The Buffalo Bills have just added some depth to their secondary as they have signed former Dallas Cowboy Sterling Moore. The 26-year-old cornerback should come in and back up Stephon Gilmore and Ronald Darby as he has been effective in that role for most of his career.
Moore recorded 45 combined tackles, nine starts, six pass defenses, three forced fumbles and an interception during the 2015 season, and it was his first and only season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Moore spent three seasons with the Dallas Cowboys as one of their sole backups at the cornerback position.
Moore entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2011 with the Oakland Raiders.
This move does not mean the Bills will not take a defensive back during the 2016 NFL draft. but it will allow them to look at other needs for the majority of the event. They will have the 19th spot in the draft and need to continue to build the defensive line and linebacking corps.
The Bills were in one of the worst cap situations imaginable and barely had enough space to re-sign any of their own free agents. They lost outside linebacker Nigel Bradham to the Philadelphia Eagles, which was a crushing blow to their defense to start free agency. His departure was followed by cornerback Ron Brooks who went to the Eagles, defensive tackle Stefan Charles to the Detroit Lions, tight end MarQueis Gray and offensive guard Kraig Urbik to the Miami Dolphins.
Buffalo did make a couple of moves including the signing of strong safety Robert Blanton from the Minnesota Vikings and tight end Jim Dray from the Cleveland Browns. Blanton will add crucial depth for Buffalo as he should line up behind strong safety Aaron Williams if he cannot overtake him for the starting job.
Jim Dray will likely start alongside Charles Clay as they need to solidify their tight ends. Hopefully Dray will be able to give the passing game a spark with his high motor and solid production, however he is not in danger of having anyone from behind him at this time vulture his place in the offense.
The Bills also went on to re-sign wide receiver Leonard Hankerson as they would like to keep Tyrod Taylor's weapons. Hankerson played for the Falcons for most of the 2015 regular season until he was released last December. Hankerson failed to live up to becoming a quality second or third option in the Falcons' offense which led to his release. He was soon be picked up by the New England Patriots and waived a week later. Moore should be a solid third or fourth cornerback and should continue to develop as the Bills' defense gets better over time.
