Bills GM explains reason why surprising veteran DE made 53-man roster

Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane spoke about his decision to keep defensive end Casey Toohill on the roster.

Kyle Silagyi | Aug 30, 2024

Shawn Dowd/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK

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After an offseason in which the main entrance at One Bills Drive more closely resembled a revolving door due to significant and frequent personnel turnover, the Buffalo Bills’ recent roster trim from 90 to 53 players was surprisingly absent of fireworks. There were a few surprising omissions (namely sixth-round pick Daequan Hardy), but the roster, otherwise, shook out as expected.

There was one relatively surprising inclusion on the defensive line, however, as the team decided to keep 28-year-old pass rusher Casey Toohill as a sixth defensive end. It’s not as though Toohill is an undeserving player—he recorded five sacks for the Washington Commanders last season—but he hadn’t really flashed at St. John Fisher University or throughout the preseason; an injury kept him sidelined for long stretches of the summer, and he only saw the field in one preseason contest.

Keeping six defensive ends wasn’t necessarily a given, but many thought that if Buffalo did roster a sixth edge defender, the spot would go to Kingsley Jonathan, who has appeared in 14 games for the Bills over the past two seasons. General manager Brandon Beane spoke about the decision to keep Toohill on the roster during his Wednesday media availability, stating that what he’s shown at his past stops played a role in his making Buffalo’s initial roster.

“Casey’s had a good career so far, even before he got here,” Beane said. “Another tough decision there as far as how many you keep at each spot. I would say there’s more decisions like that than not at different positions that you’re deciding. You’re doing special teams, you’re doing guys that can go inside and go out. You’re just trying to make sure you’ve got enough answers when your starters do down, guys that can play different spots. Just all the nuances of the game. Not an easy call, though.”

Beane mentions versatility and special teams ability as reasons why one player may usurp another at the bottom of the roster, but this doesn’t seem to necessarily relate to the Toohill and Jonathan decision; of Toohill’s 494 defensive snaps in Washington last season, 476 of them (96%) came at either left or right end, not necessarily suggesting that he has the ability to “go inside and go out” (play both defensive end and tackle). Jonathan also took more special teams snaps than Toohill last season (177 to 161), though it should be noted that the Commanders’ defender did not take a special teams snap after Week 8.

All of this said, Toohill has shown recent promise in live-game action, and it’s possible that Buffalo’s brass simply wanted a bit more time to see what a now healthy Toohill can offer them. Another factor that potentially played a role in the decision to keep the veteran over Jonathan is the NFL’s recently amended practice squad rules; starting this year, teams are allowed to keep a 17th member as part of their traditionally 16-man practice squad assuming the extra member qualifies as an “international player.” Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Jonathan technically qualifies and, thus, occupies a special exemption spot on the Bills’ practice squad.

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