Getty Robert Foster runs after catching the ball in a game against the Miami Dolphins.
One of Josh Allen’s favorite former targets is signing on with a Buffalo Bills rival.
The Miami Dolphins announced this week that they had signed a former Bills receiver who had previously played with Tua Tagovailoa at Alabama, bolstering their receiving corps in an attempt to build off the winning season in 2020.
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Speedster Signs With Fins
As the USA Today’s Dolphins Wire noted, the team signed wide receiver and special teams player Robert Foster. Bills fans remember Foster as one of the top targets for Allen in his rookie season, catching 27 passes for 541 yards and three touchdowns in 2018.
The speedy Foster was often the team’s second option behind Zay Jones that season, but could not replicate his success in 2019 as he caught three passes for 64 yards that year. He would move on to the Washington Football Team last season, appearing in just four games and seeing the majority of his snaps on special teams.
As the report noted, the Foster signing seemed to fit in with Miami’s overall strategy to make moves that don’t mortgage the future.
“Not every free agent signing is going to be an earth-shattering one. And while Miami Dolphins fans eagerly await ‘the big one’ before all of the top-flight free agents run dry, the Dolphins continue to stay busy with supplemental signings. Miami’s ‘type’ early on in free agency appears to be low risk, short-term deals that don’t lock Miami into any kind of significant cap ramifications beyond the 2021 season.”
Bills Add Their Own Speedster
While the Dolphins were adding Foster and his 4.41s 40 time, the Bills were bringing back one of their speediest players from the last season. The team announced on Tuesday that they had reached a deal to bring back free agent Isaiah McKenzie. He had been one of the team’s most versatile offensive players in the 2020 season, catching 30 passes for 282 yards with five touchdowns. He also threw a 12-yard touchdown pass and added an 84-yard punt return touchdown, the team’s first in six seasons.
With McKenzie’s return, the Bills have brought back the majority of their skill players from the last season. While the team cut John Brown last month, they bring back Stefon Diggs, Cole Beasley, and Gabriel Davis and have brought in some new weapons for Allen as well, signing wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders and tight end Jacob Hollister.
Isaiah McKenzie back with Bills on one-year, $1.15M deal (per @RapSheet)
The Bills also brought in an insurance policy for Allen, signing former Chicago Bears starter Mitch Trubisky on a one-year deal for $2.5 million. General manager Brandon Beane said he was able to squeeze a team-friendly deal out of the former No. 2 pick by selling him on the chance to improve under Buffalo’s staff.
“What we sold to him and his agent is, ‘Just come here for a reboot. Work with Josh Allen and our other quarterbacks, Jake Fromm (and) Davis Webb, (offensive coordinator) Brian Daboll and (quarterbacks coach) Ken Dorsey. Come here, have a reset year and just be a part of what we’re doing here,” Beane said in an interview on SiriusXM NFL radio.
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