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The Buffalo Bills have announced the release of five more players on Saturday, bringing their current active roster count all the way down to 50 players. Gone are quarterback Thaddeus Lewis, defensive linemen Torell Troup and Izaan Cross, pass rusher Jamie Blatnick, and linebacker Bryan Scott.
Lewis, Cross and Blatnick are all eligible for the team's practice squad.
Lewis was acquired in a trade with Detroit for linebacker Chris White just last weekend, and his release leaves the Bills with just two quarterbacks on the roster - and one of them, EJ Manuel, is coming off of knee surgery. Either the Bills are comfortable with where Manuel is at from a health perspective, or, more likely, they're targeting a different quarterback to back up Jeff Tuel on opening day.
The defensive line cuts were expected; the releases of Troup and Cross leave the Bills with a more reasonable six defensive linemen on the roster. Scott leaving town, however, means that the Bills have just three traditional linebackers on the roster.
Blatnick is the surprise release of the day, as he'd had a pretty strong showing this summer and played a ton on both defense and special teams in exhibition action. New defensive coordinator Mike Pettine kept veteran Jamaal Westerman - a player that's familiar with his system - over Blatnick as the Bills' eighth linebacker (a total that includes Mario Williams, by the way).
The cut process appears to be over for the Bills; now they need to add three players. Things only get more interesting from here.
Pos. | Starter | Backup | Reserve |
WR | 13 - Stevie Johnson | 10 - Robert Woods | 15 - Chris Hogan |
LT | 77 - Cordy Glenn | 66 - Thomas Welch | |
LG | 74 - Colin Brown | ||
C | 70 - Eric Wood | 59 - Doug Legursky | |
RG | 60 - Kraig Urbik | ||
RT | 79 - Erik Pears | 71 - Sam Young | |
TE | 84 - Scott Chandler | 85 - Lee Smith | 89 - Chris Gragg |
WR | 11 - T.J. Graham | 88 - Marquise Goodwin | 81 - Marcus Easley |
QB | 3 - EJ Manuel | 8 - Jeff Tuel | |
FB | 38 - Frank Summers | ||
RB | 28 - C.J. Spiller | 22 - Fred Jackson | 20 - Tashard Choice |
RE | 94 - Mario Williams | 55 - Jerry Hughes | |
DT | 95 - Kyle Williams | 69 - Jay Ross | |
NT | 99 - Marcell Dareus | 90 - Alan Branch | |
DE | 92 - Alex Carrington | 97 - Corbin Bryant | |
WLB | 53 - Nigel Bradham | 54 - Marcus Dowtin | |
MLB | 50 - Kiko Alonso | 52 - Arthur Moats | |
SLB | 91 - Manny Lawson | 93 - Jamaal Westerman | |
RCB | 24 - Stephon Gilmore | 26 - Justin Rogers | |
SS | 23 - Aaron Williams | 25 - Da'Norris Searcy | 36 - Jonathan Meeks |
FS | 31 - Jairus Byrd | 27 - Duke Williams | |
LCB | 21 - Leodis McKelvin | 33 - Ron Brooks | 37 - Nickell Robey |
K | 5 - Dustin Hopkins | ||
P | 6 - Shawn Powell | ||
LS | 65 - Garrison Sanborn |