Bills Part Ways With Rookie DT Weeks After Signing Him

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Bills head coach Sean McDermott at Highmark Stadium on November 19, 2023.

With less than two months left until the start of training camp, the Buffalo Bills are starting to fine-tune their roster and parting ways with a rookie defensive tackle.

The team announced on June 6 that they released Devin Brandt-Epps, who joined the team in late April after going undrafted. The team replaced him with a veteran lineman, one who could make a push for a roster spot in the summer.

Bills Making Roster Moves

Brandt-Epps came to the Bills after a standout career at the University of New Mexico, though he said at first he wasn’t sure how much interest he would get from NFL teams. He hired an agent in the lead-up to the NFL draft, but said he wasn’t hearing much from coaches.

“All the guys I’m training with, they’re talking about, ‘oh yeah, I talked to these coaches, I talked to these coaches,’” Brandt-Epps told the Albuquerque Journal. “It’s just nerve-wracking. It’s a mental battle at some point, too.”

Brandt-Epps said he had a Zoom call with Bills coaches, who said they liked his versatility and speed off the ball.

“They were just kinda saying that they like what they see, and they want to unlock that next 3%,” he said.

Brandt-Epps said he could have been a late-round draft pick by the Bills, but said it didn’t line up the right way in the final rounds. He instead joined the team as an undrafted free agent, joining rookie minicamp.

“I’m the first one to sign with an NFL team from my (high) school,” Brandt-Epps said. “Like I couldn’t even keep track with all the congratulations and the texts messages and the calls I was getting after it was announced. It’s just such a special feeling to know I kind of made it for my high school.”

Brand-Epps will now have to find another team to continue his NFL journey.

Bills Add New Lineman

The Bills also announced they signed Marcus Harris, who came into the NFL as a seventh-round draft pick of the Houston Texans in 2024.

He will join a crowded defensive line unit that includes two other highly touted rookies, second-round defensive tackle pick T.J. Sanders and third-round edge rusher Landon Jackson.

Jackson had a big showing at the team’s rookie minicamp, saying afterward he was nervous about making a good first impression.

“I came in a little nervous. It’s something I’ve been dreaming of my whole life. I finally got to this point,” Jackson told Spectrum News. “So nerves were a little rattled early in the day, not really once I got out here and got the blood flowing, but more so in meetings and everything. Not going to say overthinking, but, you know, just kind of nervous.”

The 6-foot-6 edge rusher said he’s looking forward to playing a utility role with the Bills.

“Go back to my roots,” Jackson said. “Hard work, fly around. A play doesn’t go well, blank it, onto the next play. So basically just stick to my roots, know I’m a hard worker, just fly around [and] do all I can to make myself look like I deserve to be on this team.”

Nathan Dougherty is a sports reporter covering the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins. Previously he wrote for the Rochester Business Journal and served as the assistant editor of athletic trade magazines Coaching Management, Athletic Management and Training & Conditioning. He is based out of Rochester, New York, and loves everything football. More about Nathan Dougherty