they immediately become free agents and are available to sign with any team — which includes signing back with their original teams. With the new IR rules (we will talk more about it later), the mechanism to cut vested veterans and sign them back on day 2 will be less prevalent, but it might still be used eventually — because there will be only two designations to return for players placed on IR before the initial 53.

Waiver: When players with fewer than four accrued seasons (non-vested veterans or rookies) are cut, they are not immediately released from their current contracts. They go through a waiver system, in which every other team in the NFL can claim their deals. If two or more teams try to claim the same player, the priority respects the original order of the draft (through week 3 of the regular season). If the player passes through waivers unclaimed, then he becomes a true free agent and is available to sign a new contract with anyone.

Waived/injured: When a non-vested veteran or rookie doesn't pass a physical before being released, he receives a waived/injured designation. He goes through waivers and if no other team claims him, he reverts back to his original team injured reserve. Usually in these cases, when it's not a season-ending injury, the original team later reaches an injury settlement with the player — good for the team, that won't pay the full salary, and for the player, who will be able to sign with another team to play as soon as possible.

Injured reserve: This is where a new rule has been put in place. Until last year, a player had to make the initial 53-man roster to be placed on IR and be eligible to return later in the season. Now, up to two players can be placed on IR on the day of final cuts (Tuesday) and designated to return after four weeks later. Teams still have the option to carry injured players on the 53-man roster for multiple reasons. First, if a player is placed on IR, he is forced to miss at least four games. Second, if a player makes the initial 53 and is placed on IR on the following day, there are eight designations to return from IR — and another two for playoff teams.

PUP/NFI: If the player didn't pass the physical to start training camp, the team designate him as physically unable to perform (PUP) if it's a football-related injury or NFI-list if it's an injury suffered outside of NFL activities (this includes injuries suffered in college football games, gym, or any other area of life). A player on the NFI-list is not entitled to receive his salary. However, the team and player can negotiate a rate of payment.

Through training camp, players stay on the active PUP/NFI list, so they count towards the 90-man roster limits and can be activated at any point. When the roster is cut from 90 to 53, the team has to activate the player to the roster or to place him on the inactive PUP/NFI. If he's placed on one of these lists, the player has to miss at least four regular season games, but doesn't count towards the roster limit.

Other reserve lists: There are other reserve lists that are more or less frequent and with particular rules. Suspended, retired, did not report, military, Commissioner Exempt List. In each case, the player wouldn't count towards the 53-man roster limit.

Buffalo Bills key position battles

There are a few key position groups that will have plenty of battles. For the wide receivers, the top four seem to be set with Keon Coleman, Khalil Shakir, Curtis Samuel, and Mack Hollins. Will the Bills carry six receivers like they did last year? If so, there are a number of players fighting for depth spots on the roster.

Outside of the wide receivers, the safety position is a major sticking point, with the position group hit hard by injuries. Taylor Rapp is set to be one starting safety, with health largely playing a role in who starts opposite him in Week 1.

To me, how the team decides to attack the return duties with the new rules could shape the end of the roster. Running backs with the size and tackle-breaking ability could be favored over smaller wide receivers. How many running backs make the roster, and who?

Bills’ players on the roster bubble:

Please note single asterisk (*) denotes rookies and double asterisks (**) denote rookie undrafted free agents:

QB Ben DiNucci
RB Ty Johnson
RB Frank Gore Jr.**
RB Darrynton Evans
WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling
WR Tyrell Shavers
WR K.J. Hamler
WR Justin Shorter
WR Andy Isabella
TE Quintin Morris
TE Zach Davidson
TE Tre' McKitty
OL Tylan Grable**
OL Mike Edwards
OL Keaton Bills
OL Will Clapp
OL Gunner Britton
OL Richard Gouraige
OL Travis Clayton**
OL La'el Collins
IDL Austin Johnson
DE Casey Toohill
DE Kameron Cline
DE Kingsley Jonathan
DE Rondell Bothroyd
DE Eli Anjou
DE DeShawn Williams
DE Branson Deen
LB Joe Andreessen**
LB Nicholas Morrow
LB Deion Jones
LB Shayne Simon
CB Ja'Marcus Ingram
CB Kyron Brown
CB Keni-H Lovely
S Cam Lewis
S Kendall Williamson
S Kareem Jackson
S Terrell Burgess
S Dee Delaney

NFL Practice Squad rules

After the claiming period has ended at 11:00 AM CT on Wednesday, Aug. 28, teams are permitted to assemble their 16-man practice squads. Here are the rules on who can be signed to the practice squad.

Players who do not have an accrued season (I.E. rookies).
Players who were on the active roster for fewer than nine regular-season games during their only accrued season(s).
Up to four players per team with no more than two accrued seasons.
Up to six players per team with no accrued season limitations (I.E. vested veterans).

Bills’ 2024 roster cuts

The Bills have yet to make any roster cuts at the time of this publication. We will update this article as information comes in.

Follow along all season for all the latest Buffalo Bills news. You can also find me on X @JonHelmkamp .