The Buffalo Bills have lost their first free agent of the 2012 off-season, and it only took them 22 days. Nor was it said free agent oft-injured left tackle Demetrius Bell, who now has six teams interested in his services.
Instead, it was oft-injured slot receiver Roscoe Parrish that departed, joining the San Diego Chargers on a one-year deal.
For the first half of the 2010 regular season, it looked as if the presence of head coach Chan Gailey was going to resuscitate Parrish's career. In those eight games, Parrish set a career high with 400 receiving yards on 33 receptions and added two touchdowns, playing a prominent role alongside then-rookie David Nelson in the slot. In the ensuing year and a half, however, Parrish landed on IR twice, played in just 2-of-24 games, and caught only one more pass.
Parrish, who will turn 30 this July, departs Buffalo as by far the most prolific punt returner in the history of the franchise. His 1,622 punt return yards are the most by anyone in team history by a wide margin, and his 12.0 yards-per-return average is also tops among players with at least 30 returns.
So now the Bills have signed two unrestricted free agents and lost one. It's not looking like the team will be getting any compensatory draft picks in 2013, eh?