Shane

Buechele

Buechele, 28, has spent his NFL career bouncing between the Chiefs and Bills quarterback rooms, now returning to Buffalo for the offseason. The Bills also signed WR Jalen Virgil to a reserve-future deal; he spent the 2024 season with the team. Familiar faces return to Buffalo with reserve-future deals at the start of the offseason.

Buechele was signed off the Bills practice squad ahead of Week 18 and completed 7-of-14 passes for 88 yards against the Raiders in a game that neither team seemed to want to win. His reward was being waived. The Chiefs also signed LB Kam Arnold, DT Marcus Harris, WR Jimmy Holiday and T Matt Waletzko to reserve/future deals.

Oladokun was lost throughout the first half, even in a clean pocket. He was sacked three times against a Raiders defense that ranks among the league’s worst against the pass and didn’t even have Maxx Crosby. Oladokun will revert to practice squad status for 2025 if he remains in Kansas City.

Poyer made first-team All-Pro in 2021 and went to the Pro Bowl in 2022 while playing with the Bills. The 34-year-old safety spent 2024 with the Dolphins, where he started 16 games and had 98 tackles. The Bills already have Cole Bishop and Taylor Rapp as starting safeties, though Bishop has had a shaky training camp and preseason. The Bills also signed to their practice squad QB Shane Buechele, RB Frank Gore Jr., WR Stephen Gosnell, WR Kristian Wilkerson, TE Keleki Latu, OL Travis Clayton, OL Dan Feeney, OL Kendrick Green, DT Zion Logue, DT Jordan Phillips, LB Jimmy Ciarlo, LB Keonta Jenkins, CB Daequan Hardy, CB Dane Jackson and S Sam Franklin.

Buechele is a strong candidate to end up on the Bills’ practice squad. He’s the second quarterback Buffalo has dropped Tuesday, as they also waived Mike White.

DiNucci spent last season on the Broncos practice squad and hasn’t played a regular-season snap since 2020. The veteran backup joins a Bills team that lost Shane Buechele to a neck injury in their first preseason game and will likely see some snaps in the team’s upcoming preseason game against the Steelers.

Prince ran and jumped his way into the hearts of fantasy managers earlier this offseason, only to fade away in camp/the preseason. The former Tulsa running back faced an uphill battle to crack a running back room that features Isiah Pacheco, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, and Jerick McKinnon and is now on the outside looking in. There’s a chance Prince clears waivers and ends up back on the Chiefs’ practice squad in the coming days. In addition to Prince, the Chiefs also released/waived DE Joshua Kaindoh, DT Phil Hoskins, S Deon Bush, DT Danny Shelton, CB Reese Taylor, CB Ekow Boye-Doe, LB Cole Christiansen, S Anthony Cook, QB Shane Buechele, QB Chris Oladokun, OL Sebastian Gutierrez, DT Daniel Wise, CB Kahlef Hailassie, RB La’Michal Perine, C Austin Reiter, and TE Kendall Blanton.

Chiefs gave Buechele (6'0/210) a $15,000 signing bonus and $160,000 guaranteed in base salary as multiple teams scrapped for his services the moment the draft ended. He was initially run out of Texas by Colts QB Sam Ehlinger but proved to be plenty capable as a passer at SMU, tossing a whopping 57 touchdown passes over those two seasons. Though his arm strength is uninspiring, Buechele has a knack for moving in and out of the pocket, as well as finding some interesting throws from uncomfortable platforms. Somewhere along the Austin Davis to Case Keenum spectrum is a fair expectation for him in the league as he learns behind Patrick Mahomes.

For most analysts, the No.10 spot is wide open. Kyle Trask, Davis Mills, Kellen Mond, and Jamie Newman, in some order, are widely accepted as the 6th to 9th best QBs in this class, but the 10th spot is really an “eye of the beholder” deal. For the crew at PFF, Buechele slots into the No.10 spot. Buechele (6'1/207) is a former Texas transfer who helped SMU put together some of their best seasons of the modern era, throwing a whopping 57 touchdowns over the past two years. Buechele should be aiming for a Case Keenum-style career in the NFL, which isn’t bad value for a team if they can get him as the 10th QB off the board.

Buechele (6'1/207) did eventually hit the 300-yard mark, but like a lot of his teammates he got off to a slow start Saturday afternoon. SMU scored on just one of its seven first-half possessions, going into the locker room trailing by a shocking 45-7 margin as a result. Buechele, who also scored on a 1-yard touchdowns run, was better in the second half but threw two costly interceptions as the Mustangs could get no closer than 14 points. He’ll look to rebound next week when SMU hosts Houston in its regular season finale.