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Buffalo Bills News & Rumors

Percy Harvin To Retire

March 14th, 2017 at 6:50pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Wide receiver Percy Harvin is retiring from the NFL and won’t be coming back this time around, a representative tells Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Harvin previously announced his retirement in April 2016 only to re-sign with the Bills last November.Percy Harvin (vertical)

Shortly after signing with Buffalo, Harvin indicated he’d like to continue playing in 2017, as well. But chronic migraine issues forced the Bills to shut Harvin down after he’d spent less than a month with the club. Harvin, 28, dealt with those same migraine issues throughout his throughout his career, and missed time due to the ailment with the Vikings.

Harvin, a former first-round pick, battled various other injuries throughout his career, but still managed to produce as an effective offensive weapon, especially while playing for Minnesota. His best season came in 2011, when he posted 87 receptions for 967 yards and six touchdowns, while adding another 345 yards and two scores on the ground.

Traded to the Seahawks prior to the 2013 season, Harvin ultimately played in only six contests for Seattle before being dealt once again, this time to the Jets. Harvin struggled through a half-season with Gang Green before finishing his career in Buffalo, where he never truly got off the ground.

PFR wishes Harvin all the best in in his post-NFL career.

Bengals To Sign Andre Smith

March 14th, 2017 at 6:18pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Bengals will reunite with Andre Smith, as they’ve agreed to sign the free agent tackle, according to Jeff Darlington of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Smith will ink a one-year deal, tweets Mike Garafolo of NFL.com.Andre Smith

Smith, 30, spent the first seven seasons of his career with Cincinnati after being selected sixth overall in the 2009 draft. While he didn’t become a full-time player until his third year in the league, Smith ultimately started 73 games for the Bengals at right tackle. After inking a one-year pact with the Vikings last offseason, Smith played in only four contests before being placed on injured reserve.

The Bengals’ offensive line is in flux after the club saw both Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitler leave the club in free agency. With Cedric Ogbuehi projected to take over for Whitworth at left tackle, Smith could theoretically slide in at right tackle, allowing Jake Fisher to shift to guard to replace Zeitler. Instead, initial indications are Smith will play right guard, a position he’s never played at the NFL level, as Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com writes.

The Bills also made a “hard run” at Smith, per Darlington (Twitter link), but Smith preferred to head back to Cincinnati.

Rams Sign Bills C Ryan Groy To Offer Sheet

March 14th, 2017 at 9:26am CST by Sam Robinson

The Rams made a move late tonight to potentially add a starting center, signing Bills RFA Ryan Groy to an offer sheet, Mike Rodak and Adam Caplan of ESPN.com report. It’s a two-year offer sheet worth $5MM with $3.5MM guaranteed on March 21st, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Groy inked the deal, as Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The ball is now in Buffalo’s court.

The Bills gave Groy and original-round tender and would not be entitled to draft compensation if they elect not to match since Groy was undrafted. Buffalo has five days to match the offer sheet. Groy was drawing interest as an RFA last week from teams who believe he could start at center or guard for them.

Groy would be expected to become the Rams’ starting center, a status he does not presently occupy with the Bills. Currently, the Rams house fourth-year player Demetrius Rhaney as their only pure center.

Eric Wood is the Bills’ starting center, although after a season-ending injury in November, Wood ceded his starting spot to Groy for the Bills’ final seven games last season. He’d previously started just three in his three-year career. Wood, though, is entering a contract year and will turn 31 on Saturday. Groy will turn 27 in September.

The Bills saw an RFA decision last year come back to bite them in allowing Chris Hogan to sign with the Patriots. Groy did grade out better than Wood in the opinion of Pro Football Focus last season, but Wood has started 104 games for the Bills since 2009 and made the Pro Bowl in 2015. So, it will be interesting to see how the Bills proceed here since Groy, too, is entering a contract year.

Terms Of Tyrod Taylor’s New Bills Deal

March 14th, 2017 at 9:10am CST by Zachary Links

Tyrod Taylor‘s camp insisted that it was an all or nothing proposition: the Bills either had to pick up his five-year option with $30.5MM guaranteed or the quarterback would test the open market. Amidst rumblings that Bills brass wasn’t all that high on Taylor anyway, it seemed like a sure thing that the QB would reach free agency. Then, out of nowhere, the Bills and Taylor agreed to a restructured deal to keep him under center. Details were a bit sparse at the time, but we now have additional info on the revamped pact. Tyrod Taylor (vertical)

Taylor’s restructured Bills deal is a two-year, $30.5MM pact, which is less than the $40.5MM he would have made under the terms of the option (Twitter link via Mike Rodak of ESPN.com). However, Taylor benefits here because he will be eligible for free agency following the 2018 season. Under the old deal, he would have remained under Bills control through the 2021 campaign.

The structure of the new deal could lead the Bills to go through the same song and dance next year. Only $1MM of his $10MM salary in 2018 is guaranteed and he’ll be due a $6MM roster bonus early on in the 2018 league year. If Taylor is retained through 2018 and plays well, there will also be a decision to make on whether to use the franchise tag. In that scenario, Taylor would probably prefer to test the open market unencumbered since he’ll still only be entering his age-30 season.

Assuming the two sides see this new contract through until the end, he’ll have a $9.713MM cap number in 2017 and a $18.08MM cap number in 2018. In the original five-year option, Taylor’s 2018 cap number would have been $16.78MM. The deal will automatically void if he’s on the roster just after the Super Bowl in February 2019. Then, the Bills will carry $4.2MM for 2019 in dead money in 2019, representing the leftover portion of his $7MM signing bonus.

Bills To Sign WR Jeremy Butler

March 13th, 2017 at 3:27pm CST by Zachary Links

Former Chargers receiver Jeremy Butler is signing a one-year deal today with the Bills, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Financial terms of the deal are not yet known. "<strong

Butler was non-tendered by Los Angeles last week. Butler appeared in four games last season for the Bolts and caught only two passes for eleven yards. In between his time with the Ravens and Chargers, he had a brief stint with the Jets.

The 25-year-old (26 in April) appeared in eight games in 2015, collecting 31 catches for 363 yards. Extrapolated to a full season, those are some pretty solid numbers. That’s likely the kind of playing time and production he’s shooting for in 2017 with Buffalo. The Bills now have a quality receiver to help support star Sammy Watkins. The rest of the WR depth chart isn’t exactly star studded. Philly Brown (newly signed), Dezmin Lewis, Walt Powell, and Kolby Listenbee are the team’s other receivers under contract.

Butler’s departure still leaves the Chargers with Keenan Allen, Tyrell Williams, and Travis Benjamin as their three best wide receivers. Butler would have slotted no higher than the team’s WR4 had he re-signed.

Contract Details: Jones, Gresham, Church

March 13th, 2017 at 12:14pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Let’s take a look at the details of some recently-signed contracts:

Bills Host Elliott, Butler

March 13th, 2017 at 11:03am CST by Zachary Links
  • The Bills are holding free agent visits with former Green Bay linebacker Jayrone Elliott and former Bolts wide receiver Jeremy Butler, according to a team announcement. Both players were non-tendered by their respective former clubs. Butler appeared in four games last season and caught two passes for eleven yards. In eleven games with Green Bay last year, Elliott had one sack and 12 total tackles.

Bills Sign DE Ryan Davis

March 13th, 2017 at 9:14am CST by Zachary Links

The Bills have signed defensive end Ryan Davis, according to a team announcement. Terms of the deal are not yet known. "<strong

Davis played in 30 games for the Jaguars in 2014-15 and racked up ten sacks between the two seasons. After that, the Jaguars placed a second-round tender ($2.55MM) on him to prevent him from leaving in free agency. Then, Jacksonville surprised everyone by dropping him in September of last year. After that, he hooked on with the Cowboys and was used largely as a special teamer. Unfortunately, he suffered a knee injury late in the regular season which prevented him from suiting up in the playoffs.

It’s not immediately clear what kind of role Davis is ticketed for in Buffalo. He may get a chance to return to a traditional workload on defensive end with Corbin Bryant and Leger Douzable still out there as free agents. If neither player is retained, there should be more playing time available for Davis behind projected starters Adolphus Washington and Kyle Williams.

Last year, Davis joined Dallas on a modest one-year, $675K deal.

Bills Sign Philly Brown

March 12th, 2017 at 3:29pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Bills announced that they’ve signed wide receiver Corey Brown. Brown, 25, became an unrestricted free agent last week after the Panthers to offer him a restricted free agent tender.Corey Brown

Brown, a former undrafted free agent, had spent his entire three-year career in Carolina. He started 22 games during his tenure with the Panthers, catching 79 passes for 1,019 yards and seven touchdowns. Brown has also posted 16 career rushing attempts for 139 yards. “Philly” appeared in all 16 games (eight starts) last season, hauling in 27 receptions for 276 yards and one touchdown.

In Buffalo, Brown will help mitigate the losses of receivers Robert Woods and Marquise Goodwin, who last week signed with the Rams and 49ers, respectively. At present, the only other Bills wideout with any real experience under his belt is Sammy Watkins. The rest of the position group is comprised of Dezmin Lewis, Walt Powell, and Kolby Listenbee.

The Lions hosted Brown for a visit last week, but instead he’ll reunite with former Panthers defensive coordiantor Sean McDermott in Buffalo.

AFC East Rumors: Cutler, Hightower, Bills

March 11th, 2017 at 9:26pm CST by Sam Robinson

The team most linked to Jay Cutler now that he’s a first-time free agent, the Jets may be split on acquiring the former Broncos and Bears quarterback. Gang Green is intrigued by the 12th-year passer, and the feeling is believed to be mutual. Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News notes a faction of the Jets wants the 33-year-old Cutler on the roster, linking former Broncos and Bears assistant Jeremy Bates — the Jets’ new quarterbacks coach — to being in the pro-Cutler camp. The Jets, though, aren’t presently inclined to spend much on Cutler, with Mehta noting if he were available for “a few million” the Jets’ brass would probably sign him. Cutler played three seasons of the seven-year, $126MM Bears deal he signed in 2014.

Here’s more from the Jets and some of their division rivals.

  • One team involved in talks with UFA linebacker Dont’a Hightower is convinced he will sign to stay with the Patriots, Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com tweets. Breer doesn’t specify the team here, but the Patriots have been connected to the sixth-year ‘backer throughout free agency despite not placing the franchise tag on him. New England has been the only known team to be pursuing Hightower. While there are surely others in the hunt for a top-level free agent, none have been revealed yet.
  • Lorenzo Alexander expects the two-year, $9MM contract he signed with the Bills to be his last. “I see myself walking off into the sunset and transitioning into life after football after I’m done,” the soon-to-be 34-year-old pass-rusher said, per Mike Rodak of ESPN.com. The Bills re-signed the 2016 wonder despite being set to shift to a 4-3 defense. Prior to last season, Alexander (12.5 sacks in ’16) had nine career sacks in nine seasons.
  • The Jets would be interested in acquiring Trevor Siemian from the Broncos in the event they sign or trade for Tony Romo, Mehta reports. Unloading a late-round pick for Siemian would be something the Jets would consider. Cutler might be the Jets’ backup plan behind Siemian, Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com reported earlier this week. But there are a lot of moving parts to this string of deals, one that became murkier when the Texans cleared eight figures in cap space via their unorthodox Brock Osweiler trade. That opens the door for Houston to pursue Romo, and it’s unlikely the team will look to move Tom Savage in that event. The Broncos, though, would have less use for Siemian if they land Romo since Paxton Lynch is still tentatively viewed as their quarterback of the future. Siemian has two years remaining on his rookie contract.
  • In addition to keeping Alexander, the Bills re-upped right tackle Jordan Mills on Saturday.
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