The Buffalo Bills announced on Wednesday the signings of free agent wide receiver Rod Streater and tight end Wes Saxton. To make room on the 90-man roster for those players, they released two names: quarterback Josh Woodrum, and former second-round pick Cyrus Kouandjio.
The 6’3” 218 pound Streater has been in the NFL since 2012, when he was signed as an undrafted free agent. His rookie season saw him collecting 39 catches for 584 yards and three touchdowns. In 2013, he had his most productive season, with 60 receptions, 888 yards, and four touchdowns for the Oakland Raiders. His playing time took a nosedive after that year, and he only collected 28 receptions over the next three seasons combined.
Standing 6’4” 235 pounds, Saxton was an undrafted free agent in 2015 out of the University of South Alabama. A productive player in college, Saxton has spent his first two NFL seasons working on the practice squad. Athletically, Saxton fits the mold of an H-back like Garrett Graham, a style familiar to Bills offensive coordinator Rick Dennison.
The major name to depart from Buffalo is Kouandjio. A left tackle at Alabama, Kouandjio’s size and strength impressed scouts, and he was considered one of the best tackles in the 2014 NFL Draft. A pre-draft medical survey revealed an arthritic condition in his knees, creating concerns about his career longevity, but the Bills saw fit to make him their second round selection.
Kouandjio struggled out of the gate, with an awful rookie training camp. He didn’t adjust well to the right side of the offensive line (with Cordy Glenn already locked into left tackle), and eventually saw the starting role claimed by seventh-round pick Seantrel Henderson instead. He only appeared in a single game as a rookie. In 2015 and 2016, Kouandjio played on the active roster for 24 games, but only started seven of those, and only at left tackle. The Bills appeared to take great efforts not to play Kouandjio at any other position, using free agents like Michael Ola to substitute instead. This, despite Kouandjio’s relatively solid play on the left side in fill-in work during the 2016 season. It didn’t help that Kouandjio battled injuries, including an ankle injury in 2016 and a hip injury following that season.
In the 2017 offseason, Kouandjio was involved in a bizarre incident that saw him delivered to a medical facility after an apparent mental breakdown. The Bills also drafted offensive lineman Dion Dawkins in the second round, effectively adding Kouandjio’s replacement.
Still only 23, Kouandjio should still find his way onto an NFL roster, assuming his injuries haven’t debilitated him too much.
Woodrum was an undrafted free agent from the 2016 NFL Draft. The 6’3” 231 pounder had an NFL-caliber arm and exited Liberty University with several passing records, but he hasn’t distinguished himself in NFL practices, and was ultimately squeezed out by the glut of depth on Buffalo’s roster.