Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Who are locks to make the #Bills’ 53-man roster on defense?
The Buffalo Bills are gearing up for the start of 2023 training camp. Players are going to be fighting for both playing time and roster spots.
But if we’re being honest, some of those positions on the team are already sorted out.
Here is every player on the Bills roster that is already a roster lock to make the team on defense:
List of #Bills players heading into final year of their contract in 2023 (via @TejasVemparala):
The 2023 NFL season has a sense of continued hope and optimism attached to the Buffalo Bills, much like the last couple of years. Could they go all the way? What happens if they don’t?
The desire will continue in Buffalo, but some players could be playing their final year at Highmark Stadium once the season gets rolling.
This leads to a list of players that the team needs to consider signing extensions with based on how the season ends.
Here’s all Bills players heading into the final year of their contract in 2023 (figures via Over The Cap):
#Bills training camp: 5 burning questions for Buffalo’s defense (via @jdiloro):
The Buffalo Bills are gearing up for training camp in approximately three weeks. Buffalo returns to St. John Fisher in preparation for the 2023 season.
The Bills made several changes to the roster, adding intrigue to who will make the Week 1 sideline.
The first installment of this mini-series explore questions facing Buffalo’s offense during training camp.
Here are five questions for Buffalo’s defense ahead of this summer’s camp:
Ranking the 5 most important free agent additions for the #Bills:
Here’s a ranking of the most important free agent additions made by the Buffalo Bills during the 2023 offseason:
The Bills have now added their 5th player from the Rams’ Super Bowl team, with Leonard Floyd being the latest
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The Buffalo Bills are signing veteran edge rusher Leonard Floyd to a one-year deal in hopes of bolstering their pass-rushing unit. It continues the Bills’ trend of signing former Rams players, with Floyd being the fifth to land in Buffalo in the last two years.
Besides Floyd, the Bills also added David Edwards and Taylor Rapp in free agency this offseason. Aaron Kromer, the Rams’ former offensive line coach, is now the Bills’ offensive line coach, so it’s not a surprise to see him lure Edwards to Buffalo. Linebacker Travin Howard, who helped send the Rams to Super Bowl LVI with a game-sealing interception against the 49ers, also signed with the Bills this offseason.
Going back to last year, the Bills signed All-Pro pass rusher Von Miller to a six-year, $120 million contract ahead of the 2022 season. Miller was traded to the Rams during the 2021 campaign and helped Los Angeles secure its first Super Bowl victory since the 1999 season.
In the grand scheme of things, the Bills could simply just be looking to add players who they believe fit their schemes on both sides of the ball. But in recent years, the Bills have seemingly taken a liking to rostering players who previously suited up for the Rams after the recent addition of Floyd.
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Ahead of the NFL draft, knowing who is entering the final year of their contract is important. Here’s who on the #Bills will be a free agent in 2024:
The 2023 NFL draft is right around the corner. The Buffalo Bills will add new players in positions of need throughout the event.
But the Bills will be looking well beyond just next season. All needs aren’t considered immediate and we’ve seen this before from the Bills.
At last year’s draft, Buffalo selected Georgia running back James Cook with a second-round pick. As talented as Cook is in his own right, Devin Singletary played a part.
The Bills knew Singletary was entering the final year of his contract and understood it might be difficult to re-sign him… and now he’s a member of the Houston Texans.
In terms of the upcoming draft, there are other players currently on the Bills that could fall into the same realm.
Here’s the full list of the team’s 31 upcoming free agents after next season:
New uniform number alert:
We have another new number alert.
Safety Taylor Rapp, who signed a one-year deal in free agency, will wear the No. 20 as a member of the Buffalo Bills in 2023. This is reflected on the team’s roster page on their website.
Last year that number was taken previously by someone who is now Rapp’s teammate, so we have some dots to connect.
Running back Nyheim Hines took the 20 uniform with the Bills upon being traded to Buffalo in 2022. Ahead of next year, he’s decided to change his number.
Hines wanted to be the first player in Bills history to wear the number zero, which was approved to use during a rule change this offseason.
From there, Rapp took No. 20, but it’s a new one for him.
While a member of the Los Angeles Rams, Rapp wore No. 24. He lands on 20 because 24 is taken by cornerback Kaiir Elam.
Rapp’s number history is a bit all over the place, though. At the University of Washington, he wore both the No. 21 and 7.
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All the PFF grades for the #Bills’ free agent signings (via @jdiloro):
The Buffalo Bills were selective in free agency this year, as the club had limited salary cap space to bring in free agents.
While the organization did not make a big splash in the free agent market, Buffalo did find a few valuable pieces to pad the depth on the roster.
The Bills free agent signings earned a wide variety of grades from Pro Football Focus. PFF’s grades indicate that the Bills definitely scrounged for some value and second-tier players on the free agent market.
Here are the Bills free agents ranked by their 2022 Pro Football Focus grades, ranked from lowest to highest.
The new #Bills safety had this cool message sent his way back in the day:
Once upon a time, new Buffalo Bills safety Taylor Rapp had a pretty cool message sent to him from a notable former NFL player.
Rapp, who signed a one-year deal in Buffalo, comes from an Asian-American background. It’s a group not heavily represented in the NFL.
Because of that, prior to the 2019 NFL draft when the Los Angeles Rams selected him in the second round, he had a video sent to him as part of a league promo.Former Pittsburgh Steelers receiver and Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward sent a message of encouragement.
The clip surrounds Ward, who is also Asian-American, giving Rapp words of encouragement. Since being in the NFL, Rapp has long noted how proud he is of his background, so the video sent by Ward probably meant a ton to him.
That throwback clip from the 2019 draft can be found below.
"Turn that hate into wins."@mvp86hinesward delivers an inspiring message to fellow Asian-American football player and draft prospect Taylor Rapp. #NFLDraft @trapp07 pic.twitter.com/C31cJYQM1L
— NFL (@NFL) April 23, 2019
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#Bills’ Taylor Rapp on finding the ‘right fit’ in Buffalo:
The 2023 NFL Draft is set to feature a deep class at the defensive backs position group, deep enough to have kept the free agent market for players at that position modest.
The Buffalo Bills, who were pursuing the return of safety Jordan Poyer, were also preparing for life without him in the event that he was to sign with another team.
Poyer re-upped on a two-year deal to remain in Buffalo alongside fellow safety Micah Hyde, but one candidate who the Bills were pursuing will be joining them.
The team also inked safety Taylor Rapp, who was a Super Bowl champion on the same Rams defense as Von Miller.
Rapp joins Buffalo on a one-year deal, though the way he speaks about the organization it sounds like he might be thinking beyond that.
“Definitely a lot of patience required throughout the whole process,” Rapp said during a media conference. “Everyone’s free-agent process is a little different and unique. But, ultimately, I ended up in the right situation and the right opportunity and best fit for myself, my family, and my future.”
Free agency can be a varied experience for players based on when they hit the market, both in terms of the year, other talent available, and the draft pool at their position. Finding the right fit is important on both sides, for both team and the player.
“I think everyone in the free agency process is trying to find the right fit and right opportunity,” Rapp said about his new team. “This is a very special team, very special defense, very special back end, back seven, especially the guys that I will be joining in the room in Micah (Hyde) and Jordan (Poyer). They are obviously two great players, two former All-Pros, and have had great careers. So, just a great opportunity to come in there and contribute in any way I can, just pick them apart and learn and soak up as much about the game as I can from those guys.”
That Rapp, who was previously a starter, views his role behind Poyer and Hyde as a learning opportunity makes his mindset highly compatible with the Bills front-office approach of developing players behind veterans.
48 of his 57 games played over his four years in the NFL were as a starter, logging 330 total tackles with nine interceptions to go with 18 passes defended. Still, he is ready to embrace his role in Buffalo.
“Just finding opportunities where I can fit in and contribute, whether that’s coming in on passing downs or building in different packages and stuff like that,” he added. “Just any way I can help the team, even on special teams. At the end of the day, ultimately, I just want to win and help this team out, help this organization bring home a championship.”
The Bills secondary has been known for their ability to turn the ball over under head coach Sean McDermott, and adding Rapp to join players like Poyer, and a healthy Hyde, could mean continuing to do just that.
“I take pride in being able to turn the ball over and obviously the guys here, this defense is really known for takeaways as well,” Rapp continued. “The two guys in the room who I’ll be learning from and kind of soaking up as much about the game as I can from in Micah and Jordan, those guys are notorious for their takeaways and turning the ball over. They’re just ball hawks, and I’m excited to be part of it.”
The former second-round pick is also eager to learn from a former safety in his new head coach Sean McDermott.
“He’s a very defensive-minded coach, and he has a long history of coaching great safeties at the position,” Rapp said. “And obviously, like I touched on with Jordan and Micah, those are two of the best safeties in the game, in my opinion. I respect their game tremendously.”
He’s also ready to embrace the guidance of new Bills safeties coach Joe Danna, who contacted him during free agency, as well.
“I’m looking forward to building on that and developing from year four to year five, obviously in the future as well,” Rapp shared. “This defensive staff, the whole entire staff are such great people, they love ball…I think this defensive staff can develop me tremendously so looking forward to seeing the development.”
As for what the Bills are getting in the young safety, his former head coach had quite a bit to say about it.
“Toughness, great understanding of the game, great versatility,” Rams coach Sean McVay said during the NFL’s annual meeting last week. “He can really play on all three levels of your defense. You can kind of put him on the line of scrimmage, you can put him on the second level and you can play him as a safety in the deep part of the field.”
Speaking of his former squad, Rapp is also excited to be reunited with OLB Von Miller.
“He hit me up right away as I agreed to terms on the deal,” Rapp said. “So we spent some time in LA together when we won the Super Bowl in 2021. Von’s an awesome guy, and I’m excited to be on board with him.”
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