Like the other 31 NFL teams, the Buffalo Bills face some incredibly difficult decisions as they cut their 53-man roster before the August 30 deadline.
ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg released her 53-man roster prediction on August 24, and it didn’t include fan-favorite inside linebacker Joe Andreessen.
In Getzenberg’s model, the Bills keep 4 inside linebackers with Terrel Bernard, Dorrian Williams, rookie Kaleb Elarms-Orr, and Keonta Jenkins.
“This position makes for one of the toughest decisions,” Getzenberg wrote. “Losing Buffalo legend Joe Andreessen is tough, and there’s a good chance he ends up on the roster over Jenkins or that the Bills decide to keep five inside linebackers. This is a coin flip, but Jenkins has played strong of late.”
Andreesen, a Buffalo-area native, made the Bills as an undrafted free agent in 2024 after earning FCS All-American honors at Bryant in 2022 before transferring to the University of Buffalo for his final season in 2023.
Andreessen Earned Famous Nickname From Allen
Andreessen, 6-foot-1 and 240 pounds, made the Bills roster on the strength of his play in the 2024 preseason and earned an all-time nickname from NFL MVP quarterback Josh Allen — Buffalo Joe.
“Andreessen is far beyond a cute story at this point, as he is legitimately one of the best special teams players in the NFL,” SB Nation’s Sean Murphy wrote on July 29. “He is a far more dynamic athlete than many people realize, as he is fast (4.64-second 40-yard dash, 4.22-second 20-yard shuttle), strong (32 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press), and explosive (38″ vertical and 10’2″ broad jump). His Relative Athletic Score, or RAS, was a 9.35 based on his Pro Day results. In short, Andreessen is a dynamic athlete, not just some local kid living out a dream.”
Andreessen’s 23 special-teams tackles in 2025 were 2nd in the NFL.
Bills Might Need to Make Trade at Inside Linebacker
It’s worth pointing out that the Bills aren’t especially strong at inside linebacker, where a trade might be the best thing to try and solidify the defense.
Miami Dolphins inside linebacker Tyrel Dodson spent the 1st 5 seasons of his career with the Bills from 2019 to 2023 and might be a great target.
Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox put Dodson at the top of his list of players who should be on the trade block. In this scenario, the Bills probably could get Dodson back by giving up a Day 3 pick.
“Logical trade chips are few and far between for the Miami Dolphins, who already gutted their roster this offseason,” Knox wrote on August 10. “However, Miami could look to move linebacker Tyrel Dodson as part of its rebuilding effort. Dodson started 16 games this past season and racked up 129 tackles, five sacks, and 10 tackles for loss. He’s also set to carry a cap hit of only $3.7 million on the final year of his contract, which would make him very attractive to cap-tight teams … if the Dolphins’ plan is to phase out Dodson over the next year, trying to maximize his value with a preseason trade would make a ton of sense.”
The Dolphins certainly look ready to usher Dodson out the door — and the 2026 season is almost certainly a wash for them as they play with an NFL-record $179.2 million in dead cap space.
Not only that, but the Dolphins seem to have already moved on from Dodson — on paper at least — by locking up Brooks with a 3-year, $48 million contract extension and selecting 3 more inside linebackers in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Bills Predicted to Part Ways With Fan Favorite Linebacker