3:11pm: After visiting the Bills, Cherilus has left without signing a deal and is on his way to visit his old team, the Lions, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter).
10:11am: The Bills are working out free agent offensive tackle Gosder Cherilus, a source tells Mike Rodak of ESPN.com. Cherilus, 31, was released by the Colts on Sunday after a disappointing run with the team.
Buffalo has a need along their offensive line following the retirement of tackle Wayne Hunter last week and the release of guard Chris Williams on Tuesday. They could really use a veteran tackle like Cherilus with 2014 second-round pick Cyrus Kouandjio and 2014 seventh-round pick Seantrel Henderson currently set to battle for the starting right tackle job.
Cherilus signed a five-year, $35MM contract with the Colts in 2013, and started 29 games for the club at right tackle over the past two seasons. However, after a solid first season in Indianapolis, he struggled last year. Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranked Cherilus 70th out of 84 qualified tackles, and he graded particularly poorly as a pass blocker. According to PFF’s data, he allowed six quarterback sacks, another 42 hits or hurries.
Because he received a sizable signing bonus when he signed his deal back in 2013, Cherilus will still count for a decent chunk of dead money against the Colts’ cap. His $6.9MM hit in 2015 will be reduced to just $2.9MM, but he’ll count for another $5.8MM against the club’s 2016 cap. All that dead money will serve as the Colts’ latest reminder of a poor class of 2013 free agents — the club has since cut LaRon Landry and Ricky Jean-Francois as well.