The Buffalo Bills are trimming the roster fast, and one of their quieter offseason bets is already gone.
After releasing 13 players on Saturday afternoon and working out a trade that sent backup center Sedrick Van Pran-Granger to the Indianapolis Colts, Buffalo moved on from safety Geno Stone as the team closes in on its final 53-man roster. The Bills must submit that roster by 6 p.m. Sunday, with the regular season set to begin on September 9th.
Jordan Schultz reported that Buffalo is releasing Stone, who signed a one-year deal with the team in March. Schultz noted that a return to the practice squad is possible, but Stone will first look around the market.
Stone arrived in Buffalo with a solid track record. Drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in 2020, he spent 2021-2023 there before signing with the Cincinnati Bengals from 2024-2025.
Over the last three seasons, he has picked off 13 passes, including his 2023 interception total with Baltimore, and he also has 21 PBUs and 14 career INTs. Coverage has been his calling card, even if his work against the run has been viewed as a weakness.
The Bills had assembled a revamped safety group that included Stone, C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Jalon Kilgore, while also bringing back Damar Hamlin and already having Cole Bishop in the room. The expectation from fans was that Bishop and Gardner-Johnson would be the starting safeties, leaving Stone and Hamlin - both on one-year deals - to fight for one roster spot.
That battle appears to have tilted sharply toward Hamlin. He grabbed interceptions in back-to-back preseason games against the Browns and Steelers, while Stone didn’t do enough in preseason to separate himself. In the end, Buffalo went with the player who made the stronger on-field case.
A practice squad return is still on the table, according to Schultz, but it would be a surprise if Stone ends up back there. The more likely outcome is that he finds another team for 2026.
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