Chase Claypool, once a rising star at wide receiver, is looking for his fifth team in three years.
The former Pittsburgh Steelers star was released by the Buffalo Bills on Thursday in an injury settlement, according to the NFL’s transaction wire, after going on the injured list two days earlier with a toe injury.
The Bills signed Claypool to a one-year deal in May, hoping he could be a buy-low win for a wide receiver room low in depth. He did get some good reviews, but the toe injury was apparently too much for the Bills to overcome.
It’s another setback for a player whose career has been full of them since a promising rookie year. Claypool, a second-round pick in 2020, broke out with the Steelers, throwing for 873 passing yards and nine touchdowns in his first season. His sophomore season was a step backward, though, and he eventually lost his welcome enough that Pittsburgh traded him to the Chicago Bears in mid-2022.
That Bears tenure was, simply put, a disaster. He opened the 2023 season with such a poor performance that he had to apologize to the team afterwards a lowlight reel went viralA few mediocre games later, he was asked if the team was putting him in a position to be successful. He replied, “No.”
Chicago, clearly done with him after ten games, traded him for next to nothing to the Miami Dolphins, where he recorded 26 receiving yards in nine games.
Claypool is now 26 years old and doesn’t have much value to speak of. Another team could follow the Bills’ lead and try to bring him in cheaply, but it might be hard for some to justify the cost of a roster spot for him.
