Buffalo Bills sign QB Shane Buechele to practice squad

Shane Buechele, the former Longhorn and Mustang, has his next assignment. He’ll be backing up Josh Allen with the Bills.

It’s a sweet gig. The Chiefs waived Buechele earlier this week. And after he cleared waivers, Buffalo signed him to the practice squad. He’ll probably be third team. No one is displacing Allen. Then there’s Kyle Allen, who has played with four teams. The former Texas A&M Aggie and Houston Cougar transfer, signed with the Bills earlier this year. With Matt Barkley out because of an injury, Allen is the second-team quarterback.

On Thursday, the Bills announced the signing of both Buechele and linebacker Christian Kirksey. Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane said the two agreed to sign on Wednesday, but needed to come to the Bills offices and pass a physical.

Signed QB Shane Buechele & LB Christian Kirksey to the practice squad. pic.twitter.com/a9bdbVQlCc

— Buffalo Bills PR (@BuffaloBillsPR) August 31, 2023

Kirksey is a big signing for Buffalo. The Texans made him a surprise cut earlier this week. Kirksey was a starter in Houston and a team captain. He made 124 total tackles last season, with three sacks and two interceptions. This is his ninth season in the league. He started with the Browns, when Cleveland selected the former Iowa Hawkeye in the third round of the 2014 draft.

Meanwhile, Shane Buechele will need to learn a new offense. He spent the past two seasons with the Chiefs practice squad. And because Kansas City won the Super Bowl, he received a ring. Buechele had a somewhat uneven exhibition season for the Chiefs this month. In three games, playing mostly with other second- and third-teamers, Buechele completed 29 of 45 passes for 349 yards. He threw three touchdowns, but also had three interceptions. During his NFL career, he saw only preseason game action. In three preseasons, he completed 97 of 151 passes for 1,106 yards. He also sported nine touchdowns against six picks.

Shane Buechele played high school and college football in the state of Texas. He was born in Arlington. His dad, Steve Buechele, played for the Texas Rangers and still works for the team. Here’s a fun fact, Steve played baseball for Stanford and his roommate was John Elway. Buechele wore Elway’s No. 7 in high school.

Shane Buechele played both football and baseball in high school. But he signed to play football for the Texas Longhorns. He won the starting job as a true freshman. And he opened his career with an overtime win over then-10th-ranked Notre Dame. He also broke Colt McCoy‘s freshman school record for passing.

However, Sam Ehlinger (who now is a backup with the Colts) eventually edged out Buechele for the starting job. Buechele then transferred to SMU. As a senior in 2020, he ranked in the top 10 nationally in completions, passing yards per game, overall yardage and total offense. In his first season, he took the Mustangs to the Boca Raton Bowl.