There’s a few more updates coming through the NFL and NFLPA on Tuesday. All of which benefit veteran players at the expense of new faces on the block.
Just a day ago, the league offered players what they wanted: Zero preseason games. As expected, the players union has accepted that. To most novice NFL fans, it’s obvious why that’ll hurt young players.
Undrafted rookies and late-round picks need that playing time to prove they’re worthy of a roster spot. Guys like Mario Addison, Stephen Hauschka and Cole Beasley have all entered the NFL as former UDFAs who’ve spent around a decade or more in the league despite that.
The Bills were scheduled to start the upcoming preseason on Aug. 14 at the Ravens. Now the Bills’ next schedule game is Sept. 13 when the Jets are in town for Week 1 of the regular season.
But the hits keep on coming for the bubble guys on the roster, the latest news is that NFL teams are “expected” to only carry 80 players during training camp. This is a measure to promote social distancing in locker rooms. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport adds that general managers in the NFL are “working under this assumption” currently.
Now onto the Bills.
Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane currently has 88 players on his roster. As training camp approaches its July 28 start, in exactly one week, eight guys might have to go. Among those 88 are eight undrafted rookie free agents. Do the Bills just cut those guys? That might not be a great idea.
However, the team’s coaching staff under Sean McDermott did at least get “virtual” workouts in with their guys this offseason in the midst of the pandemic. Is something better than nothing, though?
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