Bills release longtime running back Fred Jackson

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The Buffalo Bills released Fred Jackson on Monday, making the difficult decision to part ways with the veteran running back after 10 years.

Buffalo entered this year's training camp with an intriguing group of young talent in the mix behind LeSean McCoy in a revamped offensive backfield, but opting to move on from the 34-year-old as a result certainly still comes as a surprise.

General manager Doug Whaley included a statement with the team's official announcement, thanking Jackson for his contributions on and off the playing field over the course of his time in Buffalo.

Today, we had to make the difficult decision to release Fred Jackson. He had an incredible career for this organization for the past 10 years. We thank Fred for his hard work, dedication and leadership during his tenure with the Buffalo Bills. Fred has inspired the city of Buffalo in a number of ways. Fred and his family have been dedicated to this community and we can’t thank them enough for their contributions through his career.

Jackson spent one year on the Bills' practice squad upon first joining the team as an undrafted free agent in 2006, before going on to appear in 106 regular-season games over the next eight seasons.

His 5,646 rushing yards over that span ranks third in franchise history, behind only Thurman Thomas and O.J. Simpson.

Anthony Dixon, Bryce Brown, and Karlos Williams are now the top candidates for the No. 2 running back job heading into 2015, and Jackson hits the open market with plenty of time to catch on with another team before Week 1.

In getting the roster down to 75 players ahead of Tuesday's deadline, the Bills also released Michael Buchanan, Ross Cockrell, Justin Hamilton, Andrew Hudson, Terren Jones, Ellis Lankster, Kenny Ladler, Wes Miller, D.J. Morrel, Cedric Reed, and Ricky Seale.