Bills GM explains why surprising veteran DE made 53-man roster

After an offseason in which the main entrance at One Bills Drive looked more like a revolving door due to significant and frequent personnel turnover, the Buffalo Bills’ recent 90-to-53 roster move was surprisingly devoid of fireworks. There were a few surprising omissions (namely sixth-round pick Daequan Hardy), but the roster otherwise rocked as expected.

However, there was a relatively surprising inclusion on the defensive line, as the team decided to keep 28-year-old passer Casey Toohill as the sixth defensive end. It’s not like Toohill is an underwhelming player — he recorded five sacks for the Washington Commanders last season — but he didn’t really play at the University of St. John Fisher or throughout the season; an injury sidelined him for long stretches of the summer and he only saw the field in one preseason contest.

Holding six defensive ends wasn’t necessarily a one-off, but many believed that if Buffalo signed a sixth linebacker, the spot would go to Kingsley Jonathan, who has appeared in 14 games for the Bills over the past two seasons. General manager Brandon Beane talked about the decision to keep Toohill during his Wednesday press availability, saying what he showed at his previous stops played a role in making Buffalo’s initial roster.

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“Casey’s had a good career so far, even before he got here,” Beane said. “Another tough decision here as to how many you keep at each place. I would say there are more decisions like that than not at different positions you decide. Make special teams, make guys that can go in and out. Just try to make sure you have enough answers when your rookies don’t, guys that can play different spots. Just all the nuances of the game. It’s not an easy call, though.”

Beane cites versatility and special teams ability as reasons why one player can usurp another at the bottom of the roster, but that doesn’t necessarily seem related to Toohill and Jonathan’s decision; of Toohill’s 494 defensive snaps in Washington last season, 476 of them (96%) came on either the left or right end, which doesn’t necessarily suggest he has the ability to “get in and out” ( played both defensive end and tackle). Jonathan also took more special teams snaps than Toohill last season (177 to 161), though it should be noted that the Commanders quarterback didn’t take a special teams snap after Week 8.

All that said, Toohill has shown promise in live-game action recently, and it’s possible that Buffalo’s brass simply wanted a little more time to see what a now-healthy Toohill can give them. Another factor that potentially played a role in the decision to keep the veteran over Jonathan is the NFL’s recently changed practice squad rules; starting this year, teams are allowed to keep a 17th member as part of their traditional 16-man practice squad, assuming the additional member qualifies as an “international player”. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Jonathan technically qualifies and thus occupies a special relief spot on the Bills’ practice squad.

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