Bills Mafia doesn’t have to wait long as fan-favorite is officially back with the team less than 24 hours after being waived
Back home like he never left.
The Buffalo Bills had the arduous task of trimming their roster down from 90 to 53 players. With that, plenty of fan favorites would potentially be looking for a new home.
However, at least one of them is back in Buffalo. After clearing waivers, Jimmy Ciarlo has signed to the team’s practice squad. Recently, an emotional episode of HBO’s “Hard Knocks” heavily featured Ciarlo and K.J. Hamler, but now the linebacker got the news of his return less than 24 hours after being waived.
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Ciarlo, during “Hard Knocks,” discussed how the Bills’ preseason finale against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was the longest he’d been on the field as a linebacker throughout his career — an exciting moment as his family flew in to be part of the big day.
Advanced stats for Ciarlo’s 2025 preseason
His role will undoubtedly be heavily focused on special teams, barring any injury. Look for him to be a gameday elevation to help boost that unit. Throughout the 2025 NFL preseason, according to Pro Football Focus, Ciarlo has had 43 total snaps on the special teams unit (16 kick return, seven kick coverage, five punt return, 10 punt coverage, and five in field goal block), which he turned into two tackles and an assisted tackle.
As a linebacker, he was on the field for 80 total snaps through the team’s three preseason games (35 rush defense, one in pass rush, and 44 dropping back into coverage), which resulted in 11 tackles, one assisted tackle, and allowed seven receptions on 10 targets.
As for his alignments on defense, he’s been on the defensive line once, in the box 58 times, and in the slot 21 times, while playing on the outside once.
Ciarlo worked his tail off after joining the team late in the preseason, spending nights at the facility watching tape and living out of a hotel to fulfill his dream of making an NFL roster. That hard work has paid off in a big way since he landed a spot on the Bills’ practice squad. Unless another team signs him directly from the PS, in which case he will be activated to that team’s 53-man roster. He came to Buffalo with two pairs of clothes, one of which was dirty, in an attempt to make an impact. He did way more than just make an impact on the roster.
He’s quickly and deservingly become a fan favorite. After Hard Knocks aired, the fan base was nervous that other teams might fall in love with Ciarlo, causing him to leave Buffalo. Luckily, he’s here to stay, for now.
Here’s hoping that Buffalo can bring back Hamler, who has also flashed and overcome plenty of adversity throughout his career and fell just short of cracking the 53-man roster. Roster cutdown days are one of the hardest days in these players’ lives. Some might never see their dream of playing on an NFL roster, while others are elated to finally get their opportunity.
Ciarlo’s father might have to make a few more flight reservations now that his son is on the PS.
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