One of the longest shots to make the Buffalo Bills when training camp began at St. John Fisher University is apparently going to be on the initial 53-man roster.

New York Upstate is reporting that linebacker Joe Andreessen has been told he’s on the first iteration, though that could obviously change when things start to get fleshed out a bit in the run-up to the regular-season opener against the Cardinals.

Joe Andreessen is a Buffalo native

Andreessen grew up in the Buffalo suburb of Depew, played at Lancaster High School where he led his team to two Section VI championships and an appearance in one New York State championship game.

After attending Bryant University, he came home to play one season at the University at Buffalo and made 90 tackles in 2023, and that warranted a look from the Bills at their tryout camp during rookie minicamp in May.

The 6-foot, 239-pounder showed enough that weekend to sign an undrafted free agent contract, but heading to Pittsford, it seemed impossible that he could make the team.

Instead, he had a terrific camp, during which he flashed consistently in practice, and in the second preseason game against Pittsburgh he thrust himself into the conversation by making 12 tackles. He had eight more against the Panthers last Saturday.

Andreessen is one of three players with UB ties who are going to make the team. The others are defensive backs Ja’Marcus Ingram and Cam Lewis.

However, it must also be stated that his position on the team remains tenuous. The Bills could easily take a look at the waiver wire once all the cuts have been announced and make a claim, and that would knock Andreessen off the roster and probably down to the practice squad.

Still, as of Tuesday afternoon, he has made the squad.

Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades including 35 years as the full-time beat writer for the D&C, and he has written numerous books about the history of the team. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Joe Andreessen makes initial Buffalo Bills roster as undrafted rookie