Three Roster Moves Bills Must Make Before MNF Road Matchup vs. Rams

Buffalo is going through some struggles at the current moment, and the team must quickly resolve any remaining roster issues before Monday night's road game versus Los Angeles.

Aug. 27, 2026; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills' wide receiver Skyler Bell (13) avoids a tackle by Pittsburgh Steelers' defensive back Doneiko Slaughter (19) during the first quarter of a preseason game at Highmark Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The past few days haven’t been very pleasant for the Buffalo Bills.

After falling short to quarterback Drake Maye and the New England Patriots on Sunday at Highmark Stadium, the Bills now have several questions surrounding the team despite still holding a 3-1 record.

Whether it be injured players that need replacements, schematic tweaks that seemingly must be made, or continuous miscues that need to be cleaned up, the to-do list for Buffalo is anything but small heading into Week 5. 

First-year head coach Joe Brady’s players let a grand opportunity slip through their fingertips against New England, but there’s no time for sulking.

Buffalo Bills' first-year head coach Joe Brady looks on during the fourth quarter of an NFL game against the L.A. Chargers on Sunday, September 27, 2026, at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Bills can’t let one loss compound into two, and the upcoming road matchup against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium under the primetime lights of Monday Night Football will be anything but easy at the start of next week.

With that in mind, something must change. So, here are three roster shakeups that need to be made by Buffalo in order to make the most of the next opportunity against the Rams.

1. Replace WR Joshua Palmer with rookie Skyler Bell

Oct. 4, 2026; Orchard Park, New York, USA; New England Patriots' safety Craig Woodson (4) intercepts a pass intended for Buffalo Bills' wide receiver Josh Palmer (5) during the fourth quarter at Highmark Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Both rookie wide receiver Skyler Bell and veteran wideout Joshua Palmer have had rough starts to their Bills’ careers. 

However, it’s been for different reasons. 

While one has been given seemingly every opportunity to shine, the other has been kept in the dark on the sidelines.

Palmer, who signed a three-year deal worth up to $36 million last March, struggled with injuries for most of the season last year before eventually winding up on injured reserve prior to the playoffs in January, but that didn’t seem to matter this spring and summer as Palmer continuously saw time with the first-team offense and top reserves all training camp.

Buffalo Bills' wideout Joshua Palmer (5) checks in with a coach for the playcall at Buffalo's training camp practice at St. John Fisher University in Pittsford, New York, on Aug. 6, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

And, that trend has continued for the veteran through the first four weeks of the season this fall. Meanwhile, Bell—who dealt with a bit of a groin ailment in August—has been reserved to waiting in the wings despite a stellar performance in the preseason finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers on August 27 at Highmark Stadium.

In the game, the former University of Connecticut standout hauled in seven of 10 targets from third-string quarterback Shane Buechele for 49 yards while also adding one carry for 28 yards and a touchdown.

Needless to say, it was an impressive display from the 2026 fourth-round pick, who finished his collegiate career between Wisconsin and UCONN with 220 receptions for 2,893 yards and 24 touchdowns, which included a senior campaign with the Huskies where he tallied 101 receptions for 1,278 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Aug. 27, 2026; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills' wide receiver Skyler Bell (13) gets ready during warm-ups prior to a preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Highmark Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Simply put, considering Palmer has only ever produced one season of more than 584 receiving yards between either college or the NFL since he was a freshman at the University of Tennessee, the former Volunteer and Los Angeles Charger just doesn’t seem to be that much of a playmaker.

And, keeping that in mind, the potential that Bell possesses seems to be too intriguing to pass up at this point given that Palmer has just three receptions on nine targets in 2026. The veteran does have two touchdown catches to his name, but they were mostly due to blown coverages from the opposing defense than anything he actually did to get open.

2. Elevate Shaq Thompson at LB and start him over Dorian Williams

Oct. 4, 2026; Orchard Park, New York, USA; New England Patriots' quarterback Drake Maye (10) carries the ball as Buffalo Bills' inside linebacker Dorian Williams (42) chases after him during the first quarter of an NFL game at Highmark Stadium.] | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Following a terrible performance against New England last Sunday, Pro Football Focus currently ranks Bills’ fourth-year linebacker Dorian Williams as just the 39th-best linebacker out of 74 players at his position, which means more than half of the qualifying inside linebackers currently rank higher than Williams according to PFF’s grading system.

And, although Williams currently leads Buffalo’s defense in tackles with a total of 32, the impact of those takedowns have been miniscule. 

With just three tackles for loss through four games, Williams hasn’t been firing downhill in the run game like he should be given the solid play of interior linemen like DeWayne Carter, Greg Gaines, and Deone Walker up front, and he’s been a downright liability in coverage, which is evidenced by his measly PFF pass-coverage grade of 54.4 (45th-best).

The Tulane product managed to fend off pesky rookie linebacker Kaleb Elarms-Orr during the offseason in order to earn the starting job out of training camp, but that appears to be more so because of Elarms-Orr’s inability to fully take the job away from him.

Buffalo Bills' inside linebacker Dorian Williams (42) cuts around a block during drills on the second day of Bills' training camp at St. John Fisher University on Thursday, July 24, 2025 in Pittsford, New York. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Despite shining in training camp, the rookie faded quite quickly once the pads came on in the preseason, and he’s done little to earn more playing time so far in the regular season when given opportunities on defense.

For that reason, Buffalo should think long and hard about elevating veteran linebacker Shaq Thompson from the practice squad moving forward, and possibly even bringing him up to the active roster after his three-game limit of promotions from the practice squad is up. 

After joining Buffalo’s roster on June 10, 2025, Thompson went on to start eight of 14 games during the 2025-2026 campaign for the team between the regular season and playoffs, and he finished with 69 total tackles, eight tackles for loss, three pass deflections, one forced fumble, one sack, and one interception, which came in the Bills’ 27-24 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC wild-card round at EverBank Field in January. Thompson also received a pass-coverage grade of 69.2 for his efforts last year, which ranked 14th out of 88 total qualifying linebackers per PFF’s database in 2025.

Jan. 11, 2026; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Buffalo Bills' veteran linebacker Shaq Thompson (45) intercepts the ball during the first half of an AFC wild-card playoff game versus the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Furthermore, in addition to his solid statistics, the now 12-year veteran provided noticeable juice for former Sean McDermott’s defense when on the field, and that’s something that new coordinator Jim Leonhard could use for his incredibly youthful unit right now, which is surrendering an average of 26 points per game through the first four weeks of the season.

It’d seem prudent for Leonhard to get Thompson into the fold on defense sooner rather than later at this point.

3. Elevate DL Phidarian Mathis from practice squad 

Buffalo Bills' defensive lineman Phidarian Mathis (72) celebrates after knocking Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterback Will Howard to the ground during first-half action against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Highmark Stadium on Aug. 27, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

After struggling with personal loss and battling through and undisclosed injury this summer, eight-year veteran defensive lineman Ed Oliver started the 2026 season off on a high note in his hometown of Houston, Texas, with a five-tackle performance that included one tackle for loss, one quarterback hit, and one critical fumble recovery against the Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium in Week 1, which rightfully earned him a game ball from head coach Joe Brady.

However, since that time, the past three games haven’t gone as well for the one-time 2019 first-round pick, and now he finds himself ailing once again after a flukey inadvertent hit on the sideline from Patriots’ fullback Reggie Gilliam—a former Bills’ teammate—caused Oliver to exit Sunday’s game early in Orchard Park, and his status moving forward is questionable at best as he failed to return to the game with an apparent left knee injury.

And, with fellow defensive lineman T.J. Sanders seemingly still recovering from appendectomy surgery he had on September 22, the Bills are going to need some reinforcements for the foreseeable future up front on defense until either player returns to the lineup.

Enter fifth-year defensive lineman Phidarian Mathis, who just returned to Buffalo’s practice squad on September 30 after serving a three-game suspension to start the 2026 season for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.

Oct. 5, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills' linebacker Terrel Bernard (8) celebrates with defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis (72) during the first quarter at Highmark Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

A former 2022 second-round pick of the Washington Commanders, the 6-foot-4, 312-pounder appeared to be on track to earn a final roster spot in Western New York prior to his suspension being handed down by the league at the end of August, and now would seem like the perfect time to get him reacclimated to being a serviceable member of Buffalo’s defensive line moving forward.

The Bills are going to need someone added to the rotation this week against the Los Angeles Rams, and Mathis appears to be the perfect candidate to fill the role.

Last year, the one-time University of Alabama defender appeared in seven games for the Bills between the regular season and playoff, finishing with 13 total tackles.

— Sign up for OnSI’s Free Buffalo Bills Newsletter —