Bills Sign WR Tavon Austin

[Bill Cody]

Austin is there to show Stevenson the job won't be just handed to him.

The main thing Stevenson needs to do in camp/preseason is protect the ball. As long as he does that, and make a play or 2 he should be fine.

[Night Train]

Camp always sorts it out. Answers all the questions.

[ParanoidAndroid]

I just don't see how Austin fits. He hasn't returned kicks much over the last several years and Crowder should have the slot job locked down. I guess he would be better depth than Stevenson.

[swiper]

Austin is there to show Stevenson the job won't be just handed to him.

I believe this to be the case.

[Mace]

Camp always sorts it out. Answers all the questions.

This.

He's vet camp competition for those with a certain skillset. If he beats any of them out, we have a better player than one of them. If he doesn't, well, one of them is better. It just stands out more because he's a "name" guy, or was, once. We can afford to dabble, going into camp.

I don't really make much of it. Camp will sort it out.

[Goobylal]

He's just a camp body and competition for what will probably be just 1 open spot. The top-4/locks are Diggs, Davis, Crowder and McKenzie. I think Shakir is also a lock because they will probably lose him if they cut him to try and stash him on the PS, unless he absolutely sucks in TC and PS games.

[Turf]

Austin will be the return guy. Stevenson out.

[Canadian'eh!]

The only reason I can think of is the Bills have a number of WR’s in mind for training camp.

They waived undrafted FA Malik Williams to clear a roster spot for Austin.

The Bills lost a lot of experience when Sanders and Beasley left. And McDermott has a history of not trusting rookies and makes an effort to protect them until they gain experience and trust.

They are probably going to keep seven WR’s on the roster for 2022 like they did for 2021.

These are most likely cast in stone...

1. Diggs
2. Davis
3. Crowder
4. McKenzie
5. Shakir

The other two will come from...

Stevenson
Kumerow
Hodgins
Gentry

And now, Austin.

Gentry and Hodgins are on thin ice.

Kumerow is valuable on special teams. Stevenson could be a lock if he nails down the return spot.

Going to be a very interesting training camp for valuable spots on one the most solid and talented rosters in the NFL.

I'd be very surprised if Kumerow doesn't make the team.

[Cali512]

Im already done with Stephenson. His speed and athleticism doesn’t translate, he looks slow and has no elusiveness. The difference between him and McKenzie is night and day

[YardRat]

I'd be very surprised if Kumerow doesn't make the team.

He has value on 'teams and he was effective helping the run game get going at the end of the regular season. I'd be surprised also.

[notacon]

I'd be very surprised if Kumerow doesn't make the team.

I think you are right.

That means it’s likely that Stevenson, Hodgins, Gentry and Austin will be battling for the last WR spot.

And it’s also likely that one (and maybe two) WR will be stashed on the practice squad.

I suspect that the final roster (of active players at WR) will be:

1. Diggs
2. Davis
3. Crowder
4. McKenzie
5. Shakir
6. Kumerow
7. Austin

[ParanoidAndroid]

If Hodgins continues to have injury issues, he'll get cut this year. Gentry and Stevenson would be safe on the PS.

[Jimkelly12203]

What this tells me is that the slot is important to their plans, and that they're sick of having a key player at that spot too injured to execute said plan. We have three of them now. And i think they're all pretty good at different stages of their careers.

[Ed]

I'm starting to wonder if McKenzie isn't as much of a lock as most of us think he is. It really wouldn't be that much of a hit to cut him even with the new 2 year deal he just signed. Crowder is going to be the primary slot WR and they do value Kumerow a lot on special teams. I think Shakir is close to being a lock too based on how highly they graded him and that he'll be a cheap cost control player for the next four years. Maybe it will be McKenzie and Austin fighting for the last spot if they only keep 6.

[notacon]

I'm starting to wonder if McKenzie isn't as much of a lock as most of us think he is. It really wouldn't be that much of a hit to cut him even with the new 2 year deal he just signed. Crowder is going to be the primary slot WR and they do value Kumerow a lot on special teams. I think Shakir is close to being a lock too based on how highly they graded him and that he'll be a cheap cost control player for the next four years. Maybe it will be McKenzie and Austin fighting for the last spot if they only keep 6.

McKenzie has a not unsubstantial dead cap hit of $950K post June 1, 2022 cut . And he’s got $650K guaranteed.

Austin would be zero. With zero guarantees. He signed a deal that pays him NFL minimum salary for a 9 year vet.


Not sure if McKenzie is a “lock”, but it would be a fairly big surprise if he is cut. His deal is structured for a more likely 2023 cut, but not for 2022.

[Goobylal]

A $1M dead cap hit is chump change these days. Beane wouldn't blink an eye at it, considering the Bills had over $70M in dead cap in 2018. And it would save almost the same amount of money against the cap.

The WR position will be interesting this year.

[swiper]

Tavon has juice

Wide receiver Tavon Austin made a very good impression in a short amount of time since signing with the club a couple weeks ago. He once again moved well, ran good routes, and showed great hands, both in individual drills and connecting with the quarterbacks in the team portion of 7-on-7 and 11-on-11.

LINK

Wide receiver Tavon Austin continues to impress in a short period of time. Here he is with a little #ToeDragSwag pic.twitter.com/tmCFOsQm9d

— Sal Capaccio 🏈 (@SalSports) June 15, 2022

[Goobylal]

I can see him making it at least as a return man. Anything as a WR would be gravy.