Heartbreaking farewell: The Buffalo Bills bids farewell to a veteran safety following a $75.5 million blockbuster trade….See Details
The Buffalo Bills and veteran safety Mike Edwards could soon be destined for a split with the 2024 NFL trade deadline looming.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Edwards wants to be traded and the team has made him available.
“Veteran Buffalo safety Mike Edwards is available and would like to go somewhere he can play (he has been a steady inactive).”
The 28-year-old was signed earlier this offseason by the Bills to be a veteran presence in the team’s secondary as a past Super Bowl winner. Prior to his addition, holes were left vacant by Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde on Buffalo’s defense.
Over the summer, Edwards ended up rarely practicing due to various injuries. He was once viewed as a projected starter and even general manager Brandon Beane said as much.
However, after missing time during both spring practices and training camp, the Bills decided to eventually roll with Damar Hamlin and Taylor Rapp at the safety position.
That left Edwards as a healthy scratch on most games days so far, as noted in the report.
The upcoming trade deadline is slated for Nov. 5.
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Nothing good happens for Dolphins QB when he meets the Bills: What to watch for this time
ORCHARD PARK – One would have to imagine that the last team Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa wants to be facing are the Buffalo Bills because almost nothing good has ever come from these encounters.
Since entering the NFL as the No. 5 overall pick in the 2020 draft, Tagovailoa has put together a solid resume, obviously helped by some wondrously skilled players in the Miami offense. He has completed 67% of his passes, has an 84-40 touchdown-to-interception ratio, and averages 7.7 yards per attempt which results in a 96.4 passer rating.
Maybe. After all, the Dolphins are 2-5 on the season and might be playing for their survival in the playoff race and every man on the coaching staff and roster knows it, and now standing in front of them next are the big, bad, Bills.
“Each and every week is a must win,” Hill said. “Our mindset was a must win (against the Cardinals), but next week, 24-hour rule, we’re going to move on and Buffalo is a must-win.”
Here are three questions I have heading into the matchup:
1. How important is balance to the Bills offense?
It has become glaringly clear that when the Bills can support Josh Allen with a viable rushing attack, they are so much more dangerous on offense. Last Sunday in Seattle, offensive coordinator Joe Brady was able to find a beautiful rhythm in his play-calling because he was balanced in his decisions, mixing pass and run at almost a 50-50 ratio.
The result was two touchdown drives of at least 90 yards, the other three going 69, 61 and 73 yards, and the Bills hogging possession of the ball for more than 38 minutes on the way to season highs in first downs (29) and total yards (445). It was a master class from Brady up in the coaches booth, and by the players who executed the play calls, and as a result, the Bills have a season point differential of plus-84 which is No. 1 in the AFC and second in the NFL behind only the 6-1 Lions (plus-100).
“These days it seems like more and more the defense is putting enough pressure on you to execute consistently through the course of a double digit play drive, say, in order to get points,” McDermott said. “Being able to be efficient yet explosive, being able to maintain one’s level of execution and detail, that leads to the execution down in and down out through the course of a drive.”
Cook missed the Jets game, but he still has 452 yards rushing and is averaging 4.6 yards per attempt with seven rushing TDs, plus a TD through the air on 14 catches for 145 yards.
“Again, just more and more development from a young player,” McDermott said. “He’s focused, he prepares, and you don’t take that for granted. These guys in that locker room, they work during the week to get themselves to be the most prepared they can and they take it seriously. They hold each other accountable, which is very powerful, as you guys know.
2. Do the Bills have one of the NFL’s best offensive lines?
You could make a strong case for this unit based on the Seattle game that indeed, it is one of the most effective groups in the league. And what’s crazy about that is the line actually had an awful day in terms of penalties, committing six that were accepted and another that was declined, but when it was playing by the rules, wow, what a show.
Tackles Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown, guards David Edwards and O’Cyrus Torrence, and center Connor McGovern dominated the Seahawks’ front seven, gashing them in the run game and providing Allen more than enough time on most of his 34 pass attempts to scan the field and make the proper throwing decisions.
“Huge,” McDermott said of the line’s play. “You know me well enough to know what I value, what we value, and that’s winning up front. And you saw that I thought in particular in the second half, once we got going in the first half, being able to take over the line of scrimmage in the second half was big for us.”
3. How have the Bills kept Tyreek Hill in check?
When the speedy wideout played for the Chiefs, Hill had a couple huge playoff games against the Bills, the types of games fans will never forget. In the 2020 AFC title game he caught nine passes for 172 yards, and in the 13 seconds debacle in the 2021 divisional game, he had 11 receptions for 150 yards and a TD.
Can the Dolphins finally get something to work against the Bills? Maybe, but it won’t come easy because unlike the first meeting, which Tagovailoa did not finish, the Bills were without injured star nickel cornerback Taron Johnson, while safeties Taylor Rapp and Damar Hamlin were playing just their second game side-by-side as starters.
“All of it’s a challenge,” defensive coordinator Bobby Babich said of Miami’s attack. “Everything about them is a challenge. Mike (McDaniel) does a great job, but we’ve seen them quite a few times. So, every time we prepare for him, we know what it’s going to be. We know the challenge it’s going to be. We just have to make sure we’re executing our plan going in.”
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