ORCHARD PARK - The Buffalo Bills have started the paring of their roster Saturday by releasing three players according to various media reports. Wide receiver/punt returner Mecole Hardman, punter Mitch Wishnowsky and linebacker Otis Reese IV.
The roster must be trimmed to 53 players by Sunday at 6 p.m.
Hardman was in the running to be the punt returner and he returned four for 50 yards, but what likely cost him a chance to make the team is that he was so inconsistent as a receiver. He caught only four of eight targets for 20 yards and he dropped two.
The Bills want Ray Davis to be the punt returner because that would open up a spot at another position.
Wishnowsky was on the chopping block from the moment the Bills spent a seventh-round draft pick
on Tommy Doman. When teams pick a punter in the draft, it takes a spectacular failure for that player to not make the team and Doman certainly didn’t fail.
Wishnowsky joined the Bills in Week 5 last season and performed well, settling down a chaotic punting situation, but Doman is now working on a low-profile and controlled cost four-year rookie contract so the Bills save a little salary cap space.
Reese had been with the Bills at the start of training camp but was re-signed when the Bills had a couple injuries, but he never had a chance to make the final roster.
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for more than four decades including 37 years as the full-time beat writer/columnist for the D&C. He has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Reports indicate Bills get head start on roster reduction
