In the first of what’s likely to be at least a few moves over the next couple days, the Buffalo Bills have claimed tight end Lee Smith off waivers a day after he was cut by the New England Patriots. Adam Schefter of ESPN was the first to report.
Smith was a fifth-round draft pick by New England out of Marshall this year. With gigantic size (6’6”, 269lbs) Smith caught 38 passes for 358 yards and three touchdowns for Marshall last season. His best game came against the University of Alabama-Birmingham last season when he caught nine passes for 81 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
To make room for Smith the Bills will have release a player from their 53-man roster. While nothing has been reported yet, this may be bad news for undrafted free agent tight end Zack Pianalto, who survived yesterday’s final rounds of cuts. It’s highly doubtful the team will carry four tight ends on the active roster.
The other Bills tight ends are Scott Chandler and David Martin. Martin could also be a candidate to get released because of his age (32).
In other Bills news, defensive tackle Michael Jasper confirms on his Twitter that he’s been signed to the Bills practice squad. The seventh-round draft pick was cut by the team Saturday. We’ll have plenty more on him and any other transactions that occur today later.
Final cutdown day is no fun for any team in the NFL, and the Buffalo Bills are no exception. By now everyone knows who did and didn’t make the 2011 Bills’ final 53-man roster.
Second-year head coach Jeff Quinn told the assembled media back in August that this was not last year’s Bulls. In the 2011 opener at Big East power Pittsburgh, Buffalo proved it.
The Buffalo Bills got down to their 53-man roster Saturday afternoon and while there no shockers, there was at least a couple cuts that left for a little head scratching. Antonio Coleman and Naaman Roosevelt were probably the two most puzzling releases, while Shawn Nelson, Geoff Hangartner, Mansfield Wrotto and Reggie Corner represent the biggest “name” players to receive their walking papers.
