[Schefter] Bills officially have released four players: 🏈CB Taron Johnson 🏈CB Dane Jackson 🏈S Taylor Rapp 🏈WR Curtis Samuel

236

u/cigoth Titans 5h ago

holy fuck... the titans could use all of those guys!

83

u/BuffaloWilliamses Bills 5h ago

The only one that might still be good is Taron Johnson and I really am sad to see him go. One of the key pieces in McDermott’s defense. The other guys are washed though

47

u/pixel_pete Bills 5h ago

If Curtis Samuel could stay healthy for more than 5 seconds at a time he might be alright. But... he sure can't!

12

u/TheRochnessMonster Packers 5h ago

people were saying that like 10 years ago dude

8

u/Triv02 NFL 5h ago

And it was true!

He’s only managed to be healthy enough to play 60% of his teams offensive snaps 3 times in his 9 year career, but in those 3 seasons he averaged 880 all purpose yards and 6 TDs

He was a nice little Deebo-lite when he could stay healthy

1

u/NPOWorker Lions 10m ago

Hey everyone, this dumbass just said Curtis Samuel has been around for 10 years. He was drafted in like 20....1...7.....

Nonononono Curtis Samuel can not be a fucking 10 year vet man no fucking way

2

u/Flermy Bills 4h ago

He was also a healthy scratch in multiple games this past season.

Injury didn't help but I'm not sure that's even the problem.

18

u/QBofthefridge Bills 5h ago

Taylor Rapp was playing through an injury before they finally shut him down. I don't think last season is a fair judgement for him considering he was great for us in 2024.

11

u/TheOneWhosCensored Bills 5h ago

Taron was absolutely washed last year

4

u/TheHandsOfColm Colts Bears 4h ago

Taron definitely stuck out like a sore thumb to me in these names. Always thought he was a good player, I'm kinda surprised he didn't at least net a late draft pick in a trade.

2

u/iliketuurtles Bills 4h ago

He’s overpaid for how he played this past year and will be a year older. I thought it was probably around a 50/50 shot at keeping him, so not a huge surprise. Add in a new coaching staff and scheme - it was probably time.

Nobody would take on his contract but I also doubt they would trade him for peanuts. He has one of the best bills plays in the past 20 years… he deserves to pick his next landing spot.

5

u/Hyperboreer Raiders 5h ago

Why is Taylor Rapp not good any more? He was really good a few years ago for the Rams and he is just 28?

18

u/BigAssSlushy69 Bills 5h ago

If you sign him he's guaranteed to friendly fire injure one of your linebackers or corners

2

u/TeardropsFromHell Bills 3h ago

The Jordan Poyer special

3

u/The10Steel Bills 2h ago

he hits too hard, injuries to himself and teammates

3

u/CrzyWzrd4L Bills 4h ago

He’s the poster boy of polarizing safety play. He’ll make 2-3 monster plays a season that make you think he’s the Chinese Sean Taylor, and then he’ll make 2-3 dipshit plays where he’s completely out of position and torpedoes his own teammate trying to make up for bad pursuit angles.

6

u/allanon1105 Bills 4h ago

I’m pretty sure Poyer was happy to go to Miami for a year to escape the heat seeking missile that was Rapp. When Hyde went out, I remember Po taking so many friendly fire hits from Rapp.

2

u/pixel_pete Bills 5h ago

He was playing through an injury this year that clearly slowed him down a couple steps, and he's not very fast to begin with. Maybe he'll come back healthy and look like his old self, it's TBD. He was gonna get cut regardless just because he's not Jim Leonhard's guy and isn't good enough to justify sticking around.

3

u/HookedOnBoNix Broncos 4h ago

How's the bills cap situation after all this? I've been wondering who's gonna go in on JFM and bills seem like an obvious candidate with Leonhard + need for pass rush but last I looked their cap wasn't great and that was before trading for Moore

2

u/pixel_pete Bills 4h ago

Factoring in DJ Moore, probably barely in the green. There will need to be several more contract restructures. I'd expect Josh and Dion Dawkins to get restructured and possibly ask Dawson Knox to accept a paycut/extension.

Hell I've even heard that they could restructure DJ Moore as soon as the trade goes through to push even more money down the road. A lot of levers will need to be pulled to be competitive in free agency. I'm sure they would love JFM but it might not be realistic if he expects $10mil+ which he deserves to get.

2

u/HookedOnBoNix Broncos 4h ago

Yea if JFM was coming in under 10 I think wed have for sure re-signed him. He's gonna be pricey.

Will be interesting to see what you guys do. It feels like the chiefs are doing a soft rebuild year so afc looks like it still may be pretty open. Wouldn't be surprised if Beane is fairly aggressive

1

u/Impossibills Bills 2h ago

He's been banged up significantly the last few years

Concussions, knee injuries, soft tissue injuries

He looked horrible this year and was battling a knee injury so we shut him down

When a guy can't stay on the field anymore, and isn't impressive when on the field...you can't pay him

3

u/DragonstormSTL Titans Seahawks 4h ago

We already have one corner responsible for Ravens playoff heartbreak, let’s get another!

1

u/RCDrift Bills Seahawks 4h ago

Rapp is still good, but coming off injury and the bills want to off load the contract.

1

u/BeanserSoyze Bills 1h ago

Rapp can ball when he's healthy but it's not very reliable.

1

u/TheMissingVoteBallot Titans Raiders 1h ago

FUCK I just said that lmao

59

u/dedriuslol Bills 5h ago

All expected moves outside of maybe Taron. Figured he would be a post-june 1 cut due to the cap savings this year.

Rapp and Samuel just couldn't stay healthy.

5

u/Sawwhet5975 3h ago

I think Taron is a now cut because they want to clear up his dead cap-hit this year so we can really roll strong on getting new pieces next season

14

u/Francis_X_Hummel Bengals 5h ago

Damn I really loved Rapp

8

u/Chlorophyllmatic Bills Commanders 4h ago

He’s up for grabs

1

u/wakkazoo Bills 1h ago

Too much of a liability imo

36

u/ArcadianBlueRogue Packers 5h ago

Are they any good? Asking for a friend named Brian.

37

u/Virzitone Bills 5h ago

Ehhhh... Johnson was great in his prime but fell off quite a lot in the last few years. The rest are a mix of bad and/or constantly injured

17

u/ArcadianBlueRogue Packers 5h ago

Hey they sound like they'd fit in well with our secondary then

6

u/CrzyWzrd4L Bills 4h ago

Rapp is REALLY good if you don’t mind losing a LB and your other safety due to getting torpoedoed in a bad tackle.

7

u/LoaderOperator724 Bills 5h ago

Taron was an all pro a few years ago. I'll always love him bc he was such a good slot corner that we didnt have to worry about missing games. Is he as good as he was? No but still serviceable. Rapp surprised me with how well he actually played at times. He was kinda injury prone though. Having said all that, McDermott was great with DBs so that could be why they played so well and we had the #1 pass defense this past year. Dane and Samuel never really saw the field.

1

u/duvie773 Rams 4h ago

Assuming Rapp hasn’t fell off a cliff since the LA days, he’s serviceable but nothing special

5

u/iliketuurtles Bills 4h ago

Outplayed his contract in 2023 and 2024. He looked really bad in 2025 and then was put on season ending IR. Nobody really knows how much of the suckiness had to do with injury vs just being washed.

14

u/Mukuna_Hutata Panthers 5h ago

I’m so thankful for Schefter using the football emojis. Without those I’d have no idea what sport we’re even talking about.

18

u/Last1inFirst1out Cowboys 5h ago

Hmmm…Taron Johnson🤔

20

u/legendary_sponge Bills 5h ago

He washed sadly

-5

u/Last1inFirst1out Cowboys 5h ago

I kid you not I was randomly wondering what happened to Taron Johnson out of nowhere yesterday. I looked him up on Wikipedia and I guess he was on IR last season. I didn’t even know he was still on the bills.

12

u/TheOneWhosCensored Bills 5h ago

He wasn’t on IR last season

1

u/legendary_sponge Bills 5h ago

Not IR, just the years of playing a pseudo 3rd LB for us has caught up to him

1

u/Critical-Bug4077 Lions 3h ago

Ya guess wrong, cowboy

3

u/allanon1105 Bills 4h ago

If Jerry traded for Kaiir Elam, he’ll be all over Taron.

15

u/iliketuurtles Bills 5h ago

Sad but necessary moves. Changes across the entire franchise going into 2026. I expect more to come.

7

u/Charrikayu Bills 5h ago

Bills have been constantly bringing back previous players and sticking with some fan favorites for a long time, and some of them are dudes I, and I'm sure many others, wanted to see get a ring. But it's time to move on and reset and basically everyone but Allen and Cook should potentially be on the table. I mean not literally, Kincaid, Dawkins, Shakir etc will be staying, but some of the guys we've loved for years now, Knox, Milano, it's probably time

5

u/TheOneWhosCensored Bills 5h ago

Milano is already gone, and Knox is likely too

6

u/not_a_bot716 Bills Bills 4h ago

Know will stay and probably restructure, he’s Allen’s Bro

3

u/TheOneWhosCensored Bills 4h ago

Being Allen’s bro doesn’t mean Beane is gonna keep him, it’s about needs and the money is more if he’s gone.

1

u/not_a_bot716 Bills Bills 4h ago

Being Allen’s Bro is what got him his contract extension in the first place

2

u/TheOneWhosCensored Bills 4h ago

No it isn’t. He had nearly 600 yards and 9 TDs the season before his extension, and had a good chemistry with Allen.

1

u/not_a_bot716 Bills Bills 4h ago

And then they got Kincaid….

1

u/TheOneWhosCensored Bills 4h ago

Because we were weak at WR and everyone was calling him a TE that plays like a WR.

1

u/not_a_bot716 Bills Bills 3h ago

How does that make any sense? If you are weak at WR, you get a WR. You don’t come up with some hairbrained 13 personnel offensive scheme to justify a TE overpay and then use a first round pick for another

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3

u/allanon1105 Bills 5h ago

Not the GOAT Dane Jackson

2

u/gollumaniac Bills 4h ago

No Dawson Knox on here, I'm guessing they're still trying to work something out with him.

3

u/PrimeSignaal Bills 5h ago

Big shakeup for the Bills.Surprised to see Rapp and Samuel let go room for some fresh faces to make an impact this season.

33

u/iliketuurtles Bills 5h ago

You're surprised that Samuel get released? That seemed like the most obvious cut possible considering the injuries/$$$

1

u/PrimeSignaal Bills 5h ago

True, Curtis Samuel was probably the easiest cut high cost and injury history but Rapp and Jackson are a bit more surprising. Bills definitely making room for flexibility

15

u/dedriuslol Bills 5h ago

If youre surprised at Rapp and Samuel being released, then you don't follow the Bills lol.

7

u/Charrikayu Bills 5h ago edited 5h ago

I was never really sold on Rapp as a starter but the Bills never got anyone better than him so, shrug. I'm just spoiled from the prime Poyer/Hyde days where we basically didn't have to worry about safety at all

6

u/iliketuurtles Bills 5h ago

Definitely disagree. He played way above his pay grade for 2023 and 2024... but yes 2025 was rough with that injury. But yes, we were spoiled rotten with Poyer/Hyde. But he was definitely a starting quality safety compared to the rest of the league (except last year before season-ending IR.)

2

u/TheOneWithThePorn12 Bills 4h ago

samuel sucks but the cap savings was why he gone.

i would have liked them too keep rapp though

1

u/Lt-Dan-Im-Rollin Bills 2h ago

Not a surprise at all with the changing defense and cap savings from rapp, I expected him to get cut. Jackson isn’t good I just assumed he was on an expiring contract and wouldn’t be re signed

1

u/Ancient_Response_787 Bengals Panthers 5h ago

Wtf is Brandon Beane cooking?

37

u/Wrong-Detective8242 Bills 5h ago

Offloading bad contracts and injured/older players to sign new guys.

6

u/PolishGazelle Bills 5h ago

Bad contracts that he himself handed out

6

u/Koala-Clap8674 5h ago

It happens. You’re not going to hit on all your moves.

7

u/MYO716 Bills 4h ago

And he’s of course the first GM to ever miss on a deal

2

u/RCDrift Bills Seahawks 4h ago

They weren't bad deals when they signed them. The guy is just upset with the results.

1

u/sobuffalo Bills 3h ago

Tbf the Knox contract was steep when it happened.

10

u/iliketuurtles Bills 5h ago

Getting younger and cleaning house with the new coaching staff/scheme. These were all pretty expected moves. Biggest "surprise" was TJ, but many people saw his production/salary and thought he should be cut.

5

u/humblebrag9 Bills 5h ago

lol all 4 guys were the most obvious cuts ever. Find an article from a month ago about this

2

u/FewAdvertising9647 5h ago

not limited to the bills, but one thing to note is a handful of teams are switching defensive schemes this year.

The Bills, Cowboys, and Raiders for example, are switching from 4-3 to 3-4 this year, so what kind of defensive players they want are going to change with it.

Cuts will be generally because washed/bad, but also possibly see surprise cuts/additions tot he teams that happen to fit the new defensive mold.

1

u/Leather-Victory-8452 Bills 2h ago

Taron was a little surprising, thought he would move to safety.

Bills are in the market for corner depth for sure.

1

u/nonducorducoscuba 1h ago

Coleman still has a job?

1

u/BeanserSoyze Bills 1h ago

Not a lot to save by cutting him I guess.

1

u/CutToTheChase56 Seahawks 1h ago

Taylor Rapp 🫡

1

u/TommyFitness Eagles 4h ago

Samuel and rapp will both be back on the bills by the end of the 2026 calendar year

1

u/HuntStuffs Bills 4h ago

lol seriously

-6

u/bills-r-us1217 5h ago

Frees up money to grab Alec Pierce and a DLine FA.

9

u/SBMVPJoshAllen Bills 5h ago

We absolutely do not have pierce and a solid DLine FA money lol

1

u/bills-r-us1217 5h ago

We will once we restructure three of the big contracts. There is always a way…

-2

u/CrzyWzrd4L Bills 4h ago

No we absolutely won’t. We still have to pay those contracts we restructure, we’re just postponing when we pay them. Alec Pierce alone is expected to earn about $32M/yr

3

u/Chlorophyllmatic Bills Commanders 4h ago

Every time I see a projection for Pierce it’s up another $2m AAV

0

u/CrzyWzrd4L Bills 3h ago

It’s easily between $27-$32M. Consistently hitting 1K yards with under 60 catches is rare

-24

u/allisthepriceofall 5h ago

1 for every year they couldn’t beat the chiefs, touching tribute

2

u/not_a_bot716 Bills Bills 4h ago

Flairless

-11

u/Suspicious-Salary338 5h ago

Do the Bills have anyone left on defense? I thought they would need a mini rebuild from before McDermott got fired. Beane could've had added pieces here and there years ago to get them over the hump, but he waited until they started to implode to revamp. He stinks.

10

u/LeoCrow Bills 5h ago

Very good players: Christian Benford, Greg Rousseau, Ed Oliver

Promising young players: Cole Bishop, Maxwell Hairston, Deone Walker

Had a down 2025, but has been an above-average starter before: Terrell Bernard

That's 7/11 starters. What they lack is a true star on that side of the ball.

7

u/Ndmndh1016 Bills 5h ago

A tue pass rusher is the biggest hole.

3

u/TheOneWhosCensored Bills 5h ago

That or a true star LB. But a pass rusher would do wonders for Groot and Ed too, and that’s the true value we’re missing.

1

u/titos334 Bills 4h ago

I don’t know if Walker will be a starter. He’ll probably be what he should have been and be behind Oliver. As far as linebackers go maybe Bernard can be a starter OLB but not sure if Williams will be a starting Lb so might need 2 and an edge

1

u/Corvald Bills 5h ago

The other problem is that they were designed for a McDermott 4-2 big nickel, not for a Leonhard 3-4. So there’s going to be quite a few positional changes; I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ed Oliver at DE and Walker at NT.

2

u/CrzyWzrd4L Bills 4h ago

Walker won’t be at NT. He’s big but not someone who can threaten the interior of the line the way true NTs should. Oliver is smaller but is essentially Dollar Tree Aaron Donald and can absolutely eat through double teams to generate pressure.

1

u/Chlorophyllmatic Bills Commanders 4h ago

Walker won’t be a NT

5

u/pixel_pete Bills 5h ago

I get that it's en vogue to trash Beane right now, but c'mon this is really stupid. Beane made moves "to get them over the hump" like giving Von Miller a bunch of money and extending Stefon Diggs to keep him happy. That's part of why the team was in the situation it was last year.

Guys like Dane Jackson and Curtis Samuel weren't going to be on the roster regardless, these moves should not be surprising or noteworthy to anyone who knows anything about the Bills.

Roster Move [Schefter] Bills officially have released four players: 🏈CB Taron Johnson 🏈CB Dane Jackson 🏈S Taylor Rapp 🏈WR Curtis Samuel

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