In their seemingly never-ending quest to improve their defensive line, the Buffalo Bills made a pair of moves on Sunday, signing free agent Ryan Russell to a one-year deal.
In a corresponding move, the Bills released Owa Odighizuwa, who had been signed to a free agent contract earlier in the offseason and had actually received snaps with the first-team during the spring.
The Bills had expressed their interest in Russell dating back to the spring, when the team hosted him on the first of two visits to One Bills Drive.
Russell, who is listed on the team website at 6-foot-5 and 275 pounds, appeared in 14 games (seven starts) in 2017 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was on the field for 456 defensive snaps for the Buccaneers, a figure that nearly tripled his career snap count. He finished with two sacks and 17 total tackles. Russell also was on the field for 20 percent of the Buccaneers’ snaps on special teams.
Russell, 26, earned a grade of 42.6 from Pro Football Focus, finishing as the 103rd-ranked edge rusher.
After a four-year career at Purdue, where he accrued 9.5 sacks and 149 tackles (24.5 stops for a loss), Russell was drafted in the fifth round by the Dallas Cowboys with the 163rd overall selection in the 2015 NFL Draft.
His professional career has seen him amass 21 tackles with three sacks over two seasons with the Buccaneers (he never saw action with the Cowboys).
Russell will vie for playing time with Eddie Yarbrough, Shaq Lawson, and the other members of Buffalo’s defensive line.