Bills release former Pro Bowler amid roster crunch

The countdown to cut day continues, as all 32 teams around the NFL will be required to get their rosters down from 90 to 53 players by 4 p.m. on Tuesday. On Sunday afternoon, the Buffalo Bills made a handful of moves that get them closer to this number, sending a pair of safeties — Terrell Burgess and Dee Delaney — to the IR, while seven more hopefuls received the bad news that they would be released ahead of the season. Among those seven players are veteran wide receiver Damiere Byrd, and former Pro Bowl linebacker Deion Jones, who Buffalo signed to a one-year deal back in May.

“The #Bills have released former Pro Bowl LB Deion Jones,” tweets Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team.

After a standout senior season at LSU in 2015, Deion Jones was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the 2nd Round of the 2016 NFL Draft, and made an immediate impact upon arriving in A-Town. During his rookie season, Jones led a Falcons team that went to the Super Bowl in tackles, and led the entire league in interceptions returned for touchdowns with two. Jones was even better during his sophomore campaign, earning his one and only Pro Bowl nod after finishing the season with the 6th-most solo tackles in the league, along with 3 interceptions and 10 tackles for loss.

Deion Jones would spend the first six years of his NFL career in Atlanta, finishing five of those six seasons with at least 100 tackles. The only time Jones missed out was during the 2018 season, when he was limited to only six games thanks to a foot injury that sent Jones to the IR to start the season. Jones spent the 2022 season with the Cleveland Browns, starting five games in 11 appearances, before spending the 2023 season playing sparingly for the Carolina Panthers.

Jones is only 29 years old, so it’s possible he could get another look, but given his inability to make a Bills roster that has already been decimated by injuries this summer, it’s not promising.