Are Jordan Poyer and Jordan Phillips back to fill holes in the Bills' defense?
Buffalo Bills GM Brandon Beane insisted the reunions were more about opportunity than roster deficiencies. Both players wanted to return to Buffalo and embraced a role on the practice squad. Why not add their knowledge and leadership?
Videos of Jordan Poyer’s past adrenaline-fueled, impassioned pregame speeches at Highmark Stadium circulated on social media Wednesday once news broke of the beloved safety’s return to the Buffalo Bills.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott, left, and general manager Brandon Beane brought back Jordan Poyer and Jordan Phillips late in the preseason.
Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
He isn’t joining the Bills’ practice squad to be a de facto coach, either. Now 34 years old and entering his 13th NFL season, Poyer returned to Buffalo to make an impact on game days and win the Lombardi Trophy. Off the field, he and veteran defensive tackle Jordan Phillips will bring ”culture, character, leadership,” said general manager Brandon Beane, but the timing of the moves is curious.
Why were they signed shortly before the Bills host the Baltimore Ravens on “Sunday Night Football” in Week 1 as opposed to earlier this offseason? Did anything in training camp convince Beane and coach Sean McDermott to use two of their 17 practice-squad slots on the veterans instead of recent draft picks or undrafted free agents they want to develop?
Beane insisted the reunions were more about opportunity than roster deficiencies. Both players wanted to return to Buffalo and embraced a role on the practice squad. Why not add their knowledge and leadership to a group that will face adversity over the next several months?
Poyer spent seven seasons in McDermott’s defense, totaling 513 solo tackles with 10 forced fumbles and 22 interceptions while starting 122 games. Poyer and Micah Hyde were one of the best safety tandems in franchise history, foundational players in the Bills’ rise from perennial losers to Super Bowl contenders. Phillips, 31, returned during the second half of last season, his fifth in Buffalo, and he has 61 games of experience in this defense.
Both players were needed because of issues that arose over the past several months. DeWayne Carter, a third-round pick in 2024, did not show enough in training camp or preseason to ensure that the Bills had enough depth behind their starting defensive tackles, Ed Oliver and DaQuan Jones. The team learned shortly after signing eight-year veteran Larry Ogunjobi in March that he would be suspended six games to start the season for violating the NFL’s policy against performance-enhancing drugs.
T.J. Sanders and Deone Walker, the Bills’ rookie defensive tackles, earned rotational snaps through their performance in camp, but the team doesn’t want to rely on them too much too soon, either. Phillips can help on early downs, especially if there’s an injury, and he can guide the younger players in his position group.
“This team is going to do great things, and when you’ve got young guys who we drafted, you’ve got to have somebody in there that can help lead and show,” Phillips said following practice Wednesday. “Me and Deone are pretty much the same body type. That’s different when a coach tells you to get lower, or you need to do this, that and the other, but when I’ve done it for so many years, being pretty much the same size, it’s a lot easier.”
It is more of a disappointing development for Carter. In the preseason finale, he played 22 snaps, more than any other defensive tackle, and it was fair to wonder whether he would be traded as the Bills trimmed their roster to 53 players. He has the work ethic and versatility, but Sanders and Walker flashed more in practices and preseason games.
Naturally, Poyer’s return raised more questions about the Bills’ confidence in their projected starters at safety, Taylor Rapp and Cole Bishop. Last week, McDermott told reporters that he was still deciding whether Bishop or Damar Hamlin would start next to Rapp. Bishop hadn’t been on the field often enough in camp because of a quad injury, and he struggled in his 12 snaps during the 38-0 preseason loss to the Bears. A second-round pick in 2024, Bishop started slow as a rookie because of an injury that he suffered in training camp. But Beane was adamant that he remains confident in his safeties.
The Bills’ only free-agent acquisition at the position, Darrick Forrest, didn’t make the 53-man roster or practice squad. The player they drafted, Jordan Hancock, split time at nickel cornerback in training camp, but showed more upside at safety. He suffered a shoulder injury in the second preseason game and returned to practice this week. The team brought back Hamlin because of his intellect and impact on special teams, but it became evident late last season, including the AFC championship game, that Buffalo needed more from the position.
Safeties in McDermott’s defense must be able to play in the box or in space, stop the run and defend the pass. Poyer and Hyde were so effective because they were exceptional in both areas. Last season, Rapp was outstanding against the run, but he didn’t have as much success in coverage. Bishop has similar strengths because he lined up in the box for most of his time at Utah. Poyer will have a chance to prove that he can still do both, though, admittedly, last season in Miami was not his best for a multitude of reasons.
In 2024, the Bills allowed the eighth-most touchdown passes, but they gave up only 43 completions of 20-plus yards, the eighth-best mark. The defense needs to be better on third down – it ranked first in the league during Poyer’s All-Pro season in 2021 – and get to the quarterback more often.
“Last year, put an asterisk by it,” he said. “It was a tough year all around. I’m not going to ... throw anything that went down over there. But at the same time, you know it was a hard year. And again, I’m just extremely thankful to be here. And I still feel like I’ve got a lot left to prove to myself, to this game, to the people around me. And I keep the receipts.”
The defense was Beane’s priority this offseason.
Up front, he added edge rushers Joey Bosa and Michael Hoecht, the latter of whom is also suspended six games. The only notable addition at linebacker, Shaq Thompson, signed a one-year contract in June. He’s been limited to six games the past two seasons because of a broken fibula in 2023 and torn Achilles tendon in 2024. He made the team over 2024 fifth-round pick Edefuan Ulofoshio, who wasn’t claimed off waivers or signed to the Bills’ practice squad.
There is more depth at those positions than the secondary, though. Two of their offseason additions at cornerback, first-round pick Maxwell Hairston and Tre’Davious White, are injured. White has a chance to return Week 1 after an up-and-down training camp, while Hairston won’t practice with the team until Week 5 at the earliest. The other spring signing, Dane Jackson, is on the practice squad. The Bills may rely on sixth-round rookie Dorian Strong or Ja’Marcus Ingram if White can’t face the Ravens.
Beane and McDermott have earned the benefit of the doubt. It’s not easy to win five consecutive AFC East titles while reaching two conference championship games, and they’ve done it with homegrown talent. Last season, Buffalo rostered 34 players that it drafted – the league average was 34.7 – and the average age of its Week 1 starters (26.4) was the sixth youngest in the NFL.
But there are quite a few lingering questions on a defense that allowed 32 points and 368 total yards in the AFC championship game.