Buffalo Bills Roster Updates: Darby, Robey-Coleman, Harvin, Dareus & More
By Dennis Moody
The Bills aren’t horsing around. They cut safety Duke Williams earlier this week and signed James Ihedigbo to the roster.
In addition to the potential changes at cornerback, the Bills also made two roster transactions in their secondary this week. They cut safety Duke Williams who has been with the team since 2013 and signed James Ihedigbo.
The Bills have struggled at safety all season. They’ve had communication issues with the cornerbacks and the team has given up many big plays due to the miscommunication. When their top performing safety Aaron Williams was cheap shotted by Jarvis Landry, it left them thin at the position.
It made Corey Graham the Bills best safety and they have been rotating in Robert Blanton, Jonathan Meeks and Duke Williams into the other slot. All of these players have struggled and the Bills decided they needed fresh blood on the roster. After cutting Williams, they added James Ihedigbo to the roster.
Ihedigbo is a veteran player who has been in the league since 2008. He’s had stints with the Jets, Patriots, Ravens, Lions and most recently his own couch before being signed by the Bills. Ihedigbo is a better run stuffing safety than he is in coverage. If he is playing on the field with Graham you can expect Graham to have more of the coverage responsibilities.
According to WKBW, the Bills’ intentions seem to be that Ihedigbo is going to get some time this week along with Blanton and Meeks. Rex Ryan said:
"“Yeah, I mean we can look at him but basically, as we say, he’s coming in off the couch. He hasn’t really had that, but James is a physical player, I think he started in, what, two Super Bowls as a safety, so he’s got a proven track record. Very physical player, but we’ll see what he can handle. We’re not just going to give him a bunch of stuff, but we will get him in there somewhere.”"
Ihedigbo’s stamina and ability to keep up with NFL game speed in his first week back, seems to be the only impediments to his playing time.
That’s it for the drama in the Bills secondary this week. Let’s move onto the offensive line where there are competitions for starting center and right tackle.