At his Monday press conference, Rex Ryan indicated that the Bills were going to try to use the bye week to establish some fresh competition around the roster. Ronald Darby is battling with Corey White for a starting job now, and the team seems to want Seantrel Henderson to challenge Jordan Mills for supremacy at right tackle.
Safety has been a position without a clear favorite ever since Aaron Williams went to injured reserve, and that was a problem; the Bills needed someone to step up, but between Robert Blanton, Duke Williams, and Jonathan Meeks, no one has proven reliable.
Enter Buffalo’s newest free agent signing:
The #Bills are signing free agent safety James Ihedigbo today, source said.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 15, 2016
Ihedigbo was a safety with Rex Ryan’s New York Jets during the 2009 and 2010 seasons. He has started at different posts around the league in the years since, and was most recently with the Detroit Lions. In 2014, Ihedigbo made the Pro Bowl on a season with four interceptions, three forced fumbles, two sacks, and 71 combined tackles. He did lose his starting job midway through last season, and the 32-year-old has been looking for work so far this year.
The Bills have yet to announce the signing, but a tweet by Duke Williams suggests that he may have been the cut:
Thank you Buffalo for a great opportunity! I am really grateful to have been apart of such a historical franchise. #CircleTheWagons
— Duke Williams (@Duke27_) November 15, 2016
The team is hoping they can use Ihedigbo, or recent signing Sergio Brown, to inject some competency into the lackluster back end of the safety depth chart.