- Bills defensive ends Mario Addison and Jerry Hughes have been discussed as trade targets around the league, per Graziano. Buffalo has done well to bolster its defensive line, and Addison and Hughes are 30-somethings in contract years. That said, it is difficult to see the Bills parting with either given their status as Super Bowl contenders. Hughes, 33, has started every game for Buffalo this year — his eighth as a Bills first-stringer — while first-rounder Gregory Rousseau has displaced Addison as a starter. Addison, 34, and Hughes have combined for just 1.5 sacks, but each certainly helps Buffalo with D-line depth.
Chris Hogan left football behind earlier this year, opting to try lacrosse again. But he ultimately decided to play a 10th NFL season, signing with the Saints. One day away from his 34th birthday, the veteran wide receiver is stepping away from the game again.
After playing in five games with the Saints, Hogan is now on the team’s reserve/retired list. Hogan caught on with New Orleans just before the start of the season. He caught four passes for 41 yards, including his 19th career touchdown, as a Saint.
A four-year Bills contributor, Hogan will be best remembered for his mid-career run with the Patriots. Plucked by the Pats via an RFA offer sheet in 2016, Hogan played a key role for two Super Bowl champion squads. Hogan led the NFL with 17.9 yards per reception in 2016 and totaled 12 touchdown catches in three Pats seasons.
The Monmouth alum delivered when called upon in the playoffs with the Pats. The ex-lacrosse player caught nine passes for 180 yards and two scores in the 2016 AFC championship game, finishing with 332 postseason receiving yards for the Super Bowl LI champions. With the Pats down Julian Edelman and then Brandin Cooks, Hogan then added 128 yards in Super Bowl LII a year later.
Hogan spent the past three seasons with three different teams, suiting up for the Panthers, Jets and Saints. He suffered injuries in both the 2019 and ’20 slates, with knee and ankle maladies limiting him to 12 games over that period.
Bills tight end Dawson Knox will miss multiple weeks due to a broken hand (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). The Bills may opt to place Knox on short-term IR, allowing him to return after three missed games. 
Knox, somehow, completed a 2-point conversion pass with the broken hand against the Titans. That fact wasn’t lost on the play’s receiver — quarterback Josh Allen.
“Huge shoutout to Dawson,” Allen said (via ESPN.com). “I was trying to call the play off — I was shaking my hands at [offensive coordinator Brian Daboll] like, ‘Don’t call it, we can’t do it.’ And [Knox] looked at me and said, ‘I got it. I’ll get it to ya.’ So, to put your body on the line like that and grit through it, that was a big-time play and that’s awesome when a teammate is willing to do that, and that’s why we love him.”
Knox is in the midst of a career year with 21 catches for 286 yards and five scores through six games. Fortunately for the Bills, they have a Week 7 bye plus a cushy stretch in Weeks 8-10. If Knox can’t go against the Dolphins, Jaguars, or even the Jets, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.
The Bills have agreed to a three-year extension with Taron Johnson, per a club announcement. The deal could be worth as much as $24MM, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter) with a healthy $14MM guaranteed. 
Johnson was previously on track for free agency in the spring, but the Bills didn’t want to let him get away. The 2018 fourth-rounder has become a key part of Buffalo’s D in recent years. In 2020, he notched 94 stops, seven passes defensed, five tackles for loss, one sack, one forced fumble, and an interception taken back for a touchdown. Then, in the playoffs, he notched another pick six — a 101-yarder — against the Ravens.
“Love that dude,” teammate Micah Hyde said recently (via the team website). “Man, he just does everything for our defense. You’ve got to have a nickel that’s a dog, and that’s him. He’s been showing it the last couple years. Just a great kid, a great guy, who has come a long ways. His growth mentally, on the football field, and even off, just becoming a man. It’s so cool to see a young guy like that coming along. He’s been making a lot of plays in this league for a long time.”
Johnson, 25, has already recorded five passes defensed, one FF, and one sack in three games this year. Now furnished with a new deal, he’ll turn his attention to the Chiefs on Sunday.
On this date in 2010, the Bills and Seahawks pulled off a blockbuster midseason trade. For the price of a 2011 fourth-round pick and a conditional 2012 draft pick, the Bills said farewell to Marshawn Lynch. 
Lynch’s tenure in Buffalo altered between jaw-dropping and headache-inducing for the front office. The running back topped 1,000 yards in each of his first two NFL seasons and earned his first career Pro Bowl nod in 2008. Meanwhile, his off-the-field trouble was cause for concern. In the summer of 2008, Lynch admitted to striking a female pedestrian with his car and leaving the scene. In the following spring, Los Angeles cops found a semiautomatic handgun in his vehicle.
The former first-round pick seemed to be back on track early in the 2010 season, having just wrestled the starting job back from Fred Jackson. Still, the phone lines were open in Buffalo, and Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll pounced on the opportunity to add him to the backfield.
“We’re going to bring him in to play a lot,” Carroll said. “We’ll wait and see when we get him here, but we’re bringing him in here to play a bunch.”
The trade worked out incredibly well for the Seahawks, as Lynch took his game to a new level in Seattle and became the engine of the offense for their Super Bowl winning team. He went to four Pro Bowls with the Seahawks and was twice named an All-Pro
Lynch announced his retirement after the 2015 season, but returned after one year. The Seahawks traded him to the Raiders, where Lynch averaged 4.3 yards per carry for his hometown team. He circled back to Seattle in late 2019, scoring four touchdowns across one regular season game and two playoff contests. Lynch, 35, is probably retired for good, though he did discuss a deal with the Buccaneers earlier this year.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has made it clear that the Bills need to address their stadium situation in the near future to keep the club in western New York, and Bills ownership remains committed to that goal. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports hears from team and league sources that owners Terry and Kim Pegula have not even investigated the possibility of moving the team to a different city. Instead, the Pegulas continue to work towards building a new stadium near the current one.
The Pegulas will push for the issue to become a top priority for state and local government, and they are optimistic that the recent change in New York leadership will help their pursuit. New governor Kathy Hochul has strong ties to western NY and good relationships with many members of the Buffalo organization who would be working on the project, and as of now, the sense is that the Bills will be staying put.
Now for more from the AFC East:
- Much has been made of Denzel Mims‘ future with the Jets and whether the second-year wideout could be a trade candidate, but Rich Cimini of ESPN.com hears that Mims is not going anywhere, which jibes with a recent report from the NFL Network. Indeed, as Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv writes, Mims is going to get a real opportunity to shine when Gang Green takes on the Titans this afternoon. Head coach Robert Saleh said Mims “is going to get some opportunities. Hopefully he takes advantage of them. We’re expecting him to.”
- Cimini adds that, at this point, WR Jamison Crowder is the most likely player on the Jets‘ roster to be traded in the coming weeks. Although safety Marcus Maye could theoretically be on the move — his agent recently tweeted that Maye will be recovered from his ankle injury by the trade deadline, a clear attempt to drum up interest — his salary could be prohibitive for many clubs. Maye will still be owed another ~$6MM for 2021 by the time the trade deadline rolls around.
- Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa is eligible to come off IR for the team’s October 17 matchup with the Jaguars, and he will be ready to return to action by that date, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. Of course, it remains to be seen if Tagovailoa — who is dealing with multiple fractured ribs — will be reinserted into the starting lineup at that time, or if Miami will continue to roll with Jacoby Brissett. Meanwhile, Deshaun Watson trade rumors continue to swirl.
Here is Saturday’s batch of minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Activated from IR: LB Dennis Gardeck
- Promoted: S Chris Banjo, OL Eric Smith
Buffalo Bills
- Promoted: CB Cam Lewis
Carolina Panthers
- Promoted: S Kenny Robinson, RB Rodney Smith
Dallas Cowboys
- Activated from IR: WR Malik Turner
- Promoted: DT Austin Faoliu, DT Justin Hamilton, RB Nick Ralston, TE Jeremy Sprinkle
Denver Broncos
- Promoted: LB Curtis Robinson, OL Austin Schlottmann
Detroit Lions
- Promoted: K Ryan Santoso
Green Bay Packers
- Activated from IR: WR Equanimeous St. Brown
- Placed on IR: WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling (story)
Houston Texans
- Promoted: QB Jeff Driskel, DB A.J. Moore, LB Hardy Nickerson
- Activated from IR: K Ka’imi Fairbairn
Kansas City Chiefs
- Promoted: DB Dicaprio Bootle
Los Angeles Rams
- Activated from IR: LB Ogbonnia Okoronkwo
- Promoted: RB Buddy Howell, LB Justin Lawler
- Waived: S J.R. Reed
Miami Dolphins
- Promoted: C Cameron Tom
Minnesota Vikings
- Promoted: G Dakota Dozier, CB Parry Nickerson
New Orleans Saints
- Promoted: C Will Clapp, T Jordan Mills, WR Kenny Stills
New York Giants
- Promoted: C Jonotthan Harrison
New York Jets
- Activated from IR: S Ashtyn Davis, S Sharrod Neasman
- Promoted: OL Isaiah Williams
- Waived: RB Josh Adams
Philadelphia Eagles
- Activated from IR: OL Jack Driscoll, CB Josiah Scott
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Promoted: OT Chaz Green, WR Cody White
San Francisco 49ers
- Promoted: DL Maurice Hurst
Seattle Seahawks
- Promoted: WR Cody Thompson
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Promoted: CB Pierre Desir, TE Codey McElroy, CB Rashard Robinson
- Waived: DL Khalil Davis
Tennessee Titans
- Promoted: DL Amani Bledsoe, FB Tory Carter
LeSean McCoy is hanging up his cleats. The veteran running back will sign a one-day contract to retire as a member of the Eagles, capping his career after 12 NFL seasons. 
McCoy, 33, spent last year with the Buccaneers and captured his second Super Bowl ring. Afterwards, he seemed intent on playing in 2021.
“The only thing is it has to be the right team,” McCoy said. “I can’t go from two Super Bowls to playing with BA (Bruce Arians), Andy Reid, Tom Brady, and Patrick Mahomes to not even having a team that’s competing. I’m still a competitor. To bring me back, I have to play for a team that is a contender, or with some young guys I could help out. I still want to be effective and get a shot to play and showcase my talent. I still have some more highlights to give out.”
McCoy played sparingly for Tampa last season, getting only ten carries and 15 receptions in ten games. Of course, he was also one of the most accomplished running backs of the past decade. McCoy made six Pro Bowls in seven seasons from 2011-17.
After 12 years with the Eagles, Bills, Chiefs, and Bucs, McCoy racked up 11,071 rushing yards. Another couple of seasons could have put him at 12,000 — every retired RB who has eclipsed 12,000 is in the Hall of Fame. Others who ended their careers between 11,000 and 12,000 — Fred Taylor, Steven Jackson, and Corey Dillon — have not been inducted, but McCoy could potentially find his way to Canton.
On this date in 2018, we got a rare September trade. On September 25, 2018, the Bills sent offensive lineman Marshall Newhouse to the Panthers. In exchange, Buffalo received a conditional 2021 seventh-round pick.
Newhouse started 31 of 47 games for the Packers through his first three seasons in the NFL, but by the time 2018 came around, Newhouse had struggled to hold a steady gig. Still, despite brief stints with the Bengals, Giants, and Raiders, the versatile lineman found a way to stick in the lineup. This included a 2017 campaign where he started each of his 14 games in Oakland.
So, while the Bills had some depth on the offensive line, Newhouse’s ability to play both tackle and guard made him a natural target once he was let go by the Raiders. During the 2018 offseason, Newhouse joined Buffalo on a one-year deal. It looked like Newhouse had carved out a role following the trade of Cordy Glenn and the departure of Seantrel Henderson. However, through the first few weeks of the season, the offensive lineman didn’t do much behind starters Dion Dawkins and Jordan Mills. So, on this date in 2018, the Bills decided to cut their losses and move on from the veteran, shipping him off to Carolina.
Carolina also seemed to value Newhouse’s versatility, except they had a depleted depth chart and needed the veteran to play. With Daryl Williams and Matt Kalil sidelined. the hope was that their acquisition would serve as a dependable backup and fill-in behind Taylor Moton and Amini Silatolu. Newhouse ended up seeing the field for 11 games (two starts) for his new team, and after seeing time on only 14 snaps in three games with Buffalo, he got into 197 snaps with the Panthers.
The Panthers didn’t qualify for the playoffs, and Newhouse decided to move on from the organization in 2019 as he pursued a ring. He signed with the Saints during the offseason, but he didn’t make it to the regular season. He ended up spending much of the 2019 campaign with the Patriots, getting into 15 games with nine starts. However, New England was ousted in the first round. Newhouse spent the 2020 campaign with the Titans, getting into only four games.
From Buffalo’s perspective, the trade was a mixed bag. The positive: the team quickly signed Jeremiah Sirles to take Newhouse’s spot on the roster, and he ended up getting into only 12 games (with five starts) for Buffalo. The negative: while the Bills ended up receiving that conditional seventh-round pick from the Panthers, they didn’t do much with it. They used the pick on Texas Tech offensive lineman Jack Anderson, but the rookie ended up getting waived by the team and landing on their practice squad. He was snagged by the Eagles earlier this week.
It’s hard to expect a whole lot from a September trade, and in hindsight, this trade really didn’t provide much intrigue for either side. Still, you’ve got to give credit to both squads for slightly shaking up their squads so early in the season.