Getty Bills safety Jordan Poyer #21 looks on from the sideline against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on September 25, 2022.
Whether or not the Buffalo Bills will be able to retain Jordan Poyer has been one of the most-talked-about topics since the 2022 NFL season ended. Even though Poyer’s wife, Rachel Bush, strongly insinuated his time in Buffalo was over, the veteran left the door open for a possible return while discussing offseason plans last month.
The 31-year-old said, “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m going to enjoy this free-agency process and see what options are out there and what’s best for my family and myself moving forward. If that’s Buffalo, great. If that’s somewhere else, that’s just the business. I have enjoyed my time in Buffalo, all the fans, my coaches, my teammates. We were able to build something special there, and they’re going to continue to build something special. It would be great to be a part of it.”
However, Poyer has since deleted every photo of him in a Bills jersey from his Instagram page, which seems to imply he will not be back in Orchard Park. He also deleted all the pictures of his family at Highmark Stadium. UPDATE: On March 2, Poyer went ahead and wiped his entire Instagram page clean to have zero posts.
The move comes right after Poyer said on his self-titled podcast, “A lot of people ask me, ‘Oh, if it wasn’t Buffalo, where would you go?’ I kind of ponder the question every once in a while. I would love to go to a state that doesn’t take half of my money… It’d be nice to be warm. It would be nice to see the sun, maybe, every week or so, every other week at least.”
GettyBills safety Jordan Poyer looks on before a game against the Patriots on December 21, 2019
The writing appeared to be on the wall when the safety, who’s played for the Bills since 2017, hired super agent Drew Rosenhaus before the season started to negotiate an extension, however, Buffalo did not secure the All-Pro, and instead offered him a restructured deal with much higher incentives.
The Bills went 13-1 this year when Poyer was active. He finished the regular season with 46 solo tackles, four interceptions, and 16 receptions allowed. In 2021, Poyer tallied 61 solo tackles, five interceptions, and 13 receptions allowed.
Poyer Has Been Linked to 2 Rival AFC East Teams
GettyBills safety Jordan Poyer #21 celebrates with fans after defeating the Tennessee Titans in the game at Highmark Stadium on September 19, 2022.
While it’s not clear what will happen with Poyer once free agency opens on March 15, the former seventh-round pick from the 2013 NFL Draft is open to playing for one of the Bills’ AFC East rivals.
“It’d be crazy to stay in the East and come down here to South Florida,” Poyer said on his podcast while discussing the birthday plans for his golfing buddy, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. A few days later, Miami’s head coach Mike McDaniel was asked if he was interested in adding a player like Poyer while speaking to the media at the NFL Combine.
“I’m not in the business of tampering. We need all the draft picks we can get,” McDaniel said, which earned laughs from reporters in Indianapolis as he dodged from answering. “You guys might be trying to get this second-year hustle on me, but we need every draft pick we can get. So, I’m all for Dolphins fandom. And the more players, even if they’re on our opponents team, if they’re cheering for the Dolphins, that’s good for all of us.”
Mike McDaniel when asked about Jordan Poyer’s comments hinting he’d like to play for the Dolphins:
However, ESPN analyst Matt Bowen predicts Poyer will ultimately land with the New England Patriots. “Poyer’s multidimensional traits fit with Bill Belichick’s scheme as a movable defensive player with deep-field range,” Bowen wrote. “Veteran safety Devin McCourty is set to hit free agency, so there is a need here. A highly instinctual defensive back, Poyer could match in coverage, check tight ends or track the ball from post/deep-half alignments in New England. And he can play multiple roles in Belichick’s sub-packages. Last season, Poyer logged four interceptions and eight pass breakups for the Bills.”
The Patriots have the resources to offer Poyer an attractive deal, as they are approximately $33 million under the salary cap for next season, which ranks seventh in the league, per OverTheCap.com. According to Pro Football Focus, Poyer’s market value is expected to earn him a two-year contract worth an estimated $17 million.
Brandon Beane Remained Vague When Discussing Re-Signing Poyer
GettyBrandon Beane, general manager of the Buffalo Bills speaks to reporters during the NFL Draft Combine at the Indiana Convention Center on March 1, 2022.
Bills general manager Brandon Beane discussed the pending free agency of two of the biggest defensive studs, Poyer, and Tremaine Edmunds, 24, during an appearance on “One Bills Live” on Tuesday.
“We’ll have dialogue with those guys,” Beane said. “I don’t want to get into how deep we are with either but yes, we will have dialogue, if we haven’t already with their reps. I spoke to those guys at the end of the season, and they know we love and respect and appreciate them and this is the business part.”
“You don’t want to lose good players. That’s not the goal. You want to keep as many as you can, but we do have to fit it into that pie. And it won’t be easy, but we’ll look and see what ways we can keep one or both. And if we can’t keep either one of them. We’ll look into other ways to refill those voids.”
However, Bills head coach Sean McDermott‘s statement at the NFL Combine seemed to indicate they’ll prioritize Edmunds over Poyer. “You never replace a person or a player like a Tremaine Edmunds, if that’s where you’re going with that,” McDermott said when asked about the linebacker’s pending free agency. “Again, we’ve just got to take it one day at a time and see how it all fits together here.”