Bills cut Dan Carpenter, Nickell Robey-Coleman, three others

In a cost-cutting move ahead of the free agency period, the Buffalo Bills have cut five players. Included in that group are some noteworthy names.

“It’s the time of year when NFL clubs like the Bills have to trim players from their roster to put themselves in a good fiscal position to upgrade their roster in the free agent market,” Chris Brown of Bills.com reported. “On Monday Buffalo cut five players from their roster with that aim in mind. Chief among the player releases were kicker Dan Carpenter, CB Nickell Robey-Coleman, and long snapper Garrison Sanborn, Tight end Gerald Christian, and S Phillip Thomas, were also released from the roster.”

The most notable names there are Carpenter and Robey-Coleman.

Carpenter has been with Buffalo since 2013. In his first year with the Bills, he buried a career high 91.7% of his field goals, but that number has gradually declined in the subsequent seasons. In 2016, he made only 76% of his kicks. Additionally, the extra point line being moved back seems to have had a serious impact on Carpenter. From 2008-2014, he missed only two PAT’s. In the last two years, with the extra point moved back, he’s missed 11.

So, it’s not surprising to see that Buffalo will look for a cheaper, more effective player to kick field goals.

Robey-Coleman, though, is a bit more surprising.

He’s only 25 years-old. Additionally, the Bills were getting plenty of bang for their buck with Robey-Coleman’s performance. In 2016, he was one of the NFL’s best slot corners.

That’s certainly the kind of production that helps contribute to good defenses. Given his age and productivity, it’s hard to believe that Buffalo couldn’t try to make it work with Robey-Coleman on the team.

With the moves, the Bills cleared roughly $5 million in cap space.