Bills sign nearly 10 free agents to Reserve/Futures deals
The Buffalo Bills' 2023 season is officially over, which obviously means it's time to start building for 2024.The Bills took one of the first steps in doing so on Monday when it signed nine free agents to Reserve/Futures deals, per NFL Communications. Below is the list of players that were given new deals: DB Kyron […]
The Buffalo Bills' 2023 season is officially over, which obviously means it's time to start building for 2024.
The Bills took one of the first steps in doing so on Monday when it signed nine free agents to Reserve/Futures deals, per NFL Communications. Below is the list of players that were given new deals:
- DB Kyron Brown, Akron
- DE Kameron Cline, South Dakota
- T Richard Gouraige, Florida
- DB Ja'Marcus Ingram, Buffalo
- WR Andy Isabella, Massachusetts
- G Kevin Jarvis, Michigan State
- TE Tre' McKitty, Georiga
- WR Tyrell Shavers, San Diego State
- WR Bryan Thompson, Arizona State
Reserve/Futures deals are for practice squad players that finished the year with the team on said squad. Players are not obligated to sign with the team they ended the season with, therefore, they can find new homes pretty quickly. These guys will not count toward the salary cap until the start of the new league year, which is March 13, and they are not free to negotiate with teams. Teams can sign as many players to these contracts, as long as it doesn't put them over the 90-man roster limit.
The biggest name on the above list probably goes to Isabella, a former UMass standout and second-pick of the Arizona Cardinals. He hasn't gotten anywhere close to matching his college production, however. He has just 33 career receptions for 447 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns since getting drafted with the 62nd overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. His season-high is 21 receptions for 221-yards and two touchdowns in 2021 and played more special teams snaps (21) than offensive snaps (2) in 2023.
It's no surprise to see DB as the second-heaviest position on this list, especially when considering all the injuries that hit the secondary in 2023. Both Brown and Ingram have playing experience – it's just a very, very small sample size. It'll be interesting to see if they can make some noise during the offseason.
