News broke this morning that the Buffalo Bills, in preparation for tomorrow's cutdown deadline to 75 players, have released six players to reach that limit. The following players are no longer donning Bills uniforms:
QB Kevin Eakin, WR Donovan Morgan, LB Roy Manning, CB Reggie Lewis, CB Chris Thompson, and K/P D.J. Fitzpatrick.
The Morgan release is very surprising as he was getting early reps with J.P. Losman as recently as Friday night's Titans game. It was clear from the get-go that his technique could use considerable buffing, but he's a tall, smooth athlete with solid hands.
Chris Brown of BuffaloBills.com thinks that the early release of Morgan is a move to get him onto the practice squad (tip of the hat to, as usual, Kurupt for mentioning this in the comments):
Well, you ruined that secret, Brownie. In all likelihood he's right - Morgan was clearly established as the sixth receiver in the rotation, behind Sam Aiken and ahead of Jonathan Smith. This signals to me that the Bills plan to move forward with five receivers on the active roster and one on the practice squad - even if it's not Morgan. If Morgan gets picked up by another club, look for Jemalle Cornelius to get the practice squad call. Smith no longer has practice squad eligibility, and Cornelius has the most potential of the rest of this group. Scott Mayle could get a look as well.