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The Buffalo Bills have stocked, re-stocked, and redesigned their defensive line multiple times during general manager Brandon Beane’s tenure. With a mix of draft choices and veterans, edge rushers and run stuffers, Beane has remade the trenches in the image desired by head coach Sean McDermott and defensive coordinator/assistant head coach Leslie Frazier.
Thanks to Beane’s constant roster improvements, Buffalo has some players who were with the club in previous years who face a difficult climb to remain with the team. In today’s edition of “90 players in 90 days,” we profile one such player.
Name: Bryan Cox Jr.
Number: 51
Position: DE
Height/Weight: 6’3” 270 lbs
Age: 26 (27 on 6/25/2021)
Experience/Draft: 4; signed with Carolina Panthers as UDFA following the 2017 NFL Draft
College: Florida
Acquired: Signed as UFA on 4/29/2020
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Cox Jr. signed a reserve/futures contract with the Bills on January 26 of this year. That contract is worth $920,000 and has no guaranteed money.
2020 Recap: Cox did not make Buffalo’s final roster, but he was signed to the practice squad after clearing waivers. He was elevated to the active roster for one game, Buffalo’s pass-rush-happy Week 6 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Cox had one tackle in that contest, appearing on 23 defensive snaps and three special teams snaps.
Positional outlook: Cox appears to be buried on the hypothetical depth chart, as the Bills still have Mario Addison, Jerry Hughes, and A.J. Epenesa, and they added veteran Efe Obada through free agency before drafting Gregory Rousseau and Carlos Basham Jr. with their first two picks in the 2021 NFL Draft. Darryl Johnson Jr. and Mike Love also return.
2021 Offseason: Cox is healthy and he has attended OTAs thus far.
2021 Season outlook: Cox is definitely on the outside looking in as it relates to roster spots this season. The top six on the depth chart is almost certainly some combination of Addison, Hughes, Epenesa, Obada, Basham, and Rousseau, which leaves even a special teams mainstay from the last few years (Johnson Jr.) on the outside. Barring injury, Cox Jr. will be looking elsewhere for work come September.