The Buffalo Bills, fresh off signing Frank Gore to the roster, are releasing running back Chris Ivory. That news came from ESPN insider Adam Schefter on Tuesday afternoon.
When McDermott spoke to reporters Tuesday morning as part of the annual league meetings, he mentioned Gore and LeSean McCoy in describing his excitement about the running back corps, but Ivory was conspicuously absent from that statement. Now, we may have an explanation. The 31-year-old Ivory played the 2018 season with the Bills, a 115 carry 385 yard year with a single rushing touchdown.
It was always a long shot to expect Ivory to claim reps between the 35-year-old Gore and 30-year-old McCoy, and his contract made him expendable. The move to release Ivory saves the team $2.16 million against their salary cap, more than offsetting the one year, $2 million deal Gore signed earlier in the offseason. In addition to McCoy and Gore, the team also has 28-year-old Marcus Murphy, 24-year-old Keith Ford, and 29-year-old fullback Patrick DiMarco on the roster.