Bills Practice Squad Signings

[Cash]

39 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Right.  It has been a necessary change as the season expands from 16 to 17 to 18 games.  Teams just need more players and more flexibility in order to manage injuries. It allows for much more continuity of play during the season, because teams now are able to have quality players who have been working within the system, ready to take over when guys go down. At the same time it allows players who aren't on the 53-man roster the ability to move to other teams if those teams are willing to elevate them. Essentially, the system makes it easier to manage the teams and still supports the goal of parity. Teams can't hoard players, because the players on the practice squad are always free to move.

 

Yeah, the pandemic-era changes to the practice squad have been universally positive, IMO.  Having 16 spots with 6(?) allowed veterans means there's room for all of these:

-Guys who aren't ready to play now, but might be with a year or two of practice and development, which was always the intent of the PS.

-Young guys who just barely didn't make the team, but are probably just about equally as good as the last few guys on your roster, and still have room for growth.

-Replacement-level veterans who aren't quite good enough to make the 53, but who used to be immediate phone calls when someone got hurt.  This is a win-win, because the team doesn't have to wait for the veteran to learn or re-learn the playcalls on the fly, and the veteran gets paid something while waiting for the call-up.  Plus, I suspect the veteran is more likely to be in game shape at the time of the call-up if he's been practicing with the team the whole time.

 

Allowing the in-season call-ups is also a win-win.  The player getting called up both gets an actual game paycheck (pretty big jump over the PS check), and gets featured in a real game - big opportunity to showcase himself.  The team gets massive help weathering short-term injuries without having to put guys on IR, and there's less pressure for guys to play hurt.  This is massive when it comes to player safety, longevity, etc.

[ColoradoBills]

3 minutes ago, Cash said:

 

Yeah, the pandemic-era changes to the practice squad have been universally positive, IMO.  Having 16 spots with 6(?) allowed veterans means there's room for all of these:

-Guys who aren't ready to play now, but might be with a year or two of practice and development, which was always the intent of the PS.

-Young guys who just barely didn't make the team, but are probably just about equally as good as the last few guys on your roster, and still have room for growth.

-Replacement-level veterans who aren't quite good enough to make the 53, but who used to be immediate phone calls when someone got hurt.  This is a win-win, because the team doesn't have to wait for the veteran to learn or re-learn the playcalls on the fly, and the veteran gets paid something while waiting for the call-up.  Plus, I suspect the veteran is more likely to be in game shape at the time of the call-up if he's been practicing with the team the whole time.

 

Allowing the in-season call-ups is also a win-win.  The player getting called up both gets an actual game paycheck (pretty big jump over the PS check), and gets featured in a real game - big opportunity to showcase himself.  The team gets massive help weathering short-term injuries without having to put guys on IR, and there's less pressure for guys to play hurt.  This is massive when it comes to player safety, longevity, etc.

 

Good post.  There will still be fans who believe there is some hug gap between all the teams 49th-53rd roster players and the PS guys.

It's illogical to me.  Especially as you posted about all the new rules since the pandemic.  

[Shaw66]

24 minutes ago, ColoradoBills said:

 

 There will still be fans who believe there is some huge gap between all the teams 49th-53rd roster players and the PS guys.

 

Yes!   This is the point that I keep reminding myself about.   There are over 1500 guys on NFL rosters today.   Twenty or thirty of them are going to the Hall of Fame.  The bottom 500 or 750 are very good football players, but there isn't much difference between the talent they have and the talent of the 500 or 750 best players who just got cut.  There simply isn't a lot of difference in terms of natural talent.  

 

The way the PS is working now works to everyone's advantage.  In particular, it gives an opportunity to a lot of young players to essentially be on a roster, get the practice experience and as they get called up for a game or two here and there, game experience.  It helps the teams, because it allows those teams to develop those guys so they actually can help when they do get called up.  

 

It always amazes me that are lot of these guys, who were among the best starters on their college teams, don't make an NFL roster and spend two, three, or four years bouncing around on practice squads, learning more each season, building their bodies, and then eventually find their way onto rosters and playing rolls.  Those guys are intensely committed to making it.  Yes, there's a big monetary incentive - get on a roster for a year or two, and there are some big paychecks (not enough to fund retirement, but enough to set you up for nicely for the rest of your life), but I think they do it primarily because they love the game, they love playing, they love the challenge, and they love success.  Amazing dedication.  

[Mat68]

7 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Yes!   This is the point that I keep reminding myself about.   There are over 1500 guys on NFL rosters today.   Twenty or thirty of them are going to the Hall of Fame.  The bottom 500 or 750 are very good football players, but there isn't much difference between the talent they have and the talent of the 500 or 750 best players who just got cut.  There simply isn't a lot of difference in terms of natural talent.  

 

The way the PS is working now works to everyone's advantage.  In particular, it gives an opportunity to a lot of young players to essentially be on a roster, get the practice experience and as they get called up for a game or two here and there, game experience.  It helps the teams, because it allows those teams to develop those guys so they actually can help when they do get called up.  

 

It always amazes me that are lot of these guys, who were among the best starters on their college teams, don't make an NFL roster and spend two, three, or four years bouncing around on practice squads, learning more each season, building their bodies, and then eventually find their way onto rosters and playing rolls.  Those guys are intensely committed to making it.  Yes, there's a big monetary incentive - get on a roster for a year or two, and there are some big paychecks (not enough to fund retirement, but enough to set you up for nicely for the rest of your life), but I think they do it primarily because they love the game, they love playing, they love the challenge, and they love success.  Amazing dedication.  

Well you do have the Panthers who claimed 5 players, 3 cbs who will be rostered for 4 weeks.  Some rosters and PS better than others.  I remember Steelers and Ravens in the 2000’s had dudes coming out of their ears.   Jerome Harrison bounced between Baltimore and Pittsburgh for few years on their PS.  Priest Holmes was claimed off Baltimores PS.  Some franchises have better eyes for talent than others.  I think Beane is pretty good at it.  Not the best but the guys he draft usually stick around the league.   

[Matt_In_NH]

I was thinking about the PS the other day.  Since practice squaders count on the cap and are UFA's (can be signed to anyone's 53), why does there need to be a limit?  It does not seem like a competitive advantage/disadvantage...if you want 25 guys, great you have to pay them all.   If it was unlimited how many do you think teams would sign?  16 is a good number but clearly teams would more if they could get more, they could opt to have less than 16 but I think everyone uses the whole thing.

[Mr. WEO]

17 hours ago, Low Positive said:

We're not unique. Here is a thread on Jungle Noise about the same topic. They are worried about 3rd RBs and end of the rotation DEs.

https://thebengalsboard.com/thread-38887.html

 

By the start of the season, no one will care.  There's actually a whole thread about a guy who may or may not have been signed to the PS.   lol.

 

15 hours ago, Chaos said:

The NFL may want to consider have a Practice Squad playoffs / tournament after the season, so we can once and for all figure out who has the best practice squad. 

 

so....we could actually win the offseason??

Edited August 29 by Mr. WEO

[Mat68]

4 minutes ago, Matt_In_NH said:

I was thinking about the PS the other day.  Since practice squaders count on the cap and are UFA's (can be signed to anyone's 53), why does there need to be a limit?  It does not seem like a competitive advantage/disadvantage...if you want 25 guys, great you have to pay them all.   If it was unlimited how many do you think teams would sign?  16 is a good number but clearly teams would more if they could get more, they could opt to have less than 16 but I think everyone uses the whole thing.

Teams with more money have more players.  Creating an eventual advantage. 

[hondo in seattle]

4 hours ago, ROCBillsBeliever said:

 

@hondo in seattle This is, perhaps, my favorite post of the preseason, thus far. Many of us are a bunch of dumbstruck puppy-eye-spellbound ninnies, fawning over the top of the scrapheap. So accurate.

 

The thing is, I do it to. 

 

This year, I consciously decided NOT to fall for any practice squad players or marginal backups.  (Last year, I was on the Sherfield train for a while after reading the Tyler Dunne article).   

 

I think maybe we all just like underdog stories.  

 

Edited August 29 by hondo in seattle

[ROCBillsBeliever]

Just now, hondo in seattle said:

 

The thing is, I do it to. 

 

This year, I consciously decided NOT to fall for any practice squad players or marginal backups.  (Last year, for example, I was on the Sherfield train for a while after reading the Tyler Dunne article).   

 

I think maybe we all just like underdog stories.  

 

We are Bills fans, after all. Underdog is in our blood!

[BigAl2526]

4 hours ago, MrEpsYtown said:

 

I remember us being on him pre draft in 2022 and I think there was a good group of people who wanted to add him in that draft. I have no idea how his career has fared so far, but it's an interesting upside play. 

He played four games in his rookie season then suffered a compound fracture in his leg on punt coverage.  I saw no record of him having played in 2023.  I terms of his on field experience, he's functionally still a rookie.  My guess is the Bills would like to use the PS to help him continue to acclimate to the pro game and teach him the Bills' defensive system.  He started in college for Georgia and has great measurables (sub 4.4 40 at 6'2" and 200 lbs.) so he looks like a high upside project at this point.  If it works out, he could be a contributor late in the season and a threat to compete as a starter next season.  If Cole Bishop develops, it could give Buffalo a formidable pair at safety going forward.  

[damj]

1 hour ago, ColoradoBills said:

 

Good post.  There will still be fans who believe there is some hug gap between all the teams 49th-53rd roster players and the PS guys.

It's illogical to me.  Especially as you posted about all the new rules since the pandemic.  

No great players ever emerge from Practice Squads.

 

Sincerely,

 

Kurt Warner, NFL MVP, HOF 2017

[NickelCity]

I remain encouraged by Hardy's off-season and am very glad we got him back on our practice squad. 

 

Love the Cine pickup, too.

[Brand J]

30 minutes ago, damj said:

No great players ever emerge from Practice Squads.

 

Sincerely,

 

Kurt Warner, NFL MVP, HOF 2017

You can add…

 

James Harrison

Arian Foster

Rod Smith

Jimmy Smith

Tony Richardson

Jason Peters

Cameron Wake

Alex Boone

Danny Amendola

 

…To that list.

[Shaw66]

1 hour ago, Mat68 said:

Well you do have the Panthers who claimed 5 players, 3 cbs who will be rostered for 4 weeks.  Some rosters and PS better than others.  I remember Steelers and Ravens in the 2000’s had dudes coming out of their ears.   Jerome Harrison bounced between Baltimore and Pittsburgh for few years on their PS.  Priest Holmes was claimed off Baltimores PS.  Some franchises have better eyes for talent than others.  I think Beane is pretty good at it.  Not the best but the guys he draft usually stick around the league.   

For sure, this is true.  Like everything else, it's a bell curve.  A lot of the Hall of Fame players are way out on the right hand side of the curve, just special, special athletes.  By the time you get back to the 2000th best player, he's not materially better than the 2001st player, but there still is a real difference between the 2000th and 2500th best.  So, it stands to reason that from time to time, one team or another actually has better talent on their practice squad than most other teams.  However, I don't think it's likely that any team stays on top, in terms of total practice squad talent, for too long.  All the other teams are constantly scouting the talent around the league, and they're seeing film of these guys in preseason.  So, for example, even if the Panthers had more talent than most other teams at the 50th to 70th spots on their total roster, we can see that that talent got spread around the league pretty quickly.  

 

The league is a true meritocracy.  If a player is good enough to be a regular player in the league, it doesn't take very long for him to find his way onto the field somewhere. 

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

 

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

 

[hondo in seattle]

29 minutes ago, DaBillsFanSince1973 said:

 

Chris Brown goes off over Hardy's release.

 

Tasker calls MVS a "nonentity."

  

Edited August 29 by hondo in seattle

[TheyCallMeAndy]

5 hours ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

The P-Squad is full of unspectacular players every year.  The spectacular guys make the final 53.   

 

Yet despite the overflowing mediocrity of the p-squad, every year we fans will fall in love with one of those marginal guys while barely paying attention to the other marginal guys who weren't good enough to make the final roster.

 

I guess it's kind of like going to the animal shelter and falling in love with one particular puppy that nobody else wanted to adopt.

 

 

 

Wait. THERE IS A PUPPY THAT NEEDS A HOME? WHERE IS THIS PUPPY!?

[Brand J]

Just learned today that after the draft, Andreessen had rookie tryout offers from both the Chiefs and the Bills and attended the Chiefs camp about a week before he reported to the Bills. If he turns out to be anything, we’ll finally have a player acquisition we could rub in the Chiefs face 😅

[Albany,n.y.]

2 hours ago, damj said:

No great players ever emerge from Practice Squads.

 

Sincerely,

 

Kurt Warner, NFL MVP, HOF 2017

Kurt Warner was never on a practice squad.