Wide receiver Cole Beasley rejoins Buffalo Bills after retirement

Catcher Cole Beasley, coming off a short-lived retirement, reunited with Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills on Tuesday in another attempt to extend his career.

Beasley was signed by Buffalo’s practice squad, rejoining the team that cut him for salary-cap reasons in March and after their failed attempt to trade him. The 11-year-old was out of work until he was signed by Tampa Bay’s practice squad in late September.

Beasley, 33, caught four passes for 17 yards in two games against the Buccaneers before announcing his retirement on Oct. 5.

The AFC-leading Bills (10-3) have won four games in a row and have a shot at a third straight AFC East title. Buffalo hosts division rival Miami (8-5) on Saturday night.

Despite the success, the Bills continued to find consistent production behind Stefon Diggs at the receiving end, with their offense ranking second in the NFL and sixth in passing yards.

Diggs carried most of the load. His 94 receptions for 1,239 yards and 10 touchdowns was nearly double that of Buffalo’s next receiver, Gabe Davis, who had 38 receptions for 696 yards and six scores.

The Bills have been especially inconsistent at receiver, with Jameson Crowder out since Week 5 and Isaiah McKenzie struggling to fill that role.

Buffalo was one of three teams recently visited by free-agent receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who returned to the NFL after tearing knee ligaments in the Super Bowl while playing for the Los Angeles Rams in February. The Bills also recently brought back former receiver John Brown, who started alongside Beasley in 2019 and ’20.

During his three seasons in Buffalo, Beasley established himself as one of the team’s primary threats while scoring a run at becoming one of the NFL’s top pass fouls. With 231 catches for 2,438 yards and 11 touchdowns in Buffalo, Beasley’s productivity surpassed his previous seven seasons in Dallas, where he had 319 catches for 3,271 yards and 23 touchdowns. touchdown.

One of Beasley’s bright spots was helping the Bills to the 2020 AFC Championship Game with a broken leg, which Buffalo lost to Kansas City.

However, Beasley caused a stir the following offseason when he made public his stance against COVID-19 vaccinations, which at one point led him to threaten to retire. Although he produced a career-best 82 receptions in 2021, he has only 693 receiving yards and 1 score in 16 games — both lows for Buffalo — and he’s on the field. Difficult to get open on man defense.

In other moves Tuesday, Buffalo added defensive tackle Brandin Bryant to the active roster after being cut by Houston this week. Bryant is a fourth-year player who spent part of the past three seasons in Buffalo before being cut by the team in October.

The Bills made room for the addition by releasing defensive tackle CJ Brewer and practice squad receiver Max Stevenson.