The Bills are welcoming a “versatile” safety who is coming off his career-best season as their newest member.
Julian Blackmon, the safety of Indianapolis Colts made it clear in front of media that he has alerted his teammate and defensive coordinator.
The Buffalo Bills face a significant gap in their secondary due to the departures of safety Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde, but are now actively seeking out potential substitutes.
According to Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report on March 18, the Bills are welcoming Julian Blackmon for a visit this week as part of their free agent recruitment. As he just had his best season with Indianapolis Colts, there’s potential that Blackmon could securetthe team’s starting safety position if signed by the Bills.
Schultz reports that Blackmon is attracting considerable attention on the open market and has multiple suitors, making it a challenging endeavor to sign him.
The Bills are aiming to find a versatile safety player to add to their team.
Anthony Licciardi of SI.com suggested that despite losing two important components in Hyde and Poyer, Blackmon’s ability to adapt could allow him to step up and compensate for the absence.
According to Licciardi, Blackmon could seamlessly assume Hyde’s duties as the free safety under head coach Sean McDermott’s defense. Nonetheless, his adaptability may prove advantageous for Buffalo since they could potentially use him in more box plays than initially projected.
During his time in Indianapolis, Blackmon has demonstrated that he can transition between different positions within the secondary, according to Licciardi.
In 2022, Blackmon experienced a career-high in snap counts while playing at both box and slot corner positions. Later on, he made an even more significant change by spending almost half of his snaps (48.3 percent) as a free safety, compared to just 9.3 percent in the box position for that year. This was quite different from his percentages last year when he played mostly at the box position with 47.4 percent while only having 31-2% of snaps for Free Safety duty instead
In 2023, Blackmon had his best season ever by recording a total of 88 tackles, as well as intercepting four passes and defending eight others.
The Bills are Strengthening Their Defensive Backfield.
The Bills have made moves to improve their secondary by bringing back Cam Lewis, a versatile defensive player who has proven himself at both safety and cornerback positions. In addition to contributing on defense, he is also considered a key asset for special teams play.
On March 18th, the Bills secured another valuable member of their secondary by offering nickel cornerback Taron Johnson a three-year contract extension worth $31 million. NFL.com’s Nick Shook observed that this salary increase is significant for Johnson after having his best season to date.
According to Shook, Johnson’s new contract makes him the highest-paid nickel in the NFL at $31 million, surpassing Colts cornerback Kenny Moore by $1 million. Pro Football Focus recognized Johnson for his exceptional performance during his best season yet with a top defensive grade of 77.5 – ranking him as 17th among all cornerbacks and one spot ahead of Moore – leading to this well-deserved extension.
Despite the Bills’ constrained salary cap situation, general manager Brandon Beane cautioned against anticipating any major moves during free agency; nevertheless, they have directed their efforts towards strengthening other aspects of their defense and extending contracts to defensive tackle DaQuan Jones and edge rusher A.J. Epenesa.
Along with Hyde and Poyer leaving, the Bills have also experienced some losses in their secondary. The All-Pro cornerback Tre’Davious White was released by the team while veteran backup Dane Jackson departed through free agency.
