The Buffalo Bills added some veteran depth to their wide receiver room this offseason, adding a trio of seasoned players expected to compete for a spot on the depth chart.
But one of those may face a roster crunch, with an analyst predicting that the versatile Laviska Shenault could find himself on the wrong side of the roster bubble. Nick Sabato of the Niagara Gazette predicted that Shenault would not make the final cut at the end of the summer, with the team keeping a more trim group of wide receivers.
Bills Expected to Keep Light Wide Receiver Room
Sabato predicted the Bills would keep just five wide receivers, fewer than they have in recent years. He noted that last year’s top receivers — Khalil Shakir, Curtis Samuel, and Keon Coleman — would make the cut along with newcomers Elijah Moore and Joshua Palmer.
Keeping five receivers instead of six would give the Bills the chance to keep more cornerbacks, a position of need after 15-game starter Rasul Douglas hit free agency.
The Bills taking five receivers without special teams value is unusual, but it makes room for an extra cornerback,” Sabato wrote.
Sabato predicted the Bills would keep two of last year’s practice squad players, Tyrell Shavers and Jalen Virgil, along with rookie Kaden Prather on this season’s practice squad.
Another Avenue to the Roster for Shenault
Sal Maiorana of the Democrat & Chronicle had also predicted that Shenault would struggle to make the final roster, noting that Moore’s signing bumped him further down the depth chart. But Maiorana suggested that Shenault’s versatility in the return game could give him an edge when it comes time for final cuts.
“The Moore signing might push Shenault off the roster unless he can definitively win the kickoff return job and contribute elsewhere on special teams,” he wrote.
Shenault had some success in the return game with the Seattle Seahawks last season, returning 16 kicks for a 28.7-yard average with one return touchdown.
Reporter Sal Capaccio of WGR 550 suggested that the Bills may have been thinking ahead when they signed Shenault, with head coach Sean McDermott serving on the rules committee and knowing that a rule change was coming that would encourage more kickoff returns.
My assessment of the Bills Lavishka Shenault signing: I think it has a lot to do with the possibility of touchbacks on kickoffs being moved to the 35,” Capaccio shared in a post on X. “Sean McDermott is on the competition committee. He knows this could be happening (not a certainty).”
The Bills already lost a valuable special teams player and wide receiver in Mack Hollins, who left to join the New England Patriots. Capaccio noted that Shenault could serve some part of his role.
“If the rule is changed, teams won’t be kicking touchbacks nearly as much, and the Bills will have two very good return men,” Capaccio wrote. “Shenault would also be some depth at WR, and if he is a KR it could allow them some gameday roster flexibility with another position depending on matchups.”