It was announced yesterday that the Buffalo Bills sign veteran Kroy Biermann among two others in wake of the plague of injuries. Who did the team release?
Monday was a headline-filled day for the Buffalo Bills, who made a few signings to help restructure their injured defense. However, they also had to release a few players to make room.
After the injury to IK Enemkpali, which will keep him out the entire season, Rex Ryan continued to feel uncomfortable about his linebacker core. “I think it’s a concern. I think we’d all feel a lot better if Manny (Lawson) was practicing, but he’s not. Until he does you don’t have that comfort level.”
Now with Manny Lawson, Shaq Lawson, Enemkpali and Reggie Ragland all out with injuries — and Manny the only one expected to make a swift return — the Bills were left with just 5 linebackers. That’s not a good look for a defense that needs four on the field.
To help ease the pain, the Bills signed a veteran in Kroy Biermann after announcing Enemkpali has been waived/injured. Although Biermann mostly played a defensive end in a 4-3 defense, he is expected to make the small transition to outside linebacker. He hasn’t had any huge seasons, but has proven to be reliable over his career — 8 of his 9 years in the league, he appeared in all 16 games.
In addition, he had his best season with the Falcons just two years ago, meaning he still has more left in the tank. That season — 2014 — he recorded 75 tackles, 4.5 sacks and 9 QB hits. For his career, he has recorded 325 tackles, 23.5 sacks, 2 interceptions, six defended passes, 2 forced fumbles and one fumble recovery in 114 games (37 starts).
The Buffalo Bills signed two more players on Monday, which was announced with the release of two familiar faces: Leonard Hankerson and T.J. Barnes.
Hankerson had a terrible first preseason game against the Colts, which included 3 dropped passes. When the Bills signed him in late-December, there was heavy speculation that he could be our third wide receiver. However, that all changed with his performance through OTA’s, minicamp, training camp and so far this preseason.
The other two players the Bills signed were defensive linemen Brandon Deaderick (6’4”, 305 pounds) and Alameda Ta’amu (6’3”, 348 pounds). Both players will look to add depth to the Bills’ D-Line.
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Deadrick has experience with Rob Ryan when he was a part of the Saints’ defense in 2014. He played in 13 games that season, so he is familiar with the way Ryan runs his defense. In his career, he has played in a total of 60 games with the Patriots, Jaguars and Saints. He was a part of the Texans last season, but didn’t play.
On the other hand, Ta’amu was just recently released by the Kansas City Chiefs a little less than two weeks ago. Drafted by the Steelers in 2012, he has appeared in 21 games with the Arizona Cardinals throughout 2013 and 2014. He is listed as a “true nose tackle,” so he will work well behind Marcell Dareus.
These decisions were very quick for the Bills, but make a lot of sense. Our offense seems very solid across the map and will be even more solid once our offensive line comes back from injury. Our defense, though, has been taking hit after hit, which sucks when they’re supposed to be doing the hitting.
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In the upcoming practices, we will get a look at how our new additions are looking, as well as how we will use them.
The Bills’ next preseason game is on August 20th against the New York Giants. You can view the team’s schedule here.
Which signing — or release — are you most happy about? Leave your comments below!