The Buffalo Bills made official what their first two games already suggested.
On Friday, they signed wide receiver Greg Dortch from the practice squad to the 53-man roster, creating a spot by placing defensive back Jordan Hancock on injured reserve with a hamstring issue, via the NFL transaction wire.
The move is less a surprise than a confirmation.
Dortch had already been elevated for Weeks 1 and 2, and Buffalo had used its limited practice-squad promotions. Signing him now keeps the 28-year-old available for the rest of the season without burning another elevation.
Dortch’s path to a full roster spot has been anything but linear. The Rochester-born receiver went undrafted out of Wake Forest in 2019, signed with the Jets, and was waived after the preseason.
He bounced through New York’s practice squad, then brief stops with Carolina, the Rams, and Atlanta before landing in Arizona in 2021. That is where his career took shape.
Over five seasons with the Cardinals, he became a reliable slot option and, more importantly for Buffalo, a trusted returner. He has 145 career receptions for 1,310 yards and 10 touchdowns, but special teams is why the Bills kept calling him up.
After Arizona tendered him as a restricted free agent last year, Dortch signed a one-year deal with Detroit in March, reuniting with former Cardinals coordinator Drew Petzing. The Lions released him at final cuts.
Buffalo claimed him for the practice squad the next day, a reunion of a different kind: special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers had worked with Dortch in Arizona. The fit was immediate.
In two games this season, Dortch has five punt returns for 46 yards and five kickoff returns for 133 yards, a 26.6-yard average that matches his 2024 mark with the Cardinals.
The Bills needed that kind of veteran presence. Their punt-return average last season ranked near the bottom of the league, and the initial 53-man roster lacked a proven option.
Dortch has steadily improved as a punt returner, climbing from 6.6 yards per attempt in 2022 to 11.6 last year. He is compact at 5-foot-7, quick through the first wave, and familiar with Rodgers’ schemes.
He has not been a featured receiver in Buffalo yet, but that was never the primary assignment.
Signing him now also ends the week-to-week uncertainty. Practice-squad elevations are finite. Once they are used, a team either commits or loses the player. Buffalo chose to commit. Hancock’s injury opened the door; Dortch’s early work made the choice straightforward.
For a player who has been waived, re-signed, and shuffled across seven organizations, a mid-September promotion to the active roster is another chapter, not a destination. In Buffalo it at least looks like a role that will last longer than a weekend elevation.
