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Jordan Poyer

Extension Candidate: Jordan Poyer

June 5th, 2022 at 10:02pm CST by Ely Allen

Heading into a contract year, Bills safety Jordan Poyer is set to represent a cap hit of $10.78MM on Buffalo’s books for the 2022 NFL season. This provides a rare situation in the NFL where it becomes beneficial for both parties to negotiate towards an extension. At 31-years-old, Poyer can likely find more money and a better fit in Buffalo than he could in free agency and a new contract would give the Bills an opportunity to soften Poyer’s cap hit. 

Poyer entered the league as a seventh-round pick for the Eagles in 2013. After being a healthy-scratch in Weeks 5 & 6 for Philadelphia, Poyer was waived, getting claimed off waivers by the Browns two days later. Poyer spent the next three seasons in Cleveland as a backup safety and backup punt returner. He earned four starts in 2015 when starting free safety Tashaun Gipson suffered an ankle injury. When Gipson left in free agency the next offseason, Poyer was named the Browns’ starting free safety going into the 2016 NFL season. After six starts, Poyer was hit by Antonio Andrews with an illegal blindside block while Poyer was covering a punt. Poyer was rushed to the hospital with a lacerated kidney and a possible concussion. He would miss the remainder of the season on injured reserve.

After his recovery, Poyer signed a four-year, $13MM deal with the Bills as a free agent. Bills head coach Sean McDermott named Poyer the starting strong safety alongside fellow-newcomer to Buffalo Micah Hyde, who had just signed as a free agent after four years in Green Bay. This would mark the beginning of a five-year, ongoing stretch as one of the league’s most consistent and effective safety duos.

Poyer and Hyde immediately made their presence known in Buffalo as both recorded five interceptions each in their first year as Bills. Over the last five seasons, Poyer has missed only two games while tallying 18 interceptions and 36 passes defensed. Despite outpacing Hyde for interceptions during their time in Buffalo, Poyer has also played with more versatility with time as a box safety. Poyer has forced six fumbles, recovering six, as well. He’s also added 10.0 sacks and 29.0 tackles for loss in his past five seasons, proving to be a true Swiss army knife in the Bills’ secondary.

Before his initial contract expired, Poyer signed his current two-year, $19.5MM extension, keeping him on the roster through 2022. Before the 2021 season, though, Buffalo and Poyer agreed to rework his contract, converting $5.2MM of his base salary into a signing bonus. The moved saved the Bills $2.6MM in cap space for 2021, but elevated Poyer’s 2022 cap hit from $7.7MM to his current $10.78MM number.

Being one of the older safeties in the NFL, Poyer is likely looking at a two- or three-year extension. Three years would be a very generous offer from the Bills based on knowing Poyer fits in their locker room and crediting him for having one of his best statistical seasons at 30-years-old. A two-year deal is much more likely.

Looking into value, the better safeties in the league are making anywhere from $13MM per year to $16MM per year. Taking his age and past deals into account, I imagine the Bills might offer Poyer something in the range of $12MM-$13.5MM in average annual value. My best guess would have Poyer signing a two-year, $25MM deal that gives him a good amount of guaranteed money.

The Bills have a good thing going with Poyer and Hyde manning centerfield. They haven’t been drafting to replace the duo and have no reason to until their play begins to decline. Vic Carucci of WGRZ in Buffalo thinks that training camp is the perfect time to extend their safety, saying Poyer is “far too valuable to leave him with any feelings of uncertainty about his future in Buffalo.”

Bills S Jordan Poyer Absent From OTAs

May 25th, 2022 at 8:59am CST by Adam La Rose

A number of high-profile players have made headlines in recent days as a result of their absence from OTAs. One such player who may receiver less attention, but who has played an integral role on his team in recent years, is Bills safety Jordan Poyer. 

It was reported last month that the 31-year-old had initiated talks with the team regarding a contract extension. He is still on the books for one more year, due a salary of $5.6MM. His cap number is over $10.7MM, however, as a result of a restructure from last September.

Poyer began his career with the Eagles and Browns, but it is his play in Buffalo for which he is most well-known. Alongside Micah Hyde (who, as noted by Joe Buscaglia of the Athletic, is also absent from the voluntary workouts), he has become one of the league’s top safeties. Poyer had another highly productive campaign in 2021, totalling 93 tackles and three sacks while matching his career high in interceptions with five. He was named First-Team All-Pro for the first time in his career as a result.

That is driving his current desire for a new deal which more accurately reflects his standing, statistically, amongst the league’s highest-paid safeties. Buscaglia notes that, to date, both parties “have said all the right things” regarding a potential extension – which the Bills could entertain, in an attempt to lower Poyers’ cap hit – but that he is likely to remain absent until mandatory minicamp in June. As such, Buscaglia, writes, the situation seems poised to “remain in a holding pattern” for at least the immediate future.

Bills’ Jordan Poyer Eyeing Extension

April 8th, 2022 at 8:30pm CST by Adam La Rose

Jordan Poyer has a new agent and is setting his sights on a new contract. As reported by Tim Graham of the Athletic (on Twitter), the safety and his camp have “approached” the Bills regarding an extension. 

As his new agent Drew Rosenhaus said, Poyer “would very much like to finish his career in Buffalo”. The 30-year-old has spent the past five seasons with the Bills, after three-plus campaigns in Cleveland. After mostly playing in a backup role prior to his arrival in western New York, Poyer has teamed with Micah Hyde to form arguably the league’s best safety tandem.

The 2021 season saw Poyer earn First-Team All-Pro honors for the first time in his career, after he equalled a personal best with five interceptions. In 79 total games with the Bills, the former seventh-round pick has collected 519 tackles, 10 sacks, 18 picks and 36 pass deflections. His level of play earned him a two-year, $20.5MM contract in 2020.

That deal was re-worked last September, as Buffalo looked to manufacture some in-season flexibility. As a result, his 2022 cap charge was raised to over $10.7MM. The upcoming campaign is the final one on his contract, so a new deal could help flatten that figure while upping Poyer’s ranking amongst the league’s top safeties.

The $9.75MM average of Poyer’s most recent pact drops him further down the pecking order at the position. New deals signed by the likes of Marcus Williams (averaging $14MM) have continued the rise in value of safeties. How close Poyer could come to the top of that list on a new contract may start to become clear sooner rather than later, if the Bills reciprocate his desire to open negotiations.

Bills Rework S Jordan Poyer’s Contract

September 11th, 2021 at 9:27am CST by Ben Levine

The Bills opened up some cap space today by reworking one of their veteran’s contracts. The team converted $5.2MM of safety Jordan Poyer‘s base salary into a signing bonus, according to ESPN Field Yates (via Twitter). The move will save Buffalo $2.6MM against the cap.

Thanks to the move, the organization has a bit more financial breathing room with about $4MM in cap space. Poyer’s cap hit will be reduced for the 2021 season, but it will jump from around $7.7MM to $10.3MM in 2022.

Poyer has spent the past four seasons in Buffalo, starting each of his 63 games. The former seventh-round pick signed a two-year extension with the organization in 2020, keeping him in Buffalo through at least the 2022 season.

The 30-year-old had one of his most productive NFL season in 2020. In 16 starts, the safety finished with a career-high 124 tackles to go along with two sacks, two forced fumbles, and two interceptions. Poyer also started each of Buffalo’s three playoff games, collecting another 20 stops.

Contract Details: Bridgewater, Panthers, Vaitai, Lions, Byrd, Patriots, Brees, Saints

March 18th, 2020 at 1:31pm CST by Zachary Links

The latest notes on all of the contracts being handed out around the league:

  • QB Teddy Bridgewater, Panthers: signed. Bridgewater got a three-year deal worth $63MM and a whopping $40MM of that is guaranteed in the first two years, according to David Newton of ESPN.com. He got a $15MM signing bonus to take over for the start of the Matt Rhule era. Newton’s post has the full breakdown on how it’ll be paid out with various workout and roster bonuses.
  • OT Halapoulivaati Vaitai, Lions: signed. Vaitai’s five-year, $50MM contract includes $20MM guaranteed which will come in the first two years of the deal, Adam Caplan of Sirius XM NFL Radio tweets. Detroit can get out of the pact after that.
  • WR Damiere Byrd, Patriots: signed. Byrd’s one-year deal can be worth up to $2.5MM, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network notes in a tweet.
  • QB Drew Brees, Saints: re-signed. Brees’ two-year, $50MM new deal with New Orleans includes a signing bonus of $23MM and a small base salary of only $2MM in year one, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. That structure as well as two voidable years added on for 2022-2023 help keep his 2020 cap hit very low so the Saints can spend more as they gear up for one more Super Bowl with Brees under center.
  • LB Sean Lee, Cowboys: re-signed. Lee is back for one more ride on a one-year, $4.5MM deal with $2MM guaranteed. He actually could earn up to $6.5MM if he hits some playing time incentives, according to Todd Archer of ESPN.com, although he writes they’re “not-likely-to-be-earned.”
  • S Darian Thompson, Cowboys: re-signed. Thompson is getting a two-year deal worth $2.5MM, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets. He’s getting a $200K signing bonus and can earn an extra $250K with playing time escalators.
  • WR Cody Core, Giants: re-signed. New York locked up the special teams ace who barely plays on offense, and he got paid handsomely. Core will be getting $4MM over a two-year deal, Wilson tweets. Only $1MM of it is guaranteed however.
  • S Jordan Poyer, Bills: extension. The full details are in on Poyer’s new pact. Poyer had two new years added on and will now make $22.7MM over the next three years with $13MM of that being guaranteed, Wilson tweets. He also got a $3MM signing bonus. In a separate tweet, Wilson notes that Poyer has an annual $500K interception incentive he can earn.

Bills, S Jordan Poyer Agree To Extension

March 17th, 2020 at 4:08pm CST by Sam Robinson

Jordan Poyer delivered for the Bills on a lower-middle-class (for the NFL) contract over the past three years, and the team will reward him. The Bills and the veteran safety agreed on an extension Tuesday, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets.

The new deal will pay him $20.5MM over two years, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter) hears. That’ll take him through the 2022 season, meaning that both he and safety mate Micah Hyde are each signed beyond this coming season.

Poyer, 29 in April, turned in a career-high 107 tackles last year. His stop totals have been trending up ever since he joined the Bills in 2017. All in all, he’s made 302 tackles for the Bills across the last three seasons, serving mostly as a part-timer.

In bigger news out of Buffalo, the Bills swung a blockbuster deal to acquire Stefon Diggs from the Vikings earlier this week. On the other side of the ball, they landed former Panthers defensive end Mario Addison on a three-year deal.

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 Sign S Micah Hyde

March 9th, 2017 at 3:35pm CST by Zachary Links

The Bills have signed safety Micah Hyde, according to a team announcement. Within the release, they also announced the signing of fellow safety Jordan Poyer, formerly of Cleveland. Hyde will receive $30MM over a five-year term, with the chance to earn as much as $32.5MM, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. $14MM is guaranteed.Micah Hyde

Hyde had spent his entire four-year career in Green Bay, though its interest in bringing him back for a fifth season never seemed all that high. The team may have not even made Hyde an offer. If the 26-year-old’s career with the Packers is over, it’ll end with 63 regular-season appearances out of a possible 64, 33 starts, eight interceptions, five forced fumbles and four sacks.

Hyde is coming off a 16-game, 11-start season, in which he tied a career high with three picks and ranked a decent 53rd among Pro Football Focus’ 112 qualified cornerbacks. Hyde also has experience at safety, so his track record of versatility, productivity and durability should enable him to land an appreciable raise over his $1.671MM base salary from 2016.

Hyde was among my Top 50 Free Agents, a list built on projected earning power.

Browns G Joel Bitonio Done For Season

October 18th, 2016 at 10:40am CST by Zachary Links

Browns guard Joel Bitonio had surgery on Monday to repair the Lisfrance injury in his right foot, ESPN.com’s Pat McManamon tweets. The surgery rules Bitonio out for the 2016 season but he should be able to take part in all of the team’s offseason work prior to the 2017 season. Joel Bitonio (vertical)

Bitonio was placed formally placed on IR last week. A late-season return was on the table thanks to the new IR rules, but it’s not possible now after the offensive lineman went under the knife. Of course, when your team is winless through six games, there’s not much incentive to rush back and risk further injury.

In other Browns news, safety Jordan Poyer has been placed on IR, per a team announcement. Taking his place will be fellow safety Ed Reynolds who was promoted from the practice squad. Poyer suffered a lacerated kidney against the Titans on Sunday and had to be transported to a hospital before halftime. Through six games, Poyer recorded 37 tackles, matching his career high set in 2015.

Browns’ Jordan Poyer Suffers Lacerated Kidney

October 16th, 2016 at 9:55pm CST by Sam Robinson

A full-time starter for the first time in his career, Jordan Poyer may not return to the Browns’ lineup for a while after suffering a lacerated kidney against the Titans.

The 25-year-old safety was transported to a Nashville, Tenn.-area hospital before halftime, Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal reports, and he will remain there overnight for observation. The Browns announced Poyer as being in stable condition. Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports the team believes this is a serious laceration and expects Poyer to miss the rest of the season.

A collision with Titans fullback Antonio Andrews on special teams caused the injury and induced the Browns to evaluate the fourth-year free safety for a concussion. The team has yet to announce whether Poyer sustained one, however, according to Ulrich. Rookie UDFA Tracy Howard filled in for Poyer after he left the game.

Multiple high-profile wide receivers — Keenan Allen and Miles Austin — suffered kidney lacerations in the past two seasons, Austin in 2014 and Allen last season. Neither played again that year. Allen missed eight Chargers games, and Austin was sidelined for four Browns contests.

Poyer has 37 tackles this season to match his career high set last season.

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