Bills Sign DE Ryan Davis
The Bills have signed defensive end Ryan Davis, according to a team announcement. Terms of the deal are not yet known. 
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
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.
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
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.
Bills To Re-Sign Jordan Mills
The Bills have agreed to re-sign offensive tackle Jordan Mills to a two-year, $4MM contract, tweets Adam Schefter of ESPN.com.
Serving as Buffalo’s full-time right tackle in 2016, Mills started all 16 games and graded as the league’s No. 64 offensive tackle among 78 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus. The Bills originally signed Mills off Detroit’s practice squad in October 2015, and he’s become a productive player in Buffalo. A former fifth-round pick, Mills has 50 career starts under his belt, all of those coming with the Bills and the Bears (with whom Mills began his NFL tenure).
The Bills’ offensive line, which paved the way for the league’s No. 1 DVOA-rated rushing attack, should return the same five members from left-to-right: Cordy Glenn, Richie Incognito, Eric Wood, John Miller, and Mills.
Bills To Re-Sign Lorenzo Alexander
The Bills have agreed to re-sign linebacker Lorenzo Alexander, as Alexander himself posted on Twitter. He’ll sign a two-year, $9MM deal that includes $4.1MM guaranteed, reports Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Alexander settled for a minimum salary benefit deal with the Bills in free agency last spring, when he was a special teams-first journeyman who had racked up only 9.5 sacks in his first nine NFL seasons. But Alexander broke out last season in Buffalo, where he accumulated 76 tackles, 12.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception across 16 starts en route to second-team All-Pro honors and the only Pro Bowl berth of his career.
The first real defensive success of Alexander’s career came under the Bills’ previous head coach, Rex Ryan, whom they fired with a week left in the season. Buffalo has since replaced Ryan with another defensive-minded coach, Sean McDermott, but the team clearly regards Alexander as a player capable of thriving in its new system.
Heading into the free agent period, PFR ranked Alexander as the fifth-best pass rusher available.
OL Andre Smith To Visit Bills
Free agent offensive tackle Andre Smith is set to visit the Bills, reports ESPN’s Jeff Darlington (via Twitter). The reporter also notes that Smith could wind up with his former team, the Bengals.
The former first-round spent the first seven seasons of his career in Cincinnati before signing a one-year, $3.5MM deal with the Vikings last offseason. Smith would ultimately play in four games (four starts) for Minnesota before going down for the year with a triceps injury.
The 30-year-old has 86 career games (77 starts) under his belt. He hasn’t played in all 16 games since 2013, and he’s missed 21 games over the past three seasons.
The Bills don’t have a lot of depth at offensive tackle. Behind Cordy Glenn and Cyrus Kouandjio, the team is only rostering Michael Ola.
Bills Designate Aaron Williams Post-June 1 Cut
- Both linebacker DeAndre Levy (Lions) and safety Aaron Williams (Bills) were designated as post-June 1 releases, according to Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com and Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Those decisions will save Detroit and Buffalo some cap space the short term, but both teams will see dead money incur on their 2018 books.
AFC Contract Details: Gilmore, Kirkpatrick
The latest contract details from the AFC (all Twitter links):
- Cornerback Stephon Gilmore‘s five-year, $65MM accord with the Patriots includes an $18MM signing bonus, reports Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. The arrangement comes with a fully guaranteed $31MM through 2018 and $9MM guaranteed for injury only in 2019. It contains up to $500K in per-game roster bonuses each year, as well (via Ben Volin of the Boston Globe).
- Fellow corner Dre Kirkpatrick‘s Bengals deal, worth $52.5MM over a five years, includes $15MM in 2017, according to Tom Pelissero of USA Today. The contract features another $2.5MM in incentives. It’s essentially a pay-as-you agreement after 2018, notes CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora, who adds that Kirkpatrick got $7MM to sign, $12MM in guarantees, and will make $23.2MM during the first two years of the contract.
- Guard Ronald Leary‘s pact with the Broncos is worth $36MM over four years and will receive $18.75MM guaranteed, writes Mike Klis of 9NEWS. Leary will collect a $3.5MM signing bonus.
- Newly re-upped Dolphins wide receiver Kenny Stills landed a $7MM signing bonus, according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald.
- Fullback Patrick DiMarco‘s four-year deal with the Bills features $4.8MM in guarantees, more than the originally reported $4MM, per Wilson. It also comes with a $2MM bonus and an annual workout bonus worth $59K.
- Safety Nate Allen‘s contract with the Dolphins is for one year and $3.4MM, relays Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald.
- The Titans gave linebacker Nate Palmer $2.3MM over two years, writes Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com. He also received a signing bonus worth $850K.
- Tight end David Johnson‘s agreement with the Steelers is worth $2.05MM over two years, per Wilson. It includes a $235K signing bonus and a $915K roster bonus.
Bills Release Corey Graham
The Bills announced that they have released safety Corey Graham. Cutting the veteran defensive back will save them team $4.05MM against the cap, and they 
avoided a $500K roster bonus by cutting him prior to Monday’s deadline.
Graham originally joined the Bills on a four-year, $16MM deal in 2014, and he restrucutured that deal last offseason. The veteran didn’t miss a game during his three years in Buffalo, and he started 16 games in each of the past two seasons. 2016 was another solid season for the former Pro Bowler, compiling 62 tackles, one sack, and nine passes defended.
Following the move, the Bills have three safeties on their roster in Jordan Poyer, Colt Anderson, and Shamiel Gary.
Bills OL Ryan Groy Drawing Interest
Bills restricted free agent Ryan Groy is drawing interest from at least four teams, sources tell ESPN.com’s Adam Caplan (on Twitter). A few of those teams, Caplan adds, believe that the guard/center could start for them. 
Groy, 27 in September, wound up starting in the middle for Buffalo after Ryan Wood suffered a broken leg last season. All in all, he had an alright showing, placing as Pro Football Focus’ 23rd best center out of 38 qualified players. At minimum, Groy would make sense for teams as a sub who could play in three different spots on the offensive line.
Groy was undrafted, so under the terms of his “original round” tender, the Bills would not be entitled to any draft compensation from a club if they choose not to match an offer sheet.