The Bills have agreed to a one-year deal with free agent defensive end Ryan Russell, reports Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk (Twitter link).
Buffalo has been interested in Russell for some time, as the club visited with the veteran lineman in May before bringing him in for another visit on Saturday. That’s been the only known league-wide interest in Russell, whom the Buccaneers allowed to hit the open market in the spring after opting not to tender him as a restricted free agent.
Russell, a fifth-round pick in the 2015, draft, appeared in 14 games and made six starts for the Buccaneers a season ago in a campaign that was his most active to date. The 26-year-old played on 456 defensive snaps for Tampa Bay (nearly triple his career snap count to that point), managing two sacks and 12 tackles in that time. Russell also chipped on special teams, seeing action on roughly 20% of the Bucs’ ST snaps.
The Bills had been on the lookout for defensive line help, as they worked out former Bronco Jared Crick before inking Russell while also signing interior defender John Hughes. Russell, for his part, will compete for reserve snaps behind Jerry Hughes, Trent Murphy, and Shaq Lawson.
In order to create a roster spot for Russell, Buffalo has waived defensive end Owa Odighizuwa, the club announced.