The Buffalo Bills and general manager Brandon Beane caught some heat over the offseason for not doing enough to upgrade their offense. Many fans and media members felt that the team should have done more to give NFL MVP Josh Allen more weapons to throw to in the wake of a season where Allen and offensive coordinator Joe Brady made sure that “everybody ate.”
Beane even caught some strays during Buffalo’s second preseason game, as sideline reporters Pam Oliver asked Allen about his feelings on that
exact question. Of course, Allen didn’t take the bait, instead saying that he trusts the front office and the coaching staff to develop the players they already have in-house.
Nobody knows the receivers on Buffalo’s current roster better than Allen, who is as meticulous as they come in telling his pass catchers where they need to be and how they need to run their routes in order to succeed in the offense. Even for those of us who follow the team fanatically, we can’t be sure about who’s doing what at every moment of practice.
In today’s edition of “90 players in 90 days,” we discuss a receiver who’s having a great preseason for the second-straight year.
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Name: Tyrell Shavers
Number: 80
Position: WR
Height/Weight: 6’4”, 211 pounds
Age: 26 (27 on 8/18/2026)
Experience/Draft: 1; signed with Buffalo following the 2023 NFL Draft
College: SDSU
Acquired: UDFA signing
Financial situation (per Spotrac): At the end of the 2024 NFL season, Shavers signed a reserve/future contract with the Bills. That two-year deal is worth a total of $2.042 million. If he makes the 53-man roster, Shavers carries a cap hit of $963,500 for the season. If he’s released, the Bills will carry a dead-cap hit of $7,000.
2024 Recap: Shavers had a strong training camp, and he was one of the more consistent Bills on film during the preseason, as well. He saw seven targets, catching four passes for 28 yards in the exhibition games. More importantly, he saw time with the first team and quarterback Josh Allen during those training camp practices, and he didn’t look over-matched or out of place.
When final cuts came, Shavers didn’t make the team, but the Bills added him to their practice squad. He was elevated from the practice squad for three games. He made his professional debut against the Houston Texans in Week 5, playing 16 snaps without a target in the 23-20 loss. He also played six offensive snaps in Buffalo’s 30-20 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 10.
His final appearance came in Week 17 against the New York Jets, a game the Bills won 40-14. Shavers played on just 10 snaps on offense, but he took his lone target, a swing pass from Mitchell Trubisky, 69 yards for a touchdown. In those three games, Shavers also totaled 10 snaps on special teams.
Positional outlook: Shavers is battling with a host of others to make the roster at receiver this year. Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman, Joshua Palmer, Elijah Moore, Laviska Shenault Jr., Kristian Wilkerson, Stephen Gosnell, Deon Cain, Curtis Samuel, Kaden Prather, and K.J. Hamler are the others.
2025 Offseason: Shavers is healthy and participating in offseason work. He is Buffalo’s leading receiver this summer, totaling 99 receiving yards on four catches.
2025 Season outlook: Shavers is an interesting case, as he’s taken the offseason mantle of “depth most beloved by Bills fans and media members alike” this summer. He’s a big-bodied player who doesn’t excel in high-pointing contested catches, yet he does make those contested grabs sometimes.
He doesn’t test well when it comes to speed, and he doesn’t seem to have a high-end second gear like some of Buffalo’s other wide receivers. And yet, he still has enough long-speed to do things like take a swing pass 69 yards for a score in a professional game. He isn’t terribly agile, yet he has enough flair in his route-running where he can win quickly off the line of scrimmage and create windows, however tight, for the NFL MVP to find him in position to make catches.
The knock on Shavers always seemed to be that he didn’t do much on special teams, which is also odd considering that was something he was known for at San Diego State. He blocked three punts with the Aztecs, which tied him for third in program history in that category. He returned three blocked punts for scores in his college career, doing so twice with SDSU and once while he was with the Alabama Crimson Tide. This summer, Shavers has drawn praise as a gunner on special teams, particularly during joint practice with the Chicago Bears.
With last year’s WR6, Jalen Virgil, out of the picture thanks to his release with an injury settlement, it clears the way for Shavers to be that next man up. The question is whether Buffalo will keep five or six wideouts.
Shakir, Coleman, and Palmer are making the team. Samuel and Moore have contracts that suggest they’re going to be on the team (it’s a $12 million dead cap hit spread over two seasons to release Samuel right now, and Moore’s $2.5 million is on the books this year whether he’s on the team or not). Granted, releasing Samuel would save the Bills around $430,000 this season, as $8.6 million of that dead cap would count in 2025. The team might also find a trade partner, but that seems unlikely given his injuries of late and his salary.
Preseason stats aren’t an end-all, be-all, but it’s hard to ignore No. 80 when he’s on the field. In a way, he reminds me a little bit of Stevie Johnson. I don’t quite know how he does it, because most NFL corners seem to be faster than him, but he always seems to make something happen.
If I were making the roster, I would keep six receivers, and Shavers would be one of them. My thinking has shifted, as I went into the season assuming that Shenault Jr. would win the last spot thanks to his use as a returner. I think the Bills can find someone else to do that job (watch out for Ray Davis returning kicks on opening day if the Bills decide neither Shenault nor Brandon Codrington is worthy of a roster spot).
In short, Tyrell Shavers seems to be a young player on the rise. He’s been knocking on the door of opportunity for a while now, and it’s time that someone let him in.
