Bills Safety Depth Being Developed in Absence of Poyer and Hyde
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In lieu of starting safeties Jordan Poyer, who is seeking a contract extension, and Micah Hyde, who also has chosen to stay away from Buffalo Bills' OTAs, defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier has been able to more closely evaluate their backup candidates, particularly Jaquan Johnson, Damar Hamlin and Nick McCloud.
That's not the worst thing in the world, he pointed out this week.
"I think the fact that our starters aren't here is really benefiting those young guys," Frazier said.
Besides, both Poyer and Hyde are 31, an age that serves as a reminder that all good things must come to an end. They've played together as starters in Buffalo's backfield since both arrived together in 2017 along with coach Sean McDermott. So better to see what the others can do now rather than later.
So what can they do?
"I think Jaquan, he's the guy who probably has the most experience when Micah and Jordan haven't played, and that kind of shows in some of the things that he's doing," Frazier said. "He's playing with a lot of confidence in these OTAs. He was really good in Phase 1 and Phase 2 with taking charge and leading. You would kind of expect that because of where he is in his career.
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"With Damar, it's kind of like still developing, still finding his way,. But he's growing. One of the benefits of our starting safeties not being here, he gets a lot of reps. So Damar is growing in that way.
"One of the new guys, Nick McCloud, he's in there, he's getting some reps as well. Watching him develop and grow. Josh [Thomas], you know, he's been on the practice squad, and that's a lot different than actually being out there working with the top defense. So it's good to see him interact and communicate and get some snaps he wouldn't ordinarily get. And so we'll just see how he continues to progress as well."
Whether the Bills would feel comfortable turning to any of them if Poyer or Hyde become unavailable during a season hasn't been determined, however.
Johnson is entering his fourth season with the Bills but has just one career start. Hamlin was a sixth-round pick last year who played only 50 snaps with the defense. McCloud was signed as an undrafted free agent last year, didn't make the team, was claimed off waivers by the Cincinnati Bengals and came back to the Bills' practice squad after the Bengals released him.
So not a lot of experience
Poyer and Hyde provide the Bills arguably the best safety combination in the game. But Poyer's contract expires after this season, and he recently hired agent Drew Rosenhaus to negotiate for him.
Neither he nor Hyde have given any indication they will miss next week's mandatory minicamp.
As for their backups, the Bills could turn to the veteran free-agent market, though they have just $5.1 million in salary cap space at the moment.
Ironically, they could add to that significantly with an extension that would lessen Poyer's hit of $10.7 million this season.
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Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.
