ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — The Buffalo Bills filled their need for a third-string quarterback by signing Ben DiNucci, the player’s agency JL Sports announced on social media on Monday.
The Bills have not yet announced the signing in part because they’ll have to make a corresponding move to free up a roster spot.
Earlier in the day, coach Sean McDermott said the team was considering adding a QB to replace Shane Buechele, who is out indefinitely with a neck injury.
McDermott did not reveal the nature of the injury in saying Buechele played through it after being hurt in Buffalo’s preseason-opening 33-6 loss to Chicago on Saturday. Adding a third QB was imperative because the Bills are limiting starter Josh Allen and backup Mitch Trubisky’s preseason playing time to avoid the risk of injuries.
Buechele finished the game after entering midway through the third quarter and went 6 of 10 for 53 yards, with an interception which linebacker Micah Baskerville returned 53 yards for a touchdown. Buechele was sacked six times and also had three carries for 22 yards.
The 27-year-old DiNucci was selected by Dallas in the seventh round of the 2020 draft after splitting his college career at Pittsburgh and James Madison. He went 23 of 43 for 219 yards in three NFL games — including one start, a loss — in his rookie year for the Cowboys.
DiNucci was released by Dallas before the start of the 2022 season, and spent last year with the Denver Broncos, before being released in May.
With Trubisky excused for personal reasons on Monday, Allen took all the team snaps in practice. Offensive quality control coach Kyle Shurmur pitched in to throw passes during individual passing drills. Shurmur, the son of former Browns and Giants coach Pat Shurmur, is a former college quarterback who spent time on several NFL team practice squads, the last being Washington in 2021.
Allen was limited to playing just the first quarter against Chicago, and it’s unclear how many more snaps he’ll get this preseason.
Buffalo is scheduled to hold a joint practice with the Steelers on Thursday before playing a preseason game at Pittsburgh on Sunday. The Bills close their preseason schedule by hosting Carolina on Aug. 24.
Receivers Mack Hollins (leg) and Justin Shorter (knee) and running back Ty Johnson (hamstring) returned to practice after missing much of last week.
Safeties Mike Edwards (hamstring) and Cole Bishop (shoulder), receiver Chase Claypool (toe) and defensive tackle DaQuan Jones (groin) all remain sidelined.
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FILE - Denver Broncos quarterback Ben DiNucci (6) throws a pass as Los Angeles Rams linebacker Daniel Hardy (44) pursues in the second half of an NFL preseason football game, Aug. 26, 2023, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
Buffalo Bills quarterback Shane Buechele throws during the second half of an preseason NFL football game against the Chicago Bears, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Orchard Park, NY. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Buffalo Bills quarterback Shane Buechele (6) runs during the second half of an preseason NFL football game against the Chicago Bears, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Orchard Park, NY. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Saturday signed legislation that averts a government shutdown heading into Christmas, bringing a final close to days of upheaval in Washington after Congress passed a bipartisan budget plan just past the deadline and rejected Donald Trump's core demand in the negotiations.
The deal funds the government at current levels through March 14 and provides $100 billion in disaster aid and $10 billion in agricultural assistance to farmers.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had insisted lawmakers would “meet our obligations” and not allow federal operations to close. But the outcome at the end of a tumultuous week was uncertain after Trump had insisted the deal include an increase in the government's borrowing limit. If not, he had said, then let the closures “start now.”
Johnson's revised plan was approved 366-34, and it was passed by the Senate by a 85-11 vote after midnight. By then, the White House said it had ceased shutdown preparations.
“There will be no government shutdown,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Johnson, who had spoken to Trump after the House vote, said the compromise was "a good outcome for the country” and that the president-elect “was certainly happy about this outcome, as well.”
The final product was the third attempt from Johnson, the beleaguered speaker, to achieve one of the basic requirements of the federal government — keeping it open. The difficulties raised questions about whether Johnson will be able to keep his job, in the face of angry Republican colleagues, and work alongside Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk, who was calling the legislative plays from afar.
The House is scheduled to elect the next speaker on Jan. 3, 2025, when the new Congress convenes. Republicans will have an exceedingly narrow majority, 220-215, leaving Johnson little margin for error as he tries to win the speaker's gavel.
One House Republican, Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, criticized Republicans for the deficit spending in the bill and said he was now “undecided” about the GOP leadership. Others are signaling unhappiness with Johnson as well.
Yet Trump's last-minute debt limit demand was almost an impossible ask, and Johnson had almost no choice but to work around that pressure. The speaker knew there wouldn’t be enough support within the slim Republican majority alone to pass any funding package because many Republican deficit hawks prefer to cut the federal government and would not allow more debt.
Instead, the Republicans, who will have full control of the White House, House and Senate in the new year, with big plans for tax cuts and other priorities, are showing they must routinely rely on Democrats for the votes needed to keep up with the routine operations of governing.
The federal debt stands at roughly $36 trillion, and the spike in inflation after the coronavirus pandemic has pushed up the government’s borrowing costs such that debt service next year will exceed spending on national security. The last time lawmakers raised the debt limit was June 2023. Rather than raise the limit by a dollar amount, lawmakers suspended the debt limit through Jan. 1, 2025.
There is no need to raise that limit right now because the Treasury Department can begin using what it calls “extraordinary measures” to ensure that America does not default on its debts. Some estimate these accounting maneuvers could push the default deadline to the summer of 2025. But that’s what Trump wanted to avoid because an increase would be needed while he was president.
GOP leaders said the debt ceiling would be debated as part of tax and border packages in the new year. Republicans made a so-called handshake agreement to raise the debt limit at that time while also cutting $2.5 trillion in spending over 10 years.
It was essentially the same deal that flopped Thursday night — minus Trump’s debt demand. But it's far smaller than the original deal Johnson struck with Democratic and Republican leaders — a 1,500-page bill that Trump and Musk rejected, forcing him to start over. It was stuffed with a long list of other bills — including much-derided pay raises for lawmakers — but also other measures with broad bipartisan support that now have a tougher path to becoming law.
Trump, who has not yet been sworn into office, is showing the power but also the limits of his sway with Congress, as he intervenes and orchestrates affairs from Mar-a-Lago alongside Musk, who is heading up the new Department of Government Efficiency.
Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Stephen Groves, Mary Clare Jalonick, Darlene Superville and Bill Barrow contributed to this report.
Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., talks with reporters after attending a meeting with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., as the House works on a spending bill to avert a shutdown of the Federal Government, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
The Capitol is pictured in Washington, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks to reporters after passing the funding bill to avert the government shutdown at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks to reporters after passing the funding bill to avert the government shutdown at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., celebrates as the Senate begins voting on the government funding bill just in time to meet the midnight deadline, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
