Buffalo Bills release tackle Conor McDermott

The Buffalo Bills released backup offensive tackle Conor McDermott on Thursday afternoon, leaving their active roster at 52 players. The move has led to plenty of speculation as to what the team will do with its open roster spot.

With the status of quarterback Josh Allen (concussion) uncertain for Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans, it’s possible that the team is opening the spot for a backup quarterback should Allen be unavailable. While the second-year man has practiced in a limited fashion over the last two days, he is still in the concussion protocol as per head coach Sean McDermott.

If Allen were to miss the game, backup Matt Barkley would start. The Bills currently have one quarterback, Davis Webb, on the practice squad. Some have speculated that wide receiver Duke Williams could be activated from the practice squad if Allen clears concussion protocol. Joe Buscaglia tweeted that Williams has worked with the special-teams group in practice this week, which is something new for him.

Other optimistic Bills fans have hoped that the release makes room for a splashy new wide receiver, such as A.J. Green or Stefon Diggs, the latter of whom has been spotted at nearly 1,000 places in the Buffalo area over the last 24 hours (or at least according to Twitter he has been).

McDermott, 26, has been with the Bills since 2017. He has been a healthy scratch in each of Buffalo’s four games this year. He does have practice-squad eligibility remaining, so if he clears waivers, it’s quite possible that the team will look to bring him back.