Bills trade of Boogie Basham, Von Miller to PUP highlight roster cutdown day

Of all the moves the Buffalo Bills made Tuesday to get their roster down to the NFL-mandated 53 players, the most interesting - and some would say disappointing - was the trading of edge rusher Boogie Basham.

Giving up on a 2021 second-round draft pick after just two seasons and 4.5 sacks represents quite a whiff on the part of general manager Brandon Beane and his college scouting staff.

And the minimal return makes the pick look even worse. The Bills are also sending a 2025 seventh–round pick and getting back only the Giants 2025 sixth-round pick.

Overall, Beane has drafted well when you factor in all of his picks and the value they provided, particularly a guy named Josh Allen, among others.

But just like guard Cody Ford (second round, 2019), running back Zack Moss (third round, 2020), and some would include edge rusher A.J. Epenesa (second round 2020), Basham represents another second day miss. Of that group only Epenesa remains on the team, and his career has been underwhelming related to his draft status.

Basham never came close to second-round value and while it looked to fans and media like he was starting to come on this summer during training camp and the preseason, apparently Beane and Sean McDermott disagreed. There was a logjam at the position and now that this move has happened, the case could be made that long term, he was No. 7 on the depth chart behind Von Miller, Greg Rousseau, Leonard Floyd, Epenesa, Shaq Lawson and, as it turns out, Kingsley Jonathan who made the initial 53-man roster.

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What’s telling about what the Bills thought of Basham is that he was traded even though the team also made the decision to start Miller on the reserve/physically unable to perform list, meaning he’s out a minimum four games, though probably five or six. For now, Jonathan got the nod as the fifth edge rusher ahead of Basham, though he will likely get bumped back to the practice squad once Miller returns, assuming everyone else is healthy.

In terms of the financials, the Bills only save approximately $1.1 million in salary cap space with Basham gone and will only have to swallow around $360,000 in dead cap, but this had nothing to do with money.

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It will be interesting to see what Basham does in New York where general manager Joe Schoen was Beane’s assistant GM when Basham was drafted by the Bills. He knows what he’s getting, and now we’ll see if a change of scheme and scenery unlocks whatever the Bills thought Basham had when he came out of Wake Forest.

Regarding the Miller move, this was always the most logical thing the Bills could have done, no matter how much Miller wanted to return in time for the opener. Giving him an extra month-plus to recover and rehab - remember, he can’t practice while on PUP - would hopefully give him the best chance to not only be at his best, but perhaps avoid further injury.

Once the four weeks are up, the Bills can open a 21-day practice window for Miller, during which he can be activated at any point. If that doesn’t happen in that three-week period, Miller would have to sit out the entire season. Realistically, if Miller’s window opens after Week 4, the chances of him playing in Week 5 in London against the Jaguars are slim with so little practice time. Week 6 against the Giants would seem more likely, or even Week 7 in New England.

Beane hinted at this decision on the first day of training camp when he said, “We want to make sure he’s ready for the long haul. We don’t want to rush him too much. He’s in a great headspace, he’s torn an ACL before, he’s a genetic freak to be honest with you. He really is. I can’t give you a day or anything like that, but he’s doing great, he’s hitting all his markers. To this point, there’s been no setbacks."

Beyond the Basham and Miller moves, three other newsworthy decisions were made. The Bills released wide receiver Andy Isabella and offensive tackle David Quessenberry, two veterans who were fighting for backup roles, and they placed quarterback Matt Barkley on injured reserve meaning his season is over. The Bills will now have to seek a practice squad quarterback.

Isabella instantly became a fan favorite when he joined the team just before the start of training camp, but he was always facing a steep climb with Stefon Diggs, Gabe Davis, Trent Sherfield, Deonte Harty and Khalil Shakir already in place.

And if it came down to Isabella and fifth-round rookie Justin Shorter, Isabella was going to have to dominate that competition, and he didn’t. Cutting Shorter, who has some upside given that he’s the biggest receiver on the team at 6-foot-4 and 223 pounds, would have likely meant losing him for good because another team would have signed him during the waiver process.

However, if Shorter is moved to injured reserve Wednesday as is very possible, Isabella could be right back with the team. As a vested veteran, Isabella skips waivers and goes into free agency where he can pick where to go if there’s interest. If his market is weak, Buffalo might be the best option for him now that he knows the offense.

As for Quessenberry, he was an underwhelming player in 2022 when he was the swing tackle who also made three starts. The Bills re-signed him in the offseason, but he did not perform well in practice or in the preseason games. More significant, though, young tackles Ryan Van Demark and Alec Anderson popped and the Bills clearly prefer the long-term viability of those two players.

Still, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Bills will sign a veteran tackle who gets released from another team. The play of Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown has come under some scrutiny, especially Brown, and going into the season with two completely unproven players in Van Demark and Anderson is probably a bit unsettling for McDermott.

Also, long snapper Reid Ferguson was released, but that’s a paperwork. He will re-sign with the Bills and this move allows them to carry injured linebacker Baylon Spector on the initial roster, and then move him to injured reserve so that he is eligible to return later in the season, similar to Shorter.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana and on Threads @salmaiorana1. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which will come out every Friday during training camp, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Buffalo Bills trade Boogie Basham to New York Giants