ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — After helping the Chiefs end the Bills’ season for a third time in four playoff meetings in January, safety Mike Edwards hopes he can be part of revamped secondary to help Buffalo go further.
It helps, too, that the fifth-year player brings two Super Bowl wins of experience with him in signing a one-year contract with the Bills on Wednesday.
“I know the AFC’s been going through Kansas City for the past few years, but I see it from afar, Buffalo has been one win away,” Edwards said during a Zoom conference call. “They have a great team, great quarterback. It’s only a little bit left. So I feel like I can come in and help those guys, help whatever they need.”
Safety is among Buffalo’s biggest needs in an offseason the team is starting fresh after spending the past seven seasons with the same starting tandem of Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer. Hyde is a free agent and considering retirement, while Poyer has since signed with AFC East rival Miami after being cut by Buffalo.
“Those guys were the standard, two of the best safeties in the league,” Edwards said. “Just trying to take on that and build on that and come in ready to work and aim for that.”
Edwards will have a chance to form a new starting tandem alongside Taylor Rapp, who returns for a second season after being re-signed to a three-year contract two weeks ago.
Listed at 5-foot-10 and 205 pounds, Edwards had one interception and two fumble recoveries, one returned for a touchdown, in 17 games, including five starts, with the Super Bowl-winning Chiefs last season. He also started all four playoff games, including Kansas City’s 27-24 win at Buffalo in the divisional round.
Edwards spent his first four seasons with Tampa Bay, where he also won a Super Bowl title to close his rookie season in 2019, when the Buccaneers defeated the Chiefs for the championship.
A third-round pick in 2019, Edwards has eight interceptions, three of which he’s returned for scores, five fumble recoveries and three sacks over 28 starts in 75 career games. He also has three interceptions in 11 career playoff games.
His four defensive TDs are tied for second-most in the NFL since 2021, behind only second-year Dallas Cowboys defensive back DaRon Bland’s five.
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