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Buffalo Bills News & Rumors

CB Notes: Bills, Bradberry, Giants, Gardner, Texans, Jets, Jaguars, Browns, Ward

April 20th, 2022 at 6:00pm CST by Sam Robinson

Losing Levi Wallace in free agency, the Bills have a cornerback need a week away from the draft. The two-time defending AFC East champions will be linked to corners early, but they are still looking into the veteran market. Brandon Beane confirmed the team has spoken with free agent corners, via The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia (on Twitter). While Stephon Gilmore is now off the board, several other accomplished vets remain available. The player Gilmore is set to replace in Indianapolis, Xavier Rhodes, is a free agent. So is Joe Haden, whom the Steelers appear to have replaced with Wallace. Buffalo has Taron Johnson as its slot cornerback, so boundary players would seemingly be the focus on the veteran front. Jackrabbit Jenkins‘ Titans contract expired, and Trae Waynes and Kyle Fuller loom as potential bounce-back candidates. Richard Sherman is set to turn 34 this year, but he has a career’s worth of high-end zone production.

Here is the latest from the cornerback scene:

  • Lovie Smith indicated his team needs cornerback help, and it might even come at No. 3 overall. Several teams believe Ahmad Gardner could be the Texans‘ choice at 3, The Athletic’s Dane Brugler tweets. Houston has also done extensive work on LSU’s Derek Stingley. Given where they are in the rebuilding process, the Texans make sense as a true best-player-available team. That would seemingly point to a tackle choice — be it Evan Neal or Ikem Ekwonu — but corner buzz has followed this team for a bit now.
  • Stingley played just 10 games between the 2020 and ’21 seasons, seeing injuries slow his momentum after a dominant freshman season. But the LSU product is creeping into the top-10 picture, with ESPN.com’s Matt Miller noting Stingley and Gardner are looking likely to each be top-10 selections (Twitter link). The 6-foot defender, per one evaluator who spoke to NBC Sports’ Peter King, has “the best feet of any corner I’ve ever seen.” Mel Kiper Jr.’s most recent ESPN.com mock draft has Gardner going fourth to the Jets and Stingley going 12th to the Vikings. The Jaguars and Jets hosted Stingley on visits this week, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
  • The Washington Huskies could see two corners go in the first round. With Trent McDuffie positioning himself as the draft’s third-best corner, Miller adds a few teams do not expect Kyler Gordon to reach Day 2 of the draft (Twitter link). ESPN ranks Gordon 31st overall, though Todd McShay has him going 42nd in he and Kiper’s latest mock. The 5-foot-11 defender played four seasons at Washington, but only two (2019 and ’21) involved more than three games.
  • New Giants GM Joe Schoen said a scenario exists where the Giants retain James Bradberry, via SNY’s Ralph Vacchiano (on Twitter). Entering the final year of his contract, Bradberry has long expected to be dealt. The Giants have discussed their No. 1 corner with teams, and while they have said an extension for the Dave Gettleman-era signee is possible, Bradberry’s $21.9MM cap number sits second on Big Blue’s payroll. The Giants ($6MM-plus in cap space) would save more than $11MM by designating Bradberry as a post-June 1 cut, if no team offers a draft pick to take on the veteran cover man’s $13.4MM base salary.
  • Denzel Ward‘s five-year, $100.5MM Browns extension includes $44.5MM fully guaranteed, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes. That figure also leads all corners. In addition to his signing bonus, the Browns fully guaranteed Ward’s 2022 and ’23 base salaries ($1MM, $4MM, respectively). Ward’s 2024 base ($15.3MM) shifts from an injury guarantee to a full guarantee on Day 3 of the 2023 league year. That same structure is present for 2025, with that base salary ($13.5MM) already being guaranteed for injury. It becomes fully guaranteed on Day 3 of the 2024 league year.

Eagles, 3 Other Playoff Teams Made Run At Gilmore

April 16th, 2022 at 7:01pm CST by Ely Allen

After discussing deals and meeting with several teams that made the playoffs in the 2021 NFL season, cornerback Stephon Gilmore ended up signing with a team that just missed the playoffs in Week 18 last season joining the Colts. Well, according to Josina Anderson of CBS Sports, the teams that pushed the hardest for the two-time All-Pro were playoff teams from last season: the Eagles, Raiders, Rams, and Bills. 

Philadelphia “made a hard play” for the ten-year veteran in their efforts to replace departing starter Steven Nelson. Nelson started alongside Darius Slay in the Eagles’ secondary last season before signing with Houston this offseason. Without Nelson, the Eagles will likely count on Avonte Maddox to take another step in his development after being a strong rotational player for the past four seasons. They may turn to the 2022 NFL Draft to address the position, but, currently sitting at 15th, they would likely miss out on the Draft’s two most exciting cornerback prospects: Cincinnati’s Ahmad Gardner and LSU’s Derek Stingley. Those two are even less likely to fall to Philadelphia with Baltimore sitting one spot in front of them wanting to add some depth to the position after spending most of last year without starters Marcus Peters and Marlon Humphrey.

Las Vegas had an impressive showing from their cornerback group last year despite losing Damon Arnette due to multiple lawsuits and behavioral issues and only seeing Trayvon Mullen play five games. The Raiders saw Casey Hayward, Nate Hobbs, and Brandon Facyson step up and contribute to a strong defense. With Hayward going to Atlanta and Facyson joining Gilmore in Indianapolis, the Raiders made addressing the cornerback position a priority. Luckily, despite missing out on Gilmore, the Raiders made strong additions acquiring Rock Ya-Sin from the Colts in exchange for Yannick Ngakoue and signing Anthony Averett, who started much of last year for the Ravens with Peters and Humphrey injured. Ya-Sin and Averett will join a hopefully full-health Mullen and Hobbs to round out a solid cornerback room.

The Rams pursued Gilmore in an attempt to replace departing starter Darious Williams after he signed with the Jaguars this offseason. Los Angeles returns star Jalen Ramsey and role players David Long and Dont’e Deayon, but they likely would’ve preferred to add another bona fide starter opposite Gilmore. Unlike the Eagles, the Rams probably won’t turn to the Draft to fill this role. They’ve made an example in the league trading draft capital for experienced veterans and won a Super Bowl doing so. Not only is it more on brand for them to seek a replacement through the trade and free agent markets, but, even if they wanted to use the Draft, they don’t have a selection in the Draft until the 104th pick.

The Bills would’ve liked to bring Gilmore back home to Buffalo after losing starter Levi Wallace to free agency. Buffalo brings back plenty of contributors from last year in Tre’Davious White, Taron Johnson, Dane Jackson, and Siran Neal, but bringing back Gilmore would’ve allowed them to slip him into the void left by Wallace without asking too much of Jackson or Neal to step up. The Bills could try to slot in another veteran free agent cornerback like Joe Haden, Kyle Fuller, or Chris Harris, or, with a later first-round pick, they could try to take a flyer on one of the Draft’s less elite corners like Washington’s Trent McDuffie or Florida’s Kaiir Elam.

The targeting of Gilmore by these playoff teams speaks to his current value in the NFL. It shows something that teams contending to win it all believe he can add value to their defense. There’s also something to be said that these teams usually have a nearly complete roster, seeking Gilmore to fill in one of their last positions of need. While Gilmore may not be able to anchor a defense by himself on a fledgling defense, he can make strong contributions when surrounded by talented teammates. In Indianapolis, he’ll team up with Kenny Moore and Facyson to lead an otherwise inexperienced group of corners.

Bills Bring Back T Bobby Hart

April 11th, 2022 at 3:23pm CST by Sam Robinson

After bouncing on and off the Bills’ 53-man roster last season, Bobby Hart is back in Buffalo for another go-round. The Bills re-signed the veteran tackle Monday.

Agreeing to a one-year deal, Hart will attempt to make Buffalo’s roster and play an eighth NFL season. Hart’s run as a starter came to an end last season, one the former seventh-round pick spent with three teams.

The Bills signed Hart in March 2021 but cut him just before the season. The ex-Giants draftee made his way to the Dolphins as a practice squad player before rejoining the Bills early in the season. Injuries on the Titans’ offensive line led Hart to Tennessee, where he started a game and played in two more. The Bills then signed Hart back in November, making the reverse transaction by adding him off the Titans’ taxi squad, and kept him for the rest of the season.

Hart’s first six seasons were a bit smoother, minus his late-season Giants release in 2017. The Florida State product spent the first three years of his career with the Giants and the next three with the Bengals, starting 67 games. That is a rather high number for a 27-year-old blocker expected to be a backup. The Bills have Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown at tackle, with guard/tackle Cody Ford on the roster as well. Hart stands to compete for a swing job this year.

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 Meet With CB Andrew Booth

April 6th, 2022 at 5:08pm CST by Sam Robinson
  • Andrew Booth may miss his NFL team’s offseason workouts due to hernia surgery, but that should not deter teams from considering the Clemson cornerback in Round 1. Booth has met with the Bills (No. 25) and Eagles, with Rapoport adding Patriots (No. 21) and Saints (Nos. 16 and 19) meetings are also on Booth’s docket.

Bills Extend Stefon Diggs

April 6th, 2022 at 8:09am CST by Zachary Links

Stefon Diggs is staying put. On Wednesday morning, the Bills wide receiver agreed to a brand new four-year, $96MM deal that could be worth more through incentives (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). 

[RELATED: Bills Re-Sign McKenzie]

Diggs was previously on the five-year, $72MM deal he signed with the Vikings in 2018. That deal gave him an average annual value of $14.4MM per season. Since then, however, the market has advanced quite a bit and Diggs has stepped his game up. Since arriving in Buffalo in 2020, Diggs has notched 230 receptions for 2,760 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Since Diggs still has two years to go on his old contract, this new deal will keep him in Western New York through 2027. While he’s slotted 21st among all NFL players in AAV right now, the new money average vaults him much higher, in the same space as Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill. From GM Brandon Beane‘s perspective, it’s a worthwhile investment.

“He’s all in on winning and, sure, everybody wants to be paid but he wants to be on a winning team,” Beane said. “I think he’s been the best version of himself. So I don’t see that being an issue.”

Diggs, 28, has notched four straight 1,000-yard seasons, including 2020 when he finished with 127 grabs for 1,535 yards and eight touchdowns. Last year, he kept up the good work with 103 catches for 1,225 yards and ten TDs.

As an added bonus for the Bills, the new deal will lower Diggs’ 2022 cap number by over $6MM, as Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.

Frank Gore To Retire

April 3rd, 2022 at 7:37am CST by Rory Parks

Ageless running back Frank Gore has decided to call it a career. In an interview on TheSFNiners podcast (video link), Gore said that, within the next several months, he will sign a one-day contract with the 49ers and officially announce his retirement.

San Francisco selected Gore in the third round of the 2005 draft, and though he appeared in 14 games in his rookie campaign, he started just one, operating as part of an RB tandem with Kevan Barlow. Prior to the 2006 season, the Niners traded Barlow to the Jets, thereby clearing the way for Gore to take over as a full-time starter, a role he held for nine seasons in the Bay Area.

During that time, the Miami product established himself as one of the best, and most consistent, backs in the league. He racked up all five of his Pro Bowl nominations, and he averaged over 1,160 yards per season on a robust 4.5 yards-per-carry average. That stretch included eight seasons of 1,000+ yards, and the only year in which he did not hit that benchmark was 2010, when he appeared in just 11 games due to a hip injury.

Gore, who will turn 39 in May, was also an effective receiver out of the backfield, particularly in the early days of his career. From 2006-10, he averaged 51 catches and just over 430 receiving yards per season, which, when added to his rushing output, made him a true dual threat. The 2006 season was especially productive, as he generated 2,180 all-purpose yards and nine total TDs. Though he was never a prolific touchdown producer — just one season of 10 or more combined rushing and receiving scores — he did find paydirt an even 100 times in his regular season career (81 on the ground, 18 through the air, and one fumble recovery).

After Gore’s tremendous run with the 49ers — he is now the franchise’s all-team leading rusher by a wide margin — he began the second chapter of his career by signing a three-year, $12MM deal with the Colts in March 2015. He was still productive during his three years in Indianapolis, as he did not miss a game and averaged nearly 1,000 rushing yards per season to go along with 263 rushing yards per year, but he did not post a YPC rate above 3.9.

Gore ended his career with a tour of the AFC East, hooking on with the Dolphins in 2018, the Bills in 2019, and the Jets in 2020. The 2018 season in Miami was a bit of a throwback, as he played in 14 games (all starts) and rushed for 722 yards on 156 totes, good for a 4.6 YPC average.

Despite all of his individual successes, Gore was not fortunate enough to play for many championship contenders. In 16 NFL seasons, he suited up for just four playoff outfits (the 49ers from 2011-13 and the Bills in 2019). He did get to participate in Super Bowl XLVII with San Francisco at the end of the 2012 season, but the Niners came out on the losing end of that contest. Gore at least held up his end of the bargain, rushing for 319 yards and four TDs on 63 carries in the team’s three-game postseason run.

In all, Gore rushed for exactly 16,000 yards in the regular season, which gives him a beautifully round 1,000 yards/season average and positions him behind only Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton on the all-time list. He supported that total with a 4.3 YPC mark, thereby demonstrating that his production was not driven just by his remarkable longevity.

Per Spotrac, Gore earned over $63MM in his playing career, and he indicated on the podcast that he hopes to move into a front office role. He said, “I told [49ers CEO] Jed York that I always wanted to be a Niner, so we’re working on [the one-day contract] right now, and then we’re going to also sit down with me and my agent to talk about me working in the front office. I love looking at talent, and I love evaluating talent, and I love ball.”

We here at PFR congratulate Gore on a terrific career — which may ultimately end with a Hall of Fame bust in Canton — and wish him all the best in his front office endeavors.

Vikings To Re-Sign Patrick Peterson

March 30th, 2022 at 5:14pm CST by Sam Robinson

Although the Vikings have changed GMs and coaching staffs, Patrick Peterson will return for a second season in Minnesota.

The All-Decade cornerback said during an appearance on the All Things Covered podcast (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero) he is re-signing with the Vikings on a one-year deal. The deal is worth $4MM, including $3.5MM in guaranteed money, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo on Twitter). This will be Peterson’s 12th NFL season.

Minnesota gave the former Arizona star corner a one-year, $8MM deal in 2021. New GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah praised the Mike Zimmer-era signing recently, and the eight-time Pro Bowler will aim to make an impact in new DC Ed Donatell‘s system. Peterson, who will turn 32 this summer, played 13 games with the Vikings last season. A few other teams — the Bills, Bears, Colts and Commanders — also expressed interest, Peterson said (via the St. Paul Pioneer Press’ Chris Tomasson; Twitter links).

After regressing toward the end of his Cardinals tenure, which featured a 2019 PED suspension, the former top-five pick performed better in his first Vikes campaign. Peterson allowed a 67% completion rate as the nearest defender in coverage in 2020; he dropped that number to 56% last season. Peterson’s passer rating-against figure also dropped considerably (98.2 to 78.7) in that span. While the 6-foot-1 cover man is not the player he was at his peak, he remains a capable starter.

The Vikings waived Bashaud Breeland late last season; he ended the season with the Cards. Former Minnesota first-round corner Jeff Gladney is also with Arizona, having signed with the NFC West squad this offseason. Minnesota returns Cameron Dantzler, who started seven games last year, and signed slot defender Chandon Sullivan from Green Bay. The Vikings also added potential depth pieces in Nate Hairston and Tye Smith this week. Even with Peterson’s return, the Vikings still have a need at the position. Peterson expects the team to further address cornerback in the draft (Twitter link via Tomasson).

Bills Re-Sign OL Ike Boettger

March 28th, 2022 at 6:09pm CST by Ben Levine

The Bills are bringing back one of their offensive line starters. The team announced that they have re-signed guard Ike Boettger. It’s a one-year deal for the 27-year-old.

Boettger went undrafted out of Iowa in 2018, and after bouncing on and off the Bills and Chiefs rosters to start his career, he landed back with Buffalo and never looked back. He appeared in only six games through his first two seasons in the NFL, but he ended up getting in 12 games (seven starts) during the 2020 campaign.

He got into 15 games during the 2021 campaign, including 10 starts at left guard. He suffered an Achilles injury during Week 16 that knocked him out for the rest of the regular season and postseason. Fortunately, GM Brandon Beane indicated today that the offensive lineman is recovering nicely.

“Ike had a tough injury with the Achilles last year and is rehabbing that. He got a good exam on his physical,” said Beane (via the team’s website). “He’ll still have to rehab that and we’ll see where he’s at when training camp starts.”

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