The preseason is over, which means we have reached one of my favorite parts of roster construction: trying to figure out what Brandon Beane is doing before Brandon Beane tells us what Brandon Beane is doing.
By Sunday, August 30 at 6 p.m. ET, the Buffalo Bills must reduce their roster to 53 players.Except getting to 53 isn’t quite as simple as counting to 53.
Injuries complicate everything. So do suspensions.
That’s where terms like PUP, Reserve/PUP, IR, NFI, designated to return and the Reserve/Suspended
list start flying around Bills Mafia. The rules aren’t terribly difficult once they’re separated, but the NFL has changed them several times, including an important PUP change for 2026. So here’s what you need to know.
The Physically Unable to Perform list (PUP)
The easiest way to remember PUP: A player must enter training camp on PUP to remain eligible for PUP.
PUP is for players who report to camp with a football-related injury and aren’t medically cleared to practice.
During training camp they’re placed on Active/PUP, where they count against the offseason roster limit and can be activated at any time. But once a player practices, that door closes. He can’t be placed back on PUP later.
If he’s still unable to play when Buffalo establishes its 53-man roster, he can be transferred to Reserve/PUP, where he doesn’t count against the 53 but must miss at least the first four games.
New in 2026: Practice after Game 2. Play after Game 4.
A player on Reserve/PUP can now begin his 21-day practice window after his team’s second regular-season game. He still cannot play until four games have elapsed. But remember, once the practice window opens, the player has only those 21 days to be moved from reserve to active or their season is over, so timing is paramount.
For Buffalo, Tyrell Shavers is the player to watch. Shavers has remained on PUP throughout the summer after an ACL injury in January, keeping him eligible for Reserve/PUP at roster cutdowns. Under the new rule, Buffalo could theoretically open his practice window after Week 2… but it’s highly doubtful.
The important part is that Buffalo now has the option. The Bills aren’t required to open that window as soon as Shavers becomes eligible. They will take their time.
What about NFI?
You’ll sometimes see NFI, or the Non-Football Injury/Illness list, grouped with PUP.
The easiest distinction is the cause:
- Football-related injury; PUP.
- Injury or illness that didn’t result from NFL football activities?; NFI.
Like PUP, players must be placed on the appropriate list before participating in training camp practice to remain eligible for the reserve version. For fans, just think of NFI as PUP’s non-football cousin.
Injured Reserve is where things get interesting
Unlike PUP, a player doesn’t have to enter training camp injured to land on IR. He can practice all summer, play in the preseason, get injured and then require IR.
The important question becomes when Buffalo places him there.
Normally, placing a player on IR before the initial 53 is established ends his season. But there’s an important exception: Teams can designate up to two players to return while making its final roster reduction. Those players can go directly to IR without first taking up spots on the initial 53 and remain eligible to return.
That saves Buffalo from the old roster shuffle of keeping an injured player on the initial 53, cutting someone the Bills actually wanted, moving the injured player to IR and then hoping the other player was still available to re-sign.
There is a catch though: Those two designations count against Buffalo’s season-long allotment of eight return designations. They aren’t freebies.
The Bills may have three candidates for those two IR spots
This is where Sunday’s roster decisions become particularly interesting. Buffalo can use two pre-cutdown IR designations, and there appear to be three legitimate candidates.
OT Jude Bowry
The rookie fourth-round pick suffered a foot/leg injury during the preseason and has since been seen in a walking boot. Bowry is exactly the type of player this rule can help protect.
C Sedrick Van Pran-Granger
Van Pran-Granger has also missed valuable practice time leading into roster cuts. If Buffalo believes he needs several more weeks before he’s ready, he becomes another logical candidate for one of the two spots.
RB Ty Johnson
Then there’s Johnson, who has been sidelined with a knee injury. If the Bills don’t believe he’ll be ready early in the season, he gives Brandon Beane a third player to consider. Remember, IR guarantees Johnson would miss at least four games. If Buffalo believes he could return sooner than that, carrying him on the active roster may make more sense.
And then there’s Phidarian Mathis
Because apparently PUP, NFI and IR aren’t enough acronyms and roster exceptions for one article. Let’s add SSPD.
Bills defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis has been suspended for the first three games of the 2026 season for violating the NFL’s Substances of Abuse Policy.
Here’s the important roster part: Once Mathis is placed on Reserve/Suspended, he doesn’t count against Buffalo’s 53-man roster during his suspension.
That gives the Bills another temporary roster spot. When Mathis is reinstated, the Bills will need to create room for him on the active roster IF they want to activate him.
But for the first three games, his suspension creates some temporary flexibility. In other words, Brandon Beane could potentially use that spot to keep another defensive lineman, young prospect or player he doesn’t want to expose to waivers.
In-season IR rules
During the regular season, teams have eight return designations available from applicable reserve lists. That number can increase to 10 in the postseason.
A player can be designated for return twice, but each return counts separately toward the team’s total.
And a reminder: Buffalo’s two pre-cutdown designations count against the eight.
For a return-eligible player placed on IR, the minimum absence is four games. Not four weeks. Four games. Bye weeks don’t count. And once Buffalo opens an IR player’s practice window, the Bills have 21 days to activate him to the 53-man roster.
Why all of this matters Sunday
This is where CBA rules become roster strategy.
Buffalo potentially has Shavers headed to Reserve/PUP, Mathis headed to Reserve/Suspended and three players who could be considered for the two IR return designations.
None of those players would occupy spots on Buffalo’s active 53 while on those respective reserve lists. That can create room for players who otherwise might not survive Sunday’s cuts.
Maybe it’s an extra defensive lineman. Maybe it’s a sixth wide receiver. Maybe it’s a young defensive back Buffalo doesn’t want to expose to waivers. That’s why the Bills aren’t simply identifying their 53 best players. They’re figuring out how to retain as many players as possible while navigating injuries, suspensions and the CBA rules available to them.
The initial 53 is exactly that: initial. Knowing Brandon Beane, it might remain intact just long enough for us to write about it or make a graphic before he changes it.
PUP, IR and the bottom line
When Buffalo starts announcing transactions Sunday, don’t just look at who was “cut.” Pay attention to where everyone goes.
Shavers should head to Reserve/PUP. Mathis will begin serving his three-game suspension. And Buffalo could have a fascinating decision involving Bowry, Van Pran-Granger and Johnson for two available pre-cutdown IR return designations.
Those moves could open several roster spots without the Bills actually losing those players.
That’s what makes cutdown day more than simply counting backward from 90 to 53.
It’s roster chess. And Brandon Beane has a few pieces he can temporarily move off the board before deciding exactly what his opening 53 will look like.
