According to Ian Rapoport, the Buffalo Bills released Leodis McKelvin today.
McKelvin was due to count $4.9 million against the cap this season for the Buffalo Bills. Releasing him frees up $3.9 million in cap space due to $1 million of dead money this transaction created according to overthecap.com.
The #Bills are releasing CB Leodis McKelvin, source said. No restructure. Will be an interesting free agent.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 4, 2016
It was recently reported by Sal Cappacio of WGR 550 that the Bills were looking to restructure McKelvin’s deal to help Buffalo improve their salary cap situation this offseason. It appears they were unable to work something out and he will now be a free agent. The Bills are estimated to have $13.1 million in cap space at the moment according to Spotrac.com. This does not include Corey Graham’s restructured contract because details have not been reported yet.
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This move was unexpected because McKelvin had previously indicated to Tyler Dunne of the Buffalo News that he would be willing to restructure his deal and take less money to stay in Buffalo. McKelvin said “To me, my personality and how I feel I don’t want to be that guy. I don’t want to be that guy who leaves. I want to be that guy who stays here.” When pressed further on whether he would take a pay cut he said “I have a lot of money in the bank.”
Leodis McKelvin was drafted 11th overall by the Bills in the 2008 draft. He played cornerback in his first seven seasons with the team. He suffered a fractured ankle in a game against Miami during the 2014 season. He was originally expected to be healthy by the start of the 2015 regular season but he had a setback in August which prevented that from happening.
He was finally able to return to the active roster in early November of this past year. Unfortunately for McKelvin, at that point, the Bills second round draft pick from 2015, Ronald Darby, was filling in for him as the team’s number two cornerback. Darby played so well that Leodis lost his starting cornerback job with the team. The Bills moved McKelvin over to safety where they lacked depth. He played pretty well for the remainder of the season in that role.
With McKelvin gone, the Bills will need to add depth to their secondary via the draft and free agency whether it’s at the cornerback or safety position. This transaction could even increase the likelihood of a reunion between Rex Ryan and Antonio Cromartie. What do you think about the Bills releasing Leodis McKelvin after eight years with the team? Were you surprised?