Can the second-year man parlay his experience in the system into a roster spot?
With all of the changes at wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills, it’s a given that a new player will emerge as the top target for quarterback Josh Allen. Whether that target is someone who was on the roster last season or not remains to be seen; however, it’s going to be the biggest question for Buffalo throughout the lead-up to the 2024 NFL season.
The Bills return just two wideouts who caught passes from Allen during the 2023 regular season. However, they do return quite a few players from the team’s practice squad last year, and while those players might not have seen a ton of reps with QB1, they have more of a foundation than the newcomers based solely on their experience with the team.
In today’s edition of “91 players in 91 days,” we discuss one of those practice-squad holdovers — a player looking to make the leap onto the 53-man roster in his second pro season.
Bryan Thompson
- Number: 89
- Position: WR
- Height/Weight: 6’1”, 195 pounds
- Age: 25 (26 on 4/7/2025)
- Experience/Draft: 1; signed with Buffalo following the 2023 NFL Draft
- College: Arizona State
- Acquired: UDFA signing
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Thompson signed a two-year reserve/futures deal in January. That contract is worth $1.764 million overall, with just $9,000 guaranteed. The latter figure represents the dead-cap charge Buffalo stands to carry if they release Thompson. Should he make the roster, Thompson carries a cap hit of $799,500 for the season.
2023 Recap: Thompson signed with Buffalo after the draft last year, and he appeared in all three of the team’s preseason games. He only saw three targets in those contests, catching two of them for 11 yards. Thompson was released following final cuts, but he was signed to the team’s practice squad immediately thereafter. He wasn’t called up during the season, and the team signed him to a reserve/futures deal upon their elimination at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs in January.
Positional outlook: Thompson is one of 13 players vying for a roster spot at receiver. Keon Coleman, Khalil Shakir, Curtis Samuel, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Justin Shorter, Chase Claypool, Tyrell Shavers, Andy Isabella, K.J. Hamler, Lawrence Keys, Mack Hollins, and Xavier Johnson are the others.
2024 Offseason: Thompson is healthy and participated in OTAs and minicamp. He’s ready for training camp.
2024 Season outlook: Barring something crazy, Thompson is once again looking at a competition for a spot on the practice squad. He’s unlikely to eclipse even players like Shorter, Claypool, and Hamler, who are by no means roster locks, but who also have a better shot at making the team whether due to overall athleticism, potential, or draft pedigree.
Thompson would need major showings in camp and in the preseason, and while nothing is impossible, I can’t see him being ahead of seven other players at the position when the dust settles at the end of August.