Roster cutdown weekend always turns into a bit of a free-for-all, and the Bills did some of their best work of the summer picking through the wreckage. Jay Skurski was first with word that Buffalo had a deal in place to bring linebacker Shaq Thompson back to the practice squad, a reunion for a guy who played 14 games and started both playoff contests for the Bills a season ago.
The Bills have a deal in place to bring a familiar face back to the organization. According to a league source, the team is signing linebacker Shaq Thompson to the practice squad.
Thompson knows the defense, knows the building, and gives Buffalo depth at inside linebacker without using a 53-man roster spot. Minutes later, Skurski confirmed the other move that had been floating around all day: receiver Greg Dortch was also headed to the practice squad.
Also, confirming earlier reports, the Bills are signing wide receiver Greg Dortch to the practice squad, according to a league source.
Dortch, a Rochester, NY native out of Wake Forest, spent training camp with the Detroit Lions after five seasons in Arizona, where he carved out a niche as a slot receiver and return man. Getting him back to western New York gives the Bills another body who already knows the region, even if he's starting on the practice squad instead of the 53.
The bigger name landed a couple hours later. Once the moves became official, Skurski flagged the headliner of the group: offensive lineman and former first-round pick Jedrick Wills Jr.
The Bills make official their practice squad additions, including offensive lineman and former first-round draft pick Jedrick Wills.
Wills was the No. 10 overall pick in the 2020 draft and started 57 of 58 games at left tackle for Cleveland before his career hit a wall. A significant MCL injury in November 2023, followed by a re-hyperextension of the same knee in 2024, led to a femoral osteotomy and a decision to sit out the entire 2025 season to get right. He signed with the Bears on a one-year deal to compete for their left tackle job this offseason, but Chicago cut him over the weekend, and the Bills scooped him up before the ink was dry.
Adam Schefter rounded out the picture, noting the Bills' practice squad also includes running back Frank Gore Jr., son of the Bills legend of the same name, adding another familiar surname to a group heavy on reclamation projects and local ties.
Bills practice squad includes WR Greg Dortch, RB Frank Gore Jr. and OT Jedrick Wills Jr.
None of these guys make Buffalo's roster any better on Sunday, but that's not really the point of a practice squad in early September. It's insurance and it's upside — Thompson and Dortch know the system and can be activated in a pinch, while Wills is a bet that a former top-10 tackle with two healthy knees for the first time in years is worth stashing rather than letting walk to another AFC roster.