Buffalo Bills rookies reported to St. John Fisher University on July 21, with veterans following on July 28. That kicks off six weeks of roster-building before the Bills have to trim their offseason roster down to 53 players ahead of their regular-season opener against the Houston Texans on Sept. 13.
Buffalo returns most of its core, but new head coach Joe Brady and defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard have reshaped both staffs and schemes this offseason. That means several familiar names are staring down real roster pressure. Here are four Bills training camp cut candidates who could be playing elsewhere — or nowhere — come Week 1.
Frank Gore Jr., RB
Frank Gore Jr. has spent two straight summers fighting for a spot on Buffalo’s 53-man roster and losing both times, landing on the practice squad instead. The son of Hall of Fame finalist Frank Gore did get his first NFL action this January, playing four offensive snaps and catching a six-yard pass in the Bills’ Wild Card win over the Jacksonville Jaguars after Ty Johnson’s ankle injury opened a door.
That door isn’t likely to open again in 2026. Buffalo’s current 91-man roster carries five running backs: James Cook, Ray Davis, Ty Johnson, Desmond Reid and Gore, plus two fullbacks. Cook is the clear lead back, Davis is an above-average complementary piece, and Johnson has become one of the league’s better third-down backs. Reid, a rookie addition, gives the team another young option in the room.
Gore signed a two-year reserve/futures deal worth $1.935 million with no guaranteed money, so Buffalo carries zero dead-cap cost if it moves on. Barring an injury elsewhere in the room or a standout August, the practice squad — or a spot on another team’s roster — looks like his most realistic landing spot again.
Mecole Hardman Jr., WR
Mecole Hardman joined the Bills last November after Buffalo’s receiver corps hit a rough patch, and the three-time Super Bowl champion gave the offense a jolt in limited action, including a four-yard touchdown catch in the playoff loss to Denver. But that flash of production doesn’t guarantee him a roster spot this summer.
Buffalo Rumblings reporter Sean Murphy said the only true roster locks at receiver are Khalil Shakir, D.J. Moore and rookie Skyler Bell, with several veterans — Hardman included — fighting for the handful of spots behind them. One NFL analyst went further: Heavy.com’s Nathan Dougherty predicted Buffalo will release Hardman at final cuts, citing special-teams versatility as the tiebreaker in favor of veteran Trent Sherfield. That’s a prediction, not a confirmed move — Hardman still has training camp to change the math. But it’s a real signal of where the roster math currently points.
Javon Solomon, OLB
The defensive side of Buffalo’s roster is where the scheme change bites hardest. Sean McDermott’s old 4-3 defense is gone, replaced by Jim Leonhard’s 3-4, and that shift changes what the team needs at every level of the front seven — starting with the outside linebacker room, where Solomon now finds himself squeezed.
Buffalo’s presumed OLB rotation runs through Greg Rousseau and free-agent addition Bradley Chubb, with second-round rookie T.J. Parker and returning edge rusher Michael Hoecht also ahead of Solomon on the depth chart. The Bills further complicated his path by signing veteran Mike Danna, which, according to SI’s Buffalo Bills site, pushes Solomon rather far down the depth chart. A 2024 fifth-round pick, Solomon now enters what amounts to a make-or-break camp to prove he belongs on the 53.
DeWayne Carter, DT
DeWayne Carter’s 2025 season ended before it started. The 2024 third-round pick tore his Achilles tendon in training camp last summer and never got on the field. Now he’s back, aiming to be Buffalo’s answer at nose tackle in the new 3-4 — a very different job than the one he was drafted to do.
Carter played more as a gap-shooting penetrator under McDermott’s staff. Under Leonhard, he projects instead as a one-technique or nose tackle, a role built around occupying blockers rather than making plays behind the line. Carter has bulked up to handle it, telling reporters on the “Centered on Buffalo” podcast that he’s targeting somewhere between 320 and 330 pounds for the position switch.
The competition is steep. Buffalo’s interior line already includes Ed Oliver, Deone Walker, T.J. Sanders, Phidarian Mathis and fifth-round rookie Zane Durant, and radio analyst Chris Brown of WGR Sports Radio Buffalo said one of those spots will most likely go to Durant, whose size profile more closely resembles Oliver’s than Carter’s. Coming off a serious injury, learning a new position, in a crowded room — Carter has as much to prove as anyone on Buffalo’s roster this August.
What It Means
None of these four are guaranteed to be gone by Week 1 — training camp exists precisely so players can change the math with their play. But all four share the same problem: a roster crunch created by scheme change, new coaching investment, and depth Buffalo has built up at their respective positions. Six weeks of practices and preseason snaps will decide who sticks and who doesn’t.
