O'Leary was part of Saturday's roster cutdown, John Murphy of the Bills' official site reports.

EDGE Analysis

The writing was on the wall for the fourth-year tight end. Even though O'Leary served as the main backup for Charles Clay for much of his first three pro years, Jason Croom had a far better camp and preseason, and from there the Bills needed better blocking options than O'Leary for the third and fourth spots.

O'Leary led the Bills with four catches for 70 yards, including a 35-yard touchdown catch, during Friday's preseason win over the Browns. "He made a big play for us. I thought Nate [Peterman] did a good job of finding him," coach Sean McDermott told Mitchell Courtney of the Bills' official site. "Nick is a good football player. He's played a lot of snaps for us, so I was happy to see him reap the benefits of his hard work."

EDGE Analysis

O'Leary headed into camp as the No.2 tight end, but he's been pushed by Jason Croom, Logan Thomas, Khari Lee and Keith Towbridge to the point where he's been seeing action with the third team, as was the case for part of Friday's game. So part of the reason he probably saw so much action was so the team can determine if it wants to keep him or cut him. Consider his performance Friday a win toward trying to beat out his competition.

O'Leary, who's served mostly as the primary backup tight end the last three seasons behind Charles Clay, might be on the roster bubble with new candidates emerging in training camp, Sal Maiorana of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports.

EDGE Analysis

Logan Thomas, Khari Lee, Jason Croom and Keith Towbridge are all in the mix with O'Leary for what will likely be two backup spots behind Clay. O'Leary is serviceable, but he's also never wowed anyone in his three NFL seasons and he's so-so at a variety of things. At some point the Bills could end up looking for a better receiver or a better blocker. The coaches have let other tight ends sneak in some reps with the No. 2's in camp lately, so O'Leary will need to step up his game over the last three preseason contests to cement a roster spot. While he's still the favorite for the backup job, this could end up anywhere from that result to him not even making the team.

O'Leary (ankle) did not catch a pass in Thursday's 28-23 loss to the Panthers in the preseason opener.

EDGE Analysis

O'Leary's prior ankle issue didn't prevent him from suiting up Thursday, but his lone contribution to the stat book came in the form of a tackle on special teams. The tight end will look to get more involved with the offense in Friday's next exhibition outing against the Browns.

O'Leary (ankle) has returned to practice, Mike Rodak of ESPN.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

O'Leary was limited early in training camp, but he appears to be fine heading into Thursday's preseason opener against the Panthers. He could receive a good number of reps with Charles Clay and the starters likely to see limited action.

O'Leary (foot/ankle) was limited at Tuesday's practice, Mike Rodak of ESPN.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

O'Leary limped off the practice field Saturday and was spotted in a walking boot Sunday, but it turns out his injury isn't too serious. He's locked in as the Bills' No. 2 tight end, with the potential for a few more opportunities this season after averaging 10.1 yards on his 32 targets last year.

O'Leary was spotted limping off the field at Saturday's practice, Mike Rodak of ESPN.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

The extent of O'Leary's ailment is not well known at the moment. Prior to limping off the field a second time Saturday, O'Leary left originally left practice with an ankle injury but soon returned. Buffalo will likely go down the cautious route with O'Leary given that is just Day 2 of training camp. In the meantime, Khari Lee could be a name to watch during O'Leary's temporary absence.

The Bills re-signed O'Leary -- an exclusive rights free agent -- this week, Chris Brown of the Bills' official site reports.

EDGE Analysis

Starter Charles Clay is almost certain to be back for another season as well, so that leaves the pecking order pretty much the same as last season, with Clay, O'Leary and Logan Thomas as the top three guys heading into summer. The Bills are expected to address other needs instead of taking a top tight end in the upcoming draft, though it also wouldn't be a surprise if they added one in the middle to late rounds.

The Bills extended the exclusive rights tender to O'Leary on Tuesday, ESPN.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

O'Leary recorded a career-high 22 receptions for 322 yards and two touchdowns in 15 games with the Bills last season. Charles Clay is still the starter in Buffalo, but O'Leary will serve as a solid backup in 2018.

O'Leary finished his third NFL season with 22 catches on 32 targets for 322 yards and two touchdowns.

EDGE Analysis

All of those figures were career highs, though they still kept O'Leary off the radar of most leagues. The new coaching staff seems to like him and wasn't afraid to give him regular looks when starter Charles Clay was out with a knee injury for a spell, though O'Leary still seems best suited as an NFL backup. Even if by the small chance Clay isn't brought back for 2018, the team would be more likely to put a bigger passing threat in the starter's role and ride O'Leary as the backup for another season.