The Buffalo Bills have a solid secondary, one filled with excellent starters and some solid depth options. Finding room for depth players is the major challenge at this point, and as the old adage goes, you never can have too many corners on an NFL roster. In a passing league, it’s essential to have quality depth in the defensive secondary.
In the latest installment of our “90 players in 90 days” series, we look at one of those potential depth players in the defensive backfield.
Name: Lafayette Pitts
Number: 30
Position: CB
Height/Weight: 5’11,” 195 lbs.
Age: 25
Experience: 3
College: Pittsburgh
Draft: Joined the Miami Dolphins as a UDFA in 2016
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Pitts is signed at a $630,000 cap number for the 2018 season. He was an exclusive-rights free agent this offseason, so he had little choice but to sign the tender Buffalo offered him. He will be a restricted free agent in 2019.
2017 Recap: Pitts began the 2017 preseason with the Miami Dolphins. He was cut on September 2 when Miami whittled its roster down to 53. He was claimed off waivers by the Jacksonville Jaguars the following day, but he did not register any stats with the club. The Jags waived him on October 24, and he was subsequently claimed by Buffalo the following day. He made exactly one tackle (immortalized in the photograph that headed this article) during the “Snowvertime” game against the Indianapolis Colts.
Positional outlook: With Tre’Davious White a firm number one corner, and Vontae Davis a near-lock to be number two when healthy, Pitts is fighting for a depth role right off the bat. Phillip Gaines is the most likely slot corner, and rookie fourth-round selection Taron Johnson seems likely to make the roster as a dime back and/or special teams player. That means that Pitts will battle Breon Borders, Ryan Carter, and Levi Wallace for what will most likely be one extra roster spot at a maximum.
2018 Offseason: Nothing has been written about Pitts thus far, though it will be worth noting his performance in OTAs and training camp.
2018 season outlook: Pitts earns some points for his special teams play, but I think it’s unlikely that he makes the final roster. If he does, he may end up a healthy scratch on games days unless one of the four players ahead of him is injured.