Here are our 40 locks for the Buffalo Bills 53-man roster
The Buffalo Bills front office has a lot of decisions to make in the coming weeks. Some of those are obvious and important.
Among those are the positional battles, namely at middle linebacker, cornerback and along the offensive line. But once the dust settles there, players on the “roster bubble” will have their fates decided.
On the flip side of that, there are many players in the locker room already locked into a position on the final 53-man roster before a preseason game is even played.
With that, here are Bills Wire’s 40 roster locks for ahead of the 2023 preseason:
QB
Roster locks: Josh Allen
More than likely, Kyle Allen will be Josh Allen’s backup after signing this offseason. But we’ll give Barkley some respect, maybe there’s an outside chance for him to surpass Kyle Allen–but both have been pretty bad during training camp.
RB
Roster locks: James Cook
Similar to Kyle Allen, Damien Harris feels as good of a lock as you can be after signing this offseason… without being one. If he’s outplayed in training camp, the Bills would save $700K against the salary cap by letting him go.
Following Nyheim Hines’ injury, Darrynton Evans and Latavius Murray might be duking it out for the final spot in the backfield. Murray appears to have the early edge.
WR
Roster locks: Stefon Diggs, Gabe Davis, Deonte Harty, Khalil Shakir, Justin Shorter
Diggs needs little explanation. Davis, Shorter, and Shakir are still on their rookie contracts. Meanwhile, Harty signed this spring and his contract has him locked in for 2023.
Trent Sherfield currently feels like the next-closest thing to a roster lock in the receiver room. During spring practices, he was given more reps when Diggs was not present and he has special teams experience. Even upon Diggs’ arrival at training camp, Sherfield is still seeing snaps with the starters.
Other receivers on the roster include: Dezmon Patmon, Keesean Johnson,. Marcell Ateman, Isaiah Coulter, Jalen Wayne, Tyrell Shavers, Bryan Thompson.
TE
Roster locks: Dawson Knox, Dalton Kincaid
Knox just signed an extension last year and Kincaid was Buffalo’s first-round pick. Easy locks. Quintin Morris is most likely the No. 3 here because of his special teams prowess, but that has to be secured during training camp.
O-line
Roster locks: Dion Dawkins, Spencer Brown, Mitch Morse, O’Cyrus Torrence, David Edwards, Connor McGovern, Ryan Bates, Tommy Doyle
Dawkins and Morse fall into the category of being locks for their play and leadership. Their contracts play a part, too. The rest of the group, either because they’re playing on a rookie deal or have their contract constructed in a certain way, they’ll be locked in.
Yes, even Edwards. The Bills won’t really get any cap relief from letting him go. They’ll just add unneeded dead-cap space.
In terms of reserve roles, Nick Broeker is playing on a rookie deal but he’s a Round 7 pick. He could end up on the practice squad. Ike Boettger is another player Buffalo has liked for years and even gave him a bit of a “redshirt year” to deal with his Achilles injury. Still not a lock.
David Quessenberry and Brandon Shell will fight it out for the swing-tackle spot or to even surpass Brown on the roster. It’s unlikely both make the final roster.
DE
Roster locks: Von Miller, Greg Rousseau, Leonard Floyd
Both because of their talent as top-three pass rushers on the Bills roster and their contracts, Miller, Floyd, and Rousseau aren’t going anywhere.
But we have some wiggle room here on the rookie contract situation. Because of how deep Buffalo is on the edge, there’s a chance either AJ Epenesa or Boogie Basham is moved before the start of the season. Yes, they both are on rookie deals which means they would be cheaper to keep around, but that makes them appealing trade pieces, too.
Pending a very poor training camp in the coming weeks, Shaq Lawson re-signed a one-year deal this offseason and will likely round out this group… but not a lock.
DT
Roster locks: Ed Oliver, DaQuan Jones, Poona Ford, Tim Settle
Settle is locked in thanks to his contract restructuring. Jordan Phillips only just returned to the field following his shoulder injury. As long as he hasn’t slowed down, he will likely make the roster… but it’s only been a day or two. Soon enough, he’ll probably find his name among the locks.
Jones and Ford are not high-profile and paid players… but the Bills front off made a conscious effort to bolster their run-stopping position. Would be weird to let them go, both because of that and financially.
LB
Roster locks: Matt Milano, Tyrel Dodson, Tyler Matakevich, Terrel Bernard, Dorian Williams
Dodson and Matakevich have their spots as important depth pieces but their contracts help, too. AJ Klein could prove to be one of these as well, but his deal isn’t working in his favor.
Baylon Spector is on his rookie deal like Williams and Bernard, but the practice squad is still a possibility. He isn’t factoring into the discussion to replace Tremaine Edmunds much anymore.
CB
Roster locks: Tre’Davious White, Taron Johnson, Kaiir Elam, Dane Jackson, Christian Benford
White and Johnson are cornerstones to the Bills secondary. Meanwhile, Elam, Jackson and Benford will battle to start across from White and have contracts that keep them around.
Siran Neal’s versatility on defense and special-teams output make him an important piece. However, there are salary cap savings if he’s let go.
Cam Lewis was marked as both a depth safety and cornerback on the team’s depth chart. A good sign, but not locked sign for him.
S
Roster locks: Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer, Taylor Rapp
The safety position might be locked in from top-to-bottom. Following his cardiac arrest, Damar Hamlin is making an amazing recovery but we still need more time before putting him into roster lock territory. It feels close to that point.
ST
Roster locks: Tyler Bass, Reid Ferguson, Sam Martin
The Bills have three core special teamers. None of them have any competition to this point.
