Football Bills GM says deal with draft pick Byrd is 'close'

GotGibson?

Bench Warmer
The Buffalo Bills are closing in on signing second-round draft pick Jairus Byrd, and first-round pick Eric Wood is expected to report to camp within a day.

General manager Russ Brandon said Wednesday the team is "close" to signing Byrd, who will be given an opportunity to compete for a starting job at free safety.

Brandon added that a tentative deal has been negotiated with Wood, but the offensive lineman's agent is reviewing the contract language.

If all goes well, Brandon expected Wood to start practicing with the team Thursday.

"It's been a busy 24 hours," Brandon said.

His work's not done. The Bills, who opened camp on Saturday, have yet to sign first-round draft pick Aaron Maybin, a defensive end selected 11th overall out of Penn State.

Byrd, selected 42nd overall out of Oregon, finished with 17 career interceptions to rank second on the school list. Though Byrd primarily played cornerback in college, the Bills believe he's better suited to play free safety in their system, and expressed confidence he could compete for a starting job immediately and allow Donte Whitner to return to the strong safety position.

Byrd has plenty of catching up to do. Aside from missing seven practices during the first five days of training camp, he also missed the team's spring minicamps because of Oregon's late exam schedule. Byrd did take part in a three-day rookie minicamp in early May, and visited with Bills coaches in early July to go over the playbook.

Wood's arrival is also considered critical. The Bills are counting on him to start at right guard on a completely revamped line that's expected to feature two rookie starters and no returning players at the same position. Wood, drafted 28th out of Louisville, has spent the past week in Buffalo waiting for negotiations to end so he can report to camp 90 minutes away in suburban Rochester.

Maybin is also eager to report, but there has been little news on his contract talks. Maybin has been texting teammates and Bills coaches, informing them how much he wants to start practicing. The player has also been regularly posting comments on Twitter with updates of him working out and his contract talks.

Earlier this week, he tweeted a response to Whitner, which read: "cant wait 2 get there man...im killin it out here but i need 2 be out there with yall as soon as possible."

Maybin's agent, Chafie Fields, has declined to discuss the status of talks.

A major snag is the slow pace of teams signing first-round picks around the NFL. As of Wednesday morning, only five of the 32 first-rounders have signed or agreed to contracts, which makes it difficult to establish Maybin's value.

The Bills did sign free agent Shaine Smith on Wednesday to bolster their injury-depleted group of receivers.

Listed at 6-feet-2 and 189 pounds, Smith has yet to play in the NFL, but spent part of the 2007 season on the New York Jets' practice squad. He was originally signed by St. Louis that year as an undrafted rookie free agent out of Hofstra.

The Bills are down four receivers since opening camp in suburban Rochester on Saturday.

Steve Johnson is out indefinitely with an injury to his rib cartilage, while P.K. Sam injured his quadriceps in practice on Tuesday night. James Hardy and C.J. Hawthorne have been unable to practice since opening camp and are on the active/physically-unable-to-perform list.
 
Back
Top