Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR 550) - With the release of Jordan Poyer and the uncertainty of Micah Hyde’s future, the Buffalo Bills needed to address their safety position this offseason.
They started out by re-signing Taylor Rapp and adding five-year veteran Mike Edwards in free agency away from the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
Then on Friday night in Day 2 of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Bills strengthened the group even further by selecting Cole Bishop with the 60th overall pick out of the University of Utah.
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Bishop is extremely versatile. At Utah, he played strong safety, free safety, and in the box closer to the line of scrimmage. That’s the prototypical type of player head coach Sean McDermott loves having on the back end of his defense.
However, expecting Bishop to walk right into the Bills' starting lineup may be a little too much to ask, at least initially. It’s a defense that asks players to understand different concepts and how to play off each other.
That’s a big reason the Bills have mostly had veterans starting there, including Hyde and Poyer for seven seasons, with experience filling in when either missed any time.
Veterans like Kurt Coleman, Dean Marlowe, and Rapp, along with Cam Lewis - going into his sixth season - have been the ones mostly called upon.
While the 6-foot-2, 206-pound Bishop learns those roles and still competes for a starting job, he may very well still be able to get on the field as a big nickel and core special teams player.
The 21-year-old is two inches taller than Siran Neal, but the exact same weight.
Neal was one of the better special teams players in the AFC over the past several years. The Bills even made him the highest-paid special teams player (non-punter or kicker) in the league a couple of years ago. Neal was the team’s big nickel at times, but never good enough to be relied upon as a regular backup.
He was eventually released this offseason as part of a series of moves to free some salary cap space.
Bishop should fill that role much better, and who knows, maybe even be the starter by the time training camp ends.
