Even though the NFL Draft is a little over two weeks away, that hasn’t stopped the Buffalo Bills from continuing to look at free agents available. On Tuesday, the Bills had cornerback T.J. Carrie in Buffalo for a free agent visit, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Carrie was a seventh round pick by the Raiders in 2014 and spent the first four years with the Raiders. He was primarily a backup during that time but did start all 16 games in 2017 but surprisingly that was the only year he didn’t have an interception.
After the Raiders, Carrie spent two years with the Cleveland Browns and then this past season played for the Indianapolis Colts. The Bills saw plenty of Carrie in their playoff game against the Colts this past year as he played 95% of the snaps. The team did have success when throwing in his direction as they completed 3 of 6 pass attempts for 58 yards and one touchdown, according to Pro Football Reference.
For his career, Carrie has played in 107 games, starting 53 of them, and has 363 total tackles, seven interceptions, and 51 passes defended.
Why this would make sense for the Buffalo Bills
As Jeremy Fowler notes, the signing of T.J. Carrie could be to replace Josh Norman, who was with the team last year. The Bills did bring back Levi Wallace and he will compete with Dane Jackson for the starting job opposite Tre’Davious White.
However, they don’t have great depth at the position, in particular veteran depth. This is the role that Norman filled last year for the team. It appears the Bills may be looking for a chance and that is possibly why they are bringing in T.J. Carrie for a visit.
If the Buffalo Bills were to sign T.J. Carrie it also wouldn’t necessarily stop the team from drafting a cornerback at the end of the month in the NFL Draft but gives them a backup plan if they don’t find one they want to draft when they are on the clock.