The Bills signed Mike Edwards to a one-year, $2.8MM contract this offseason, but he has appeared in just three of the team’s eight games so far this season.
Edwards has played just 20 total snaps – seven on defense and 13 on special teams – with Bills defensive coordinator Bobby Babich preferring Taylor Rapp and Damar Hamlin to start at safety with Cam Lewis and Cole Bishop providing rotational depth.
As a result, Edwards is available on the trade block, according to ESPN’s Dan Fowler, with interest from the veteran safety in finding a new home and more consistent playing time this year. Four of Edward’s five absences this year have been healthy scratches with an illness holding him out of the Bills’ Week 7 matchup.
Edwards has just under $1MM remaining in salary and per game roster bonuses and will likely only cost a late Day 3 pick on the trade market, making him an affordable acquisition for a team looking for secondary help.
The Bills, however, could use improved play from their safeties, according to The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia. Rapp and Hamlin has sufficed as a starting duo, but Bishop and Lewis have registered Pro Football Focus grades of 50.3 and 45.5, respectively (subscription required).
If Buffalo elects to deal Edwards to another team, they may re-sign Micah Hyde, who hit free agency this past spring and declared that he would either retire or return to his longtime team. The Bills have left the door open to a reunion with Hyde, per Buscaglia, and his experience next to Rapp in 2023 would allow him to easily slide back into the defense.
*shrug*