Rex Ryan Remains Interested In Coaching
When Rex Ryan was hired as the coach of the Bills, he said that Buffalo would be his final stop as a head coach. Two years later, he’s out of a job, but he’s not necessarily ruling out a return to a head coaching gig if he gets the right opportunity, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News writes. 
“The one thing about (being on TV) is that you don’t lose,” Ryan said. “You’ll remember every damn loss. But the wins? You don’t necessarily remember. So, it takes a lot out of you. I’m tired of getting f—ked. Unless it’s a real situation, there’s no sense of getting into it again.”
After being discarded by Buffalo, Ryan appears to be a better defensive coordinator candidate than a head coaching possibility. Despite that, Ryan says he is not interested “at all” in a DC job “at this time.”
Interestingly, Ryan says that he would not close the door on someday returning to the Jets in some capacity. Coach Todd Bowles has been retained for a third season, but as Mehta notes, there’s no telling what Woody Johnson could do in 2017 if things do not go according to plan.
In the meantime, Ryan says he’ll do some television work. His next assignment will have him serving as a panelist on ESPN for Super Bowl weekend.
Bills To Hire Phil McGeoghan As WRs Coach
- The Bills will hire Phil McGeoghan to coach their receivers, relays ESPN’s Adam Caplan (Twitter link). McGeoghan, who was the Dolphins’ assistant receivers coach from 2012-15, spent last season coaching East Carolina’s wideouts.
New QB Coach David Culley Still Wants To Be Head Coach
- David Culley, who worked as Andy Reid‘s wide receivers coach with the Eagles and Chiefs, agreed to become the Bills‘ new quarterbacks coach last week. Per Reid, the 60-year-old Culley still harbors aspirations of becoming a head coach, so he did not want to block his longtime assistant from moving up the coaching ladder (article via Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star).
Bills Have Reached Out To Lorenzo Alexander
Lorenzo Alexander signed a one-year deal with the Bills last offseason, and the outside linebacker thanked the organization by having his best NFL season. The 33-year-old finished the campaign with 76 tackles and 12.5 sacks, both career-highs.
Despite the fact that the Bills gave the veteran an opportunity this past season, the Pro Bowler told Alex Marvez of The Sporting News that he hasn’t decided whether he’ll return for a second season in Buffalo.
“[The Bills] have reached out to me. They want me to be back … I’m waiting to see what all the offers are on the table,” he said. “My wife and I will sit down and make the best decision for ourselves.”
- Running back LeSean McCoy is a big fan of new Bills head coach Sean McDermott. The two previously worked together with the Eagles when McDermott was the team’s defensive coordinator. “He’s tough, he’s honest and he’s fair,” McCoy told Jay Skurski of The Buffalo News. “I think he’s the right guy for the job. The guys in Buffalo, we need somebody we can believe in and we can trust.”
Bills Re-Sign Colt Anderson
The Bills have re-signed safety Colt Anderson, per a team announcement. Anderson was among the Bills’ 24 soon-to-be unrestricted free agents before agreeing to a new contract.
The 31-year-old Anderson, a former Eagle and Colt (fittingly), joined the Bills last April on a minimum salary benefit. He’ll once again be a minimum salary benefit player on his 2017 deal, according to Mike Rodak of ESPN.com (Twitter link). In his first year with the Bills, Anderson appeared in just two games before landing on injured reserve with a hand ailment in early October.
Anderson, primarily a special teamer, has totaled 79 appearances and seven starts since going undrafted out of Montana in 2009. The lion’s share of those starts (four) came in 2012, when Anderson tallied a personal-best 33 tackles and also picked up the only interception of his career as a member of the Eagles.
Lynn Thought Bills Provided "Quickest Turnaround"
- Prior to the Chargers entering the race, Anthony Lynn saw the Bills as the best opportunity for him. The newest Los Angeles HC was connected to every team in need of a coach, save for the 49ers. “To me, [Buffalo] was the best place for me to be because I knew the personnel, I knew all the people I was working with and I think that was the quickest turnaround,” Lynn said, via Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News. Although, after the Chargers became interested, Lynn said he quickly pivoted to their situation. “They have a quarterback; they have key players at every position, at skill positions, and a young, talented defense, I thought that right there was a great opportunity,” he said. “And that’s where I put all my focus, was in that job after the season was over, and thank God it came through.”
Bills Notes: Gilmore, Kouandjio
- Whether pending free agent cornerback Stephon Gilmore will return to the Bills in 2017 is “all up to them,” the five-year veteran told Conor Orr of NFL.com. “They seem like they’re going to turn it around out there but, like I said, I don’t know what’s going to happen. They got a decision to make,” said Gilmore, who has spoken on the phone with two prominent members of the Bills’ new staff in head coach Sean McDermott and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier. Gilmore’s overall performance declined in 2016, as he fell from Pro Football Focus’ ninth-ranked corner in 2015 to No. 61, but he did intercept a career-high five passes across 15 starts. While this year’s free agent class could feature other No. 1-caliber corners like A.J. Bouye and Trumaine Johnson, Gilmore is happy to measure his résumé against theirs. “I know the other guys (cornerbacks on the market). But I did it for five years at a high level. I like myself,” he declared.
- Bills offensive tackle Cyrus Kouandjio suffered an injury to his hip thanks to a fall at home and had to undergo surgery Wednesday, the team announced. The expectation is that Kouandjio will be ready for training camp. The 2014 second-round pick from Alabama appeared in 12 games and started five in Year 3 of his pro career.
Tyrod Taylor's Surgery Won't Affect Bills' Decision
- The groin surgery Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor underwent earlier this month won’t play a role in whether the team will exercise or decline his option by the March 11 deadline, general manager Doug Whaley stated Wednesday. “Let me say this, all the prognostication is saying that it’s going to be something that will never play into it,” Whaley told reporters, including Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News. If Taylor isn’t able to pass a physical by the aforementioned date, the Bills would be stuck with the $27.5MM in guarantees left on his contract. While it appeared immediately after the season that the Bills would part with Taylor in the next couple months, their offensive coordinator hiring may have changed that.
Doug Whaley Thinks Bills Can Re-Sign Several UFAs
While the Colts are set for a front-office transition, they are set to return most of their offensive coaching staff, with one exception. The Bills’ previous wide receivers coach, Sanjay Lal, will make the move to Indianapolis to work in the same capacity, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). Lal coached Buffalo’s wideouts for two seasons. Between 2009-14, he worked with the Raiders’ and Jets’ receiving corps. Lal replaces Lee Hull, whom the team dismissed.
- When Doug Whaley listed some of the Bills‘ free agents, he categorized three players (Stephon Gilmore, Robert Woods and RFA punter Colton Schmidt) as starters before pointing to the other 25 players in that grouping as performers brought in for depth purposes. “The rest of those guys, we brought in for backup depth purposes and they’ve played extremely well, and that’s a compliment to our pro personnel department,” Whaley said, via Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News. “But we feel we have confidence that we can get a lot of those guys back on extended contracts.” Mike Rodak of ESPN.com points out UFAs like Lorenzo Alexander, right tackle Jordan Mills and Zach Brown enhanced their value this season (Twitter links) and won’t likely be regarded as depth players once they hit free agency. Rodak (via Twitter) also doesn’t see Alexander, used as an outside linebacker in Rex Ryan‘s 3-4 scheme, as a fit in Doug McDermott‘s 4-3.
Bills Hire Chad Hall
- The Bills have hired Chad Hall as an offensive assistant, reports Jeff McLane of The Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter). The former Eagles wideout will join David Culley and Juan Castillo on coach Sean McDermott‘s staff.
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