Here are three Buffalo Bills cut candidates in training camp this season. One player on this list may surprise you.
The Buffalo Bills’ training camp got underway on July 18 in what could be another pivotal hot-seat season for head coach Sean McDermott. In 2023, another New York team is making a run for the Super Bowl — the Bills’ southern neighbors, the Jets, who have embodied Buffalo’s pesky (and much weaker) little brother for years.
Now, with Aaron Rodgers and the Jets entering the AFC East colosseum, the division just got a whole lot more competitive.
After last season’s disappointing playoff exit, Buffalo is running out of time to win some brass in the Josh Allen-Stefon Diggs era. Too many young quarterbacks are sprouting in the AFC every year, and at this point, the Bills may no longer be considered serious Super Bowl contenders anymore.
It all starts this training camp. Who will the Bills keep on the roster and who will they cut? What kind of statement is this 2023 Bills squad going to make from the get-go?
Here are three Bills players who may not be on the roster after camp.
Bills’ training camp cut candidate No. 3: Nyheim Hines, RB
With a logjam of solid running backs on the roster in 2023, at least one Bills ball carrier will have to go. We considered veteran Latavius Murray briefly, but we decided Nyheim Hines might be the better cut candidate.
Barring any shocking signings, James Cook and Damien Harris will be the one-two punch for the Bills up top. Former Broncos back Murray signed a one-year deal with Buffalo this past May, and while he’s not a super flashy or do-it-all talent, he has consistently produced in his last stints in not only Denver but Baltimore and New Orleans, too.
Murray’s reliability gives him the edge ahead of Hines, a 2018 fourth-round pick by the Colts who joined Buffalo last year. Hines had just 66 offensive snaps for the Bills in 2022 despite filling a position of need at the time; he got traded to Buffalo for Zack Moss and a pick, a move initially seen as shrewd from the Bills’ end given Hines’ lengthy experience backing up Jonathan Taylor and dual-threat abilities.
Yet Hines didn’t flourish in the AFC East as much as expected and ended up spending more time on special teams instead. After the league’s latest revisions to kickoff returns, all teams’ special teams unit will be slightly devalued, and Hines may find himself on the chopping block if he can’t cement a clear role for himself on the offense.
Plus, the Bills could save nearly $5 million by cutting Hines and keeping Murray as the No. 3 back this season.
Bills’ training camp cut candidate No. 2: Cam Lewis, DB
For the rest of his career, Bills corner Cam Lewis will be remembered for one horrendous moment: a regular season slip-up against Vikings star Justin Jefferson. As the pictures will prove, he was simply on the wrong side of history.
Lewis was the poor defender trying to guard Jefferson late in the fourth when the Buffalo played Minnesota last November in the standout game of the year. The Vikings’ crazy comeback victory in upstate New York put the league on notice: were the Vikings actually legit? No, they were not, as the playoffs would reveal, but it was still a hell of a game.
As Bills mafia remembers all too well, Jefferson had his hang-it-on-the-wall Kodak moment with a legendary one-handed catch on a 4th-and-18 to keep the Vikings in the game, and Minnesota ended up winning 33-30 in overtime. The clear loser of that play? Cam Lewis.
Lewis leaped to try to pick off Kirk Cousins, but Jefferson somehow defied gravity and got there first, yanking the ball away from Lewis’ hands and cradling it to the ground.
Now, it’s not fair to nail Lewis to the cross just for that one gaffe. Josh Allen made his share of mistakes that game, as did other Bills defenders.
Yet it’s hard to argue that Lewis’ perception in the league has dipped, and he appears to be an expendable defensive piece for the Bills despite that game-defining play. The fourth-year defensive back has only started four games in Buffalo and may not see much of the field with rookie Alex Austin potentially moving on up. Lewis’ versatility may save him from the guillotine, but if the Bills want to turn over a new leaf in 2023, cutting Lewis may be the right call.
Bills’ training camp cut candidate No. 1: Shaq Lawson, DE
This one’s the shocker.
Bills pass-rusher Shaq Lawson was re-signed to a one-year deal last April after a triumphant return to Buffalo in 2022. Lawson, a former first-round pick by the Bills, reunited with the franchise after two campaigns spent on rival teams. He immediately made an impact when Von Miller got injured in Week 12 of the 2022 season and was picked ahead of Boogie Basham and A.J. Epenesa to take Miller’s starting spot.
Lawson finished with 11 tackles, two sacks, and one forced fumble in the final five games of that season. Solid stats overall.
So why is he on the list? It would be a jaw-dropping surprise to see Lawson get cut ahead of less experienced players, yet if the Bills like what they see from their young defensive end corps, Lawson may be ushered out to give more opportunities to others.
Having bounced around the AFC East, Lawson’s future with the Bills isn’t so cut-and-dried. He never established himself as a reliable starter in his first four years in Buffalo and hung out a little too long in free agency when he was released by the Jets.
Compared to Kingsley Jonathan or Shane Ray who could develop into long-term defensive stalwarts, Lawson’s NFL career is a ticking time bomb. Though he played his way into a starting role at the end of last season, strong training camp performances by Jonathan or Ray could push Lawson out on the street looking for his next team.