The Buffalo Bills didn’t make any trades but still improved their roster.
The NFL trade deadline came and passed on Tuesday with the Buffalo Bills not making any deadline deals. The thought was that the team could use some starters, but also depth, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.
While the Buffalo Bills didn’t make any trades, they made two moves that could potentially be difference-makers in the second half of the 2020 season.
On Monday, the Bills announced they had signed linebacker Darron Lee to their practice squad. The former first round pick struggled with the New York Jets and saw limited action with the Kansas City Chiefs.
The reason why this is a move that helps this team is the Bills get a linebacker who has starting experience but is an athletic linebacker and would be an improvement over A.J. Klein. He also has experience on special teams and could be a boost there.
On Tuesday, general manager Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott went back to their Carolina Panthers roots by signing cornerback Daryl Worley to their practice squad. Worley was a third-round pick by the Panthers in 2016. That rookie season was arguably his best in his NFL career when he started 11 games playing in McDermott’s defense.
Worley has bounced around the league a bit but most recently started four games for the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys released the veteran last week and he will now likely compete with Levi Wallace and Josh Norman for the starting job opposite Tre’Davious White.
The depth at the cornerback and linebacker position has been tested this season. However, these moves by the Bills are low-risk but high reward. At worst, the Bills added veteran depth at these positions but have potentially added two players who could be starting by the end of the season on a defense that could use more talent.