Bills place fifth-year wideout on IR

Not standing out in a crowded Bills receiver competition, Chase Claypool will exit this derby early. Buffalo placed the big-bodied wide receiver on IR on Tuesday.

The Bills dropped Claypool from their 90-man roster and added wideout Deon Cain. The latter joins Monday addition Damiere Byrd among wideouts competing for back-end roster spots or practice squad gigs in Buffalo. Additionally, Buffalo placed quarterback Shane Buechele on IR. This move will officially bring Ben DiNucci onto the team’s active roster.

This does not necessarily end Claypool’s season. Depending on the nature of his injury, the fifth-year receiver can catch on elsewhere and play in 2024 via an injury settlement. But Claypool’s career has trended in the wrong direction for a bit. He has not been the same player since his initial Steelers seasons, and the Bills will continue to look for players to round out their new-look wideout group.

A toe injury sends the 26-year-old target to IR. Assuming this is not a season-ender, the terms of a likely injury settlement will dictate when he can join another team. However, ESPN.com’s Alaina Getzenberg notes the former second-round pick has missed most of Buffalo’s training camp. The Bills, who made several free-agent moves at this position during an offseason that featured Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis leaving, will now evaluate the likes of Byrd and Cain as part of an evolving receiver battle.

Buffalo added Claypool, Curtis Samuel, Mack Hollins and Marquez Valdes-Scantling to its roster this spring. Hollins is believed to be on steady ground, while Samuel is a roster lock based on the terms of his contract. Khalil Shakir and second-round pick Keon Coleman also will be regulars for this Bills edition, leaving the rest of the contingent to vie for backup gigs.

Claypool, who signed with the team shortly after the draft, is coming off an unremarkable Dolphins season. That came after an unproductive Bears stint. The 238-pound Notre Dame alum topped 850 receiving yards in his first two years, catching nine touchdown passes as a rookie. Maturity issues have dogged Claypool, who still totaled 451 yards during a 2022 season in which he fetched the Steelers the No. 32 overall pick in a trade. The Bears could only land a late-round pick swap in a Dolphins deal last September. Claypool caught eight passes for 77 yards in 2023.

Aiming to be the Bills’ third-string quarterback behind Josh Allen and Mitchell Trubisky, Buechele sustained a neck injury that will take him out of that equation. A 2021 Chiefs UDFA, Buechele, played at SMU and Texas. Buechele joined the Bills’ practice squad in August 2023 and received a reserve/futures deal in January. DiNucci is now the team’s third-string option.