Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane addressed the final stage of the NFL offseason prior to the start of the 2026 season: Roster cuts.
Early this week, the Bills trimmed their roster down from 91 players to 53. Then came the wavier wire, followed by the construction of the practice squad.
Plenty went down in the Buffalo football world in recent days because of all that. Beane spoke about it all after the dust settled.
With that, here are Bills Wire's five takeaways from Beane's press conference this week:
Adding back Shaq
The team linebacker Shaq Thompson last played for the NFL was the Buffalo Bills just last season. However, he did not sign with the team until roster cuts, joining the practice squad.
Beane made note that the Bills did not finch in bringing
Thompson back to Buffalo. Often one for intangibles, Beane said what Thompson "brings off the field" was just as valuable as anything else:
Only keeping 3 outside cornerbacks
On the 53-man roster, one thing that stood out was the Bills keeping only three outside cornerbacks in Christian Benford, Maxwell Hairston, and second-round rookie Davison Igbinosun. When asked, Beane did not make it seem like he was concerned
The GM said the versatility around the entire defensive backfield, such as a player like Dee Alford, makes Beane confident.
Dortch goes back
The most exciting addition to the practice squad was receiver/ return man Greg Dortch. Cut by the Detroit Lions, he opted to sign in Buffalo instead.
According to Beane, the Bills had explored signing Dortch earlier this offseason.
"I feel like it was down to a couple teams, us being one of them," Beane said. "Once he became free, we checked back in on him, and he chose to join the practice squad."
Why Jedrick Wills?
The third and final outside piece the Bills added to the practice squad was offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. Why bring him in?
Some see Wills as a potential player for a swing tackle role. Beane did not answer that, but as a former first-round pick, the GM said he did scout Wills prior to the 2020 NFL Draft.
Beane still see that same potential.
And the big one
Has Beane built a Super Bowl contending roster? His answer here:
This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: 5 takeaways from Bills GM Brandon Beane press conference
