O.J. Howard

The Buffalo Bills and other NFL teams are cutting their rosters to 53 players Tuesday. Here's what the Bills did.

It’s the best of the best so whoever they bring in, it’s going to be a good player. Given the strength of the roster, there could be several Bills who get signed by other teams. Grand Island native Brett Kern was cut by the Titans; Sam Martin, who was statistically one of the best in the league in 2021 for Denver, was released because he wouldn’t accept a pay cut; the Bengals released Drue Chrisman; and former Panther and Dolphin Michael Palardy was in for a tryout Sunday. If the Bills wait to do it Wednesday, they are eligible to return when healthy. But he suffered an Achilles injury early in 2020 which cost him the rest of that season, one where the Bucs went on to win the Super Bowl with Tom Brady at quarterback and his old pal, Rob Gronkowski, as the starting tight end. “It’s kind of stressful, you know,” Sweeney said Tuesday of waiting out the final roster decisions as a player firmly on the bubble. Last year it was Jacob Hollister who was cut and eventually signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars where he played seven games and caught nine passes for 55 yards. So, it was a lot of growing pains for me, but I’d rather them happen right now than later on during the season.” So no, none of the moves the Bills announced Tuesday were all that shocking. “It was a lot of learning experiences for me,” Howard said. John Fisher University when Howard was barely noticeable in practice, and backups Tommy Sweeney and Quintin Morris were making plays when they had the opportunities. None of those players count against the 53 until they are activated from those lists.

If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers need some extra tight end depth, a former Bucs player who left in free agency during the offseason has become available once ...

Rudolph will team with Cameron Brate as the Bucs' top tight ends. Despite not making the team, according to Spotrac.com, Howard will still get paid $3.196 million by the Bills for this season. For his career, he has 119 catches, 1,737 receiving yards, and 15 receiving touchdowns.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made Howard the first of the 14 tight ends selected in the 2017 NFL Draft. After 119 receptions for 1,737 yards and 15 touchdowns for ...

Howard](https://www.al.com/topic/OJ%20Howard/) won’t play with the Bills in the 2022 NFL season. [ signing with Buffalo ](https://www.al.com/sports/2022/03/oj-howard-leaves-buccaneers-after-5-seasons.html)in March, tight end [O.J. Howard had 11 fewer receiving yards and one fewer TD catch in 17 games in 2021 than he had in four games in 2020. He still got a championship ring out of the campaign as Tampa Bay capped the 2020 season with a 31-9 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV. [one touchdown](https://www.al.com/sports/2022/08/saturday-nfl-preseason-cam-sims-oj-howard-score-touchdowns.html). His best game came in the CFP title contest for the 2015 season, when he caught five passes for 208 yards. The Bills started Tuesday with four tight ends on their roster, including Howard. [ALABAMA’S TOP 10 NFL RECEIVERS](https://www.al.com/sports/2022/02/alabamas-top-10-nfl-receivers-half-still-playing.html) That included a $1.25 million in signing bonus, so that leaves The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made Howard the first of the 14 tight ends selected in the 2017 NFL Draft. [JACKSONVILLE RELEASES FORMER AUBURN DEFENSIVE BACK](https://www.al.com/sports/2022/08/jacksonville-jaguars-release-former-auburn-defensive-back.html) [GIANTS’ DARIUS SLAYTON WON’T BE SURPRISED ON TUESDAY](https://www.al.com/sports/2022/08/giants-darius-slayton-wont-be-surprised-on-tuesday.html)

Teams have to be at 53 players by 5 p.m. Tuesday for their initial roster.

He was out of the NFL for more than a month – his longest break away from the game he’s ever had – before signing to the practice squad of the Miami Dolphins, his hometown team. Receiver Jamison Crowder appeared to be in street clothes but was at practice. The next day, he was signed to the 53-man roster. In the season finale against New England, he rushed for 117 yards, again setting a personal single-game best. Teams trying to figure out what the story is with a former first-round pick who hasn't worked out at previous two stops.— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) Johnson was promoted to the active roster ahead of Miami’s Week 15 game against the New York Jets and responded with a career-high 107 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 22 attempts. He finished the season with 71 carries for 330 yards (4.65 yards per rush) and three touchdowns. He then had a brief stint on the Jacksonville Jaguars’ practice squad early in the 2021 season before being released Sept. The Bills have Sweeney and Quintin Morris remaining on the roster behind starter Dawson Knox and also can use fullback Reggie Gilliam as a tight end. That was evident in the contract they gave him, which is for one year and includes a fully guaranteed base salary of $1.945 million. After spending the first four years of his NFL career in Cleveland, he played two seasons with the Houston Texans. Along with a signing bonus of $625,000 and various other bonuses, Howard’s cap hit comes out to $3.5 million for 2022.

Howard signed a one-year deal with Buffalo in March that guaranteed him just over $3 million. But the guaranteed money involved apparently was not enough to ...

Howard, who spent his first five seasons with the Buccaneers, had 14 catches for 135 yards with one touchdown in 2021. [Dawson Knox](https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/football/nfl/player/50082/dawson-knox), [Quintin Morris](https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/football/nfl/player/64282/quintin-morris), and [Tommy Sweeney](https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/football/nfl/player/51846/tommy-sweeney) as their three tight ends. [Duke Johnson](https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/football/nfl/player/1863/duke-johnson) isn’t the only notable veteran departing Buffalo [on Tuesday](https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/08/30/report-bills-to-release-duke-johnson/).

A former Tampa Bay Buccaneers first-round draft pick, Howard lost ground behind Quintin Morris and Tommy Sweeney. He did score a touchdown in a win over the ...

Daniel Bellinger suffered a concussion in the last preseason game and the rest of the depth chart is a barren wasteland. The Giants could be the most likely candidate. However, the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants, and Carolina Panthers could all take a shot at Howard, given their depth at the position is currently lacking. Tampa Bay added Cade Otton in the NFL draft and Kyle Rudolph in free agency, and they’ll both be backing up Brate still. Howard caught 14 passes for 135 yards and one touchdown last season for the Buccaneers. Howard was trailing on the depth chart at a deep position.

A 2020 achilles injury appears to have hurt Howard's ability to help in the passing game, but he's still a major boon as a blocker. That's a valuable thing for ...

The former first-rounder was a surprising cut yesterday and this should come together today.” That’s a valuable thing for the Bengals to add as third tight end Mitchell Wilcox battles an injury. A former first-round pick, Howard couldn’t break onto the field with the Bills and played into the second half of preseason games this summer.

Prior to signing with the Bills, Howard had played his whole career in Tampa Bay, where he had 14 catches for 135 yards with one touchdown last year, and had ...

Howard](https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/football/nfl/player/12163/oj-howard) won’t be a free agent for long. [Bills cut Howard](https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/08/30/bills-to-release-o-j-howard/) yesterday even though they just guaranteed him $3 million in March. Prior to signing with the Bills, Howard had played his whole career in Tampa Bay, where he had 14 catches for 135 yards with one touchdown last year, and had 119 career catches for 1,737 yards with 15 touchdowns over his five-year career.

Already loaded on the offensive side of the football, the Cincinnati Bengals are expected to add another intriguing weapon to the pass catching stable for.

With plenty of experience and versatility offensively, Howard will help solidify the tight end position in Cincinnati for Burrow ahead of the Week 1 season-opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Instead, he’ll get a chance to work with Burrow and an offense featuring the likes of Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Joe Mixon, and more, assuming all goes well with a physical. In one career game against the Steelers, Howard caught six passes for 72 yards in a 30-27 loss to Pittsburgh in Week 3 of the 2018 season.

NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday morning that Howard is visiting the Cincinnati Bengals today, and if all goes well with the physical, ...

Cincy also currently has [Drew Sample](https://www.nfl.com/players/drew-sample/) and [Mitchell Wilcox](https://www.nfl.com/players/mitchell-wilcox/) in the TE room. [Joe Burrow](https://www.nfl.com/players/joe-burrow/)'s offense. Uzomah](https://www.nfl.com/players/c-j-uzomah/) to the New York Jets. Cincy signed another former first-rounder in [Hayden Hurst](https://www.nfl.com/players/hayden-hurst/) in March, who sits as the top tight end and should remain the starter. The Bills decided to jettison the former first-round pick despite [guaranteeing him](https://www.nfl.com/news/pass-rusher-von-miller-signing-with-bills-on-six-year-120m-deal) $3.2 million in the offseason. Unfortunately, during his five seasons in Tampa, he was rarely able to stay on the field for a full season.

Tight end O.J. Howard is reportedly "expected to sign" with the Cincinnati Bengals after being released by the Buffalo Bills as part of final roster cuts...

1 seed in the AFC and may end up facing each other in the playoffs, so the Howard storyline has a chance to come full circle. "Every time you step on the field during training camp, you know that it's going to come to this day," he said. "The GMs, they don't like to do it.

The former first-round pick from Alabama was released yesterday by the Buffalo Bills.

The Bengals signed tight end Hayden Hurst in free agency this offseason and he'll enter Week 1 as the starter regardless of the addition of Howard. Sample's injury took place in a training camp practice and he's been wearing a brace on his leg since. [A move at tight end was expected](https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/nfl/bengals/2022/08/30/analysis-of-cincinnati-bengals-roster-decisions-at-nfl-deadline/65465065007/) after the Bengals released [their 53-man roster](https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/nfl/bengals/2022/08/30/analysis-of-cincinnati-bengals-roster-decisions-at-nfl-deadline/65465065007/) on Tuesday afternoon.

The NFL season is about a week ago and with it comes a flurry of last-minute transactions as teams solidify their 53-man rosters.

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Howard took one visit (to Cincinnati) after being released by Buffalo.

According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport during a television appearance, the Bengals still want to add Howard. That came after Bengals head coach Zac Taylor told ...