The injury-riddled Buffalo Bills, after suffering their fourth loss of the season on Thursday Night Football against the Houston Texans, find themselves in a desperate situation after they saw three more key players exit that game. The new injuries bring the inventory of Bills players dealing with health issues causing them to miss time to 15, according to a report by SI.com.
As a result, at least according to multiple online reports, the Bills will welcome back one of their former first-round draft picks for a tryout on Monday.
Reportedly, Shaq Lawson, the Bills 2016 first-round pick, No. 19 overall, out of Clemson posted on his Instagram account Sunday revealing that he was in Buffalo, New York, setting off the reports that the Bills will grant the 6-foot-3, 265-pound defensive end a workout on Monday, presumably with the aim of signing the 31-year-old as a free agent.
Lawson Plagued by Injuries, as Well
Lawson has had an injury-riddled career himself. About three weeks after the Bills drafted him, Lawson underwent surgery on his shoulder “to prevent the possibility of … aggravating a pre-existing shoulder condition during the season,” the Bills announced at the time. “While he could continue to play, the Bills medical staff has determined that surgery is the best course of action for the overall health of his shoulder moving forward.”
Lawson, after signing a $10.3 million, four-year rookie contract, then started his rookie season on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list, remaining there until finally being activated on October 21.
He made his NFL debut two days later against the Miami Dolphins, recording just one tackle. In his second game, against the team that would go on to win the Super Bowl that year — the New England Patriots — logging his first career sack and four tackles, one solo and three combined.
Lawson ended up appearing in 10 games in his rookie year, and then 11 in the 2017 season after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery in the offseason between his rookie and sophomore years.
3 More Injuries This Week for Bills
But given the situation the Bills find themselves in at 7-4, occupying the seventh and final playoff seed in the AFC and dealing with a seemingly relentless tide of injuries, taking a chance on a nine-year veteran such as Lawson may now seem worth it to the Bills.
“The Bills got beat up in every facet of the phrase ‘beat up,’” wrote Dr. Kyle Trimble on his Banged Up Bills site, which monitors and analyzes all Bills injuries. “They were picked apart defensively in both the run and passing games, constantly sacked and stopped offensively, and absolutely beat into the ground from an injury perspective.”
In the Thursday night loss to Houston, the Bills lost “starting linebacker Terrel Bernard (elbow), starting right tackle Spencer Brown (shoulder) and rookie first-round cornerback Maxwell Hairston (concussion),” according to the SI.com report.
Lawson Already Signed by Bills Twice
If the reports about Lawson prove to be accurate, and the Bills were to actually sign him, it would be the South Carolina native’s third stint with Buffalo.
After becoming a free agent after the 2019 season, Lawson signed with the Miami Dolphins, who traded him to Houston the following year, which in turn traded him to the New York Jets a year later. But the Jets waived Lawson in January 2022, and the Bills re-signed him in March.
Lawson started the 2024 season with the Carolina Panthers, but that team released him in October, and he has been without a team ever since.
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