3 cut candidates on Bills’ roster ahead of NFL training camp

As the Buffalo Bills head toward training camp, the 2024 roster is starting to take shape. But while 90 players are expected to report to St. John Fisher University in Rochester, NY by July 23, only 53 will make the final roster which is due into the league on August 27. So, who is the best-known Bills cut candidate on the roster? Unfortunately, the biggest name is ins
inspirational safety Damar Hamlin.

Damar Hamlin

Veteran safety Damar Hamlin is one of the most inspirational stories in not just the NFL but in all of professional sports. The defensive back went into cardiac arrest on the field during a Monday Night Football game in the penultimate week of the 2022 regular season.

Thanks to the quick and decisive action by the Bills and Cincinnati Bengals training staffs as well as the on-site paramedics and doctors at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Hamlin not only lived but made a full recovery and eventually came back to the NFL.

This is a miraculous story about both the human spirit and the importance of things like CPR training and AEDs at sporting events, which are two causes that Hamlin now travels the country championing.

However, as former Atlanta Falcons coach Jerry Glanville once said, “This is the N-F-L, which stands for ‘Not For Long.’”

Pro football is a tough business, with an emphasis on business. And with the depth in the Bills secondary, Hamlin could be the odd man out when Aug. 27 rolls around.

The Bills’ 2024 53-man roster will likely include 10 defensive backs. With Buffalo’s deep cornerback group and the ability of some of the CBs — like Christian Benford — able to play safety in a pinch, the Bills will likely come out of training camp with just four safeties.

Last year’s third safety, Taylor Rapp, should start at one safety spot, and the second-round rookie out of Utah, Cole Bishop, has the inside track at the other position. After that, it will be a battle between Hamlin, Mike Edwards, and the recently signed Dee Delaney.

Things could get even rougher for Hamlin if veteran Micah Hyde decides to come back. The All-Pro safety is contemplating retirement after dealing with a neck injury last season, but if he does decide to give it one more season, Sean McDermott would happily take him back.

Everyone in Western New York and beyond surely hopes Damar Hamlin returns to Buffalo next season, but the NFL is a cold business and Hamlin’s time with the Bills may be reaching the end.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling

The Bills have taken on the Kanas City Chiefs’ approach to team building around a superstar quarterback this offseason. Like last year’s Super Bowl champs, Buffalo is now eschewing high-end, big-money offensive skill position players in favor of youth and depth.

Nowhere is that more apparent than at the wide receiver position.

Gone are star wideouts Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis, and in their place are a group of unproven youngsters and veterans and well-traveled veterans who will become Josh Allen’s pass-catchers this season.

The Bills will likely keep six WRs on the roster heading out of training camp. Second-round pick Keon Coleman and third-year wideout Khalil Shakir are locks to make the roster, but after that, it will be six players — Mack Hollins, Curtis Samuel, Chase Claypool, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Justin Shorter, and KJ Hamler — for the final four spots.

That’s assuming Andy Isabela and Tyrell Shavers have little to no chance and not counting undrafted rookies Lawrence Keys and Xavier Johnson, who could always surprise people in camp.

Samuel is the best of those vets and Claypool has more upside than the rest. Hollins has special teams value and Shorter is an interesting prospect. There are the four who should join Coleman and Shakir right there, making Valdes-Scantling the odd man out.

The former Chiefs receiver made some big plays last season for Patrick Mahomes and company, but he also had some big drops, including a game-winning touchdown drop against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 11 last season.

Some veteran WR on the Bills roster is going to be out of a job at the end of training camp and, right now, Valdes-Scantling seems like the most likely cut candidate.

Ty Johnson

The final Bills cut candidate on the roster is running back Ty Johnson. Last season, Johnson was the team’s third-string runner behind James Cook and Latavius Murray. The 26-year-old back out of Maryland had 30 carries for 132 yards and seven catches for 62 yards.

Now that Murray is gone, Johnson will probably head into training camp as RB2, but the chances he comes out in that same position seem highly unlikely.

Like with the WR corps, the Bills bulked up the RB position group with younger, cheaper options. It’s not that Johnson’s $1.15 million cap hit this year is that bad, but there are two youngsters who are slightly cheaper and under the Bills’ contractual control for longer.

One of these players is former Kentucky RB and Bills’ fifth-round pick Ray Davis. The other is one of the most sought-after undrafted free agents from this year’s draft class, Frank Gore Jr. In addition to the age and contracts, both these players have a lot more upside than Johnson who, as a player heading into his sixth season, pretty much is who he is at this point.

Since the Bills will also almost certainly keep longtime fullback and key special teams contributor Reggie Gilliam, it seems like Cook, Davis, and Gore are three Bills running backs who you will see on the 53-man roster when the team breaks training camp in Rochester and hits the thruway back to Buffalo.