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Buffalo Bills News & Rumors

Former Bills S Aaron Williams Retires

January 31st, 2018 at 11:28am CST by Sam Robinson

Aaron Williams attempted to return to the NFL in 2017, working out with three teams, but none ended up signing him. A six-year safety with the Bills, Williams has not played in a game since midway through the 2016 season.

As a result, he will retire from the league. The 27-year-old defender announced this on The Players’ Tribune.

Williams details the 2015 and ’16 neck injuries that ended his run in Buffalo and describes quality workouts with the Texans, Jaguars and Chiefs in 2017. However, Williams writes those teams informed him they wouldn’t offer a contract because of concerns regarding his history with neck issues and concussions.

The former second-round pick wrote that he set a New Year’s Day 2018 deadline for himself, and if he wasn’t on a team by then, he’d retire. That’s come to fruition.

Buffalo signed Williams to an extension, but after he’d started 38 games from 2012-14, the Texas product only appeared in 10 games during his final two seasons. He ended up starting in 52 of the 59 games he played, lining up at both cornerback and safety, and played only for the Bills during his six-season run.

East Rumors: Cowboys, Bills, Fins, Giants

January 30th, 2018 at 9:38pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Cowboys are nearly finished revamping their coaching staff, as they’ve promoted Keith O’Quinn to special teams coordinator and promoted Ben Bloom as linebackers coach, reports Todd Archer of ESPN.com. O’Quinn, who was previously Dallas’ assistant ST coach, was widely expected to be promoted to the full-time role to replace Rich Bisaccia, who left to join Jon Gruden‘s Raiders. Bloom, meanwhile, joined the Cowboys’ staff in 2011 and had most recently been an assistant coach for special projects. He’s taking over for Matt Eberflus, who is expected to become the Colts’ new defensive coordinator under presumptive head coach Josh McDaniels. Dallas is still planning to fill more two roles, tweets David Moore of the Dallas Morning News, as the club wants to hire a new tight ends coach and an assistant special teams coach to work under O’Quinn.

Here’s more from the NFL’s two East divisions:

  • While the Bills‘ pass defense finished 12th in DVOA thanks to solid performances from rookie cornerback Tre’Davious White and veteran safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer, Buffalo has parted ways with defensive backs coach Gill Byrd, according to Tim Graham of the Buffalo News (Twitter link). To replace Byrd, the Bills have hired former Texans secondary coach John Butler, reports Alex Marvez of the Sporting News. Butler had spent the past four seasons Houston after following Bill O’Brien from Penn State to the Texans.
  • The Dolphins have also found a new defensive backs coach, the club has hired Tony Oden to replace Lou Anarumo, per Marvez. Detroit parted ways with Oden last week as the team clears out its defensive staff prior to future head coach Matt Patricia‘s arrival. Oden had been with the Lions since 2014, but his tenure in the Motor City didn’t overlap with that of Miami defensive coordinator Matt Burke, who had left the club the year prior. Oden, who will now work with Xavien Howard, Reshad Jones, and T.J. McDonald, among others, has also coached with the Saints, Buccaneers, and Jaguars.
  • One of the least productive units in the NFL has a new position coach, as the Giants have hired Hal Hunter as their offensive line coach, reports Marvez. Hunter boasts a lengthy coaching history that dates back to 1984, but he only first entered the NFL in 2006. He coached the Chargers’ offensive line and subsequently became San Diego’s offensive coordinator, and also had stops in Indianapolis and Cleveland.

Wood Puts Retirement On Hold

January 29th, 2018 at 10:04pm CST by Micah Powell
  • Bills center Eric Wood put his retirement on hold and remains on the Bills roster due to the team’s salary cap restrictions, ESPN’s Mike Rodak reports (Twitter link). When he is eventually moved to the retired list, Wood will receive $4.8 MM in injury guaranteed salary for 2018, while keeping the $4.3M in signing bonus paid, tweets NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Bills' DL Coach To Retire

January 29th, 2018 at 4:21pm CST by Sam Robinson
  • An NFL defensive line coach for the past 20 seasons, Mike Waufle will retire after spending the 2017 campaign with the Bills, he told the Evening Tribune (N.Y.). Position coach of the famed 2007 Giants’ Super Bowl champion defensive front, Waufle said various injuries have him in constant pain and will induce a retirement — one he informed Sean McDermott of shortly after Buffalo’s first-round loss in Jacksonville. As a result, the Bills will bring on Bill Teerlinck as their D-line coach, Mike Rodak of ESPN.com tweets. Teerlinck spent last season as Waufle’s assistant. Teerlinck’s assistant DL coach will be Aaron Whitecotton, who spent 2017 as an assistant to McDermott.

Bills Notes: Wood, Analytics

January 26th, 2018 at 12:13pm CST by Zachary Links
  • The revised deal that Eric Wood signed with the Bills in August grants him $4.8MM in injury guarantees for 2018, as Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter) points out. Wood is retiring due to a career-ending neck injury, but he’ll be covered financially.
  • Wood’s retirement or release would increase his cap number to $10.39MM in 2018, but the Bills may opt to designate him as a post-June 1 release, lowering his 2018 hit to $8.225MM and adding a $2.166MM hit in 2019, as ESPN.com’s Mike Rodak tweets.
  • The Bills fired director of analytics Michael Lyons and system analyst Peter Linton, as Tim Graham of the Buffalo News writes. It’s not clear if Bills GM Brandon Beane and coach Sean McDermott will place an emphasis on analytics in their scouting going forward. At the same time, team president Russ Brandon has said in the past that he uses analytics mainly for ticket sales, so the dismissal of Lyons and Linton might not change much of the on-field product at all.

Bills’ Eric Wood To Retire Due To Neck Injury

January 26th, 2018 at 10:17am CST by Zachary Links

Bills center Eric Wood will announce his retirement on Monday due to a career-ending neck injury (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com). The injury is partly due to wear and tear, but one source tells Schefter that it is a “complicated medical situation.” Eric Wood (vertical)

Wood, 32 in March, has been Buffalo’s starting snapper since entering the league in 2009. He stands as Buffalo’s second-longest-tenured active player behind defensive tackle Kyle Williams and has been the team’s top center under six different head coaches (seven if you count Anthony Lynn‘s one game as interim head coach.

Remarkably, he started in all 16 of the Bills’ regular season games last season plus their playoff game against Jacksonville. Wood managed to play through the pain all year, but the malady is too serious for him to continue on the field.

Wood graded out as the No. 16 center in the NFL last year, per Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics. In 2015, the season in which he his first and only Pro Bowl, PFF had him ranked in the top five league-wide.

We here at PFR wish Wood the best as he deals with his medical situation.

Bills Won't Commit To Tyrod Taylor

January 24th, 2018 at 3:59pm CST by Zachary Links
  • Will the Bills stick with quarterback Tyrod Taylor? Sean McDermott isn’t really tipping his hand. “I thought the quarterback position, in particular Tyrod and then Nate [Peterman] did some good things. I’ve mentioned before, the work ethic and the intangibles that Tyrod brings to the table are very much appreciated and a big part of how we did things this year and what we were able to do. I thought he did some good things and overall, we’ll continue to evaluate where we are what’s right for this organization moving forward,” McDermott told reporters Tuesday at the Senior Bowl (Twitter link via Mike Rodak of ESPN.com)

NFL Investigating Richie Incognito

January 23rd, 2018 at 3:14pm CST by Zachary Links
  • The NFL continues to review accusations by Jaguars defensive end Yannick Ngakoue that Bills guard Richie Incognito used racial slurs in a Jan. 7 playoff game (Twitter link via Mike Rodak of ESPN.com). A report this week indicated that the league had wrapped up its investigation and that the offensive lineman was “not expected” to be disciplined. Incognito is under contract with Buffalo for 2018, but given his history, the lineman’s roster spot could be in jeopardy if the NFL finds credence in Ngakoue’s claims.

Updated 2018 NFL Draft Order

January 21st, 2018 at 9:16pm CST by Zachary Links

With the conference championship games in the books, we now know the draft order for 30 of the first round’s 32 picks. Here’s the rundown:

1. Cleveland Browns (0-16)

2. New York Giants (3-13)

3. Indianapolis Colts (4-12)

4. Cleveland Browns (via the 4-12 Houston Texans)

5. Denver Broncos (5-11)

6. New York Jets (5-11)

7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-11)

8. Chicago Bears (5-11)

T-9. Oakland Raiders (6-10)

T-9. San Francisco 49ers (6-10) (Note: The Raiders and 49ers have identical records and the same strength of schedule. The tie will be broken by a coin flip with the winner getting pick No. 9 and the other club receiving the No. 10 pick.)

11. Miami Dolphins (6-10)

12. Cincinnati Bengals (7-9)

13. Washington Redskins (7-9)

14. Green Bay Packers (7-9)

15. Arizona Cardinals (8-8)

16. Baltimore Ravens (9-7)

17. Los Angeles Chargers (9-7)

18. Seattle Seahawks (9-7)

19. Dallas Cowboys (9-7)

20. Detroit Lions (9-7)

21. Buffalo Bills (9-7)

22. Buffalo Bills (via the 10-6 Kansas City Chiefs)

23. Los Angeles Rams (11-5)

24. Carolina Panthers (11-5)

25. Tennessee Titans (9-7)

26. Atlanta Falcons (10-6)

27. New Orleans Saints (11-5)

28. Pittsburgh Steelers (13-3)

29. Jacksonville Jaguars (10-6)

30. Minnesota Vikings (13-3)

31. (New England Patriots (13-3) or Philadelphia Eagles (13-3))

32. (New England Patriots (13-3) or Philadelphia Eagles (13-3))

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/17/18

January 17th, 2018 at 5:34pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Here are the latest reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2018 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ offseason 90-man rosters:

Buffalo Bills

Denver Broncos

Indianapolis Colts

New York Jets

  • P Ben Turk
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