Bills GM Beane would consider cutting unvaccinated player

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane would theoretically consider cutting an unvaccinated player if it meant the team could lift NFL COVID-19 protocols restricting in-person team meetings. “Yeah, I would,” Beane told the team-sponsored “ One Bills Live” broadcast on Wednesday.

“You guys saw it in the fieldhouse, we had three and four meetings, and sometimes you’re talking over each other. But it was the only way to pull it off and be socially distant,” he added, referring to NFL protocols limiting the number of players who could meet simultaneously. “So it would be advantageous to cut a player and fall under that umbrella.” Beane’s response was to a question about potentially cutting a player at the lower end of

Buffalo’s 53-man roster comes when the NFL is loosening its restrictions for teams whose staff and players have been fully vaccinated. For example, the Bills were among the groups allowed to conduct the draft at their headquarters without officials wearing face masks under the new vaccination rules.

The Bills did not make Beane available for comment.

It’s unclear whether and how the NFL will expand its policy once teams begin practicing in person.

Last year, teams were limited to hosting most meetings via Zoom, with restrictions placed on how many players and coaches could gather at once. Team officials and players were also required to undergo daily COVID-19 testing and wear masks.

Beane expects those restrictions to be loosened while noting the rules have yet to be determined.

call it – back to the old days,” he said.

“If you don’t, it will look more like last year,” Beane added. “But I hope, if those are the rules, that we’ll be able to get enough people to be vaccinated and not have to deal with all the headaches.”

The topic of vaccinations has been a source of debate among the Bills.

Last month, quarterback Josh Allen told The Ringer podcast that the decision to get vaccinated is a personal choice while he was still debating whether to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

“I think everybody should have a choice to do it and not to do it,” Allen said, speaking by video from his offseason home in California. “You get in this tricky situation now where if you mandate that, that’s kind of going against what our Constitution says and the freedom to express yourself one way or the other.”