Is a medical redshirt season ahead for Tyrell Shavers?

Last season, the Buffalo Bills had definite issues at wide receiver. As a group, the team lacked dynamic playmakers who could separate and win consistently, especially against man coverage. What the group didn’t lack, though, was toughness in the ground game, as the Bills had a very good group of blocking receivers last year.

While that might not be a wideout’s main job description, blocking is definitely part of what a receiver has to do. The Bills have upgraded their receiving corps, but they still need some tough, hard-nosed guys who aren’t afraid to mix it up while opening lanes for Buffalo’s excellent running backs.

In today’s edition of “91 players in 91 days,” we discuss a player who’s so tough that he suffered a major injury during his final game last year, yet somehow played through it to help propel the Bills to victory.
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Name:  Tyrell Shavers

Number:  14

Position:  WR

Height/Weight: 6’4″ 211 lbs. 

Age:  26 (27 on 8/18/2026)

Experience/Draft:  2; signed with Buffalo following the 2023 NFL Draft

College:  San Deigo State

Acquired:  UDFA signing

Financial situation (per Spotrac):  Shavers is entering the final year of his two-year contract signed prior to the 2025 NFL season. The total value of the pact is $2.042 million. In 2026, Shavers carries a cap hit of $1,078,500 if he’s on the roster. Buffalo would carry a dead cap hit of $3,500 if he were released, but they would also have to wait to do so until he’s healthy.

2025 Recap:  After some impressive preseason work and an explosive, highlight-reel play at the end of the 2024 season, Shavers made Buffalo’s roster out of camp last year. He appeared mostly on special teams in the early going, playing between 20% and 33% of the team’s offensive snaps across the first month of the season. From Week Six onward, though, he became a mainstay on offense, appearing on 49.6% of Buffalo’s offensive snaps for the rest of the year. That also include a Week Eighteen contest where he played on just four offensive snaps, further showing just how important to the team he was last season. Shavers’ big offensive breakout came against the Tamp Bay Buccaneers in Week Eleven, as he caught four passes for 90 yards and a score on five targets. For the season, Shavers totaled just 15 receptions for 242 yards and a touchdown, but he did most of his damage blocking in the run game. He remained one of the top players in the receiver rotation during Buffalo’s 27-24 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs, but that would be the only postseason game he played. Shavers tore his ACL during the game, but in a display of his toughness, he finished the contest despite the injury.

Positional outlook:  Shavers is one of thirteen receivers on the current roster. Joining him are Khalil Shakir, DJ Moore, Skyler Bell, Joshua Palmer, Mecole Hardman Jr., Mac Dalena, Jalen Virgil, Trent Sherfield Sr., Keon Coleman, Ja’Mori Maclin, Stephen Gosnell, and Gabriel Benyard.

2026 Offseason:  Shavers is rehabbing that ACL injury, and his Instagram story suggested that his rehab is going well at this point.

2026 Season outlook: Shavers was a great story last season, but while he was a big contributor to the club in terms of his blocking, he definitely lacks the burst and short-area agility needed to be a consistent contributor as a receiver. That was before the ACL injury, too. We’ll have to see what happens after his rehab, and while an ACL tear is no longer a career-threatening injury like it was 35 years ago, it can still change a player’s trajectory.

If Shavers were fully healthy, I would go as far as saying that he has a guaranteed spot on the roster as a sixth wideout-slash special teams gunner. However, he isn’t healthy, and he’s unlikely to be ready to play any earlier than December given how late in the season his ACL tear came. I’d honestly be surprised if he plays for Buffalo at all this season. That gives some other players a chance to audition for Shavers’ 2025 role moving forward.

As a restricted free agent, it’s likely that the Bills will look to keep Shavers in house, starting him on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list this season before ultimately transferring him to injured reserve (IR) when final cuts are made. Buffalo can tender him an offer next spring to keep him in the fold for the 2027 season if they so choose, and I think they will. Shavers has always been a dog on special teams, and he’s willing to do the dirty work in blocking and running as the screener on pick plays for some of Buffalo’s quicker, shiftier wideouts. He also showed some contested-catch ability, making great grabs against the Philadelphia Eagles and Tamp Bay Buccaneers in those situations.

In short, 2026 is likely to be a lost year for a player who has already fought so hard to carve out a role on Buffalo’s team. Assuming that his rehab continues to go well, we might see him in the playoffs, but it’s more likely that we’ll check in on his progress during the early period of the 2027 season instead.