BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Bills are bringing back a very familiar face, signing safety Jordan Poyer to the practice squad, a source told ESPN.
The deal is similar to what the team did with former starting safety Micah Hyde last season, signing him to the practice squad in December. Hyde did not end up playing for the Bills, but helped as a support to the defense, specifically the team’s young defensive backs.
The Bills are going into this season with some questions about where the safety group stands as second-year safety Cole Bishop prepares to start the season with veteran Taylor Rapp.
Poyer, 34, previously spent 2017-2023 with the Bills, initially signing a four-year deal with the team in 2017. Over the next seven seasons he formed one of the NFL’s best safety tandems alongside Hyde. He is credited with helping the Bills break a 17-year playoff drought during his first season with the team and was a fan favorite throughout his time there. He was named to one Pro Bowl (2022) and selected as a first-team All-Pro (2021) during his time in Buffalo.
In his time away, Poyer was with an AFC East foe, signing a one-year, $2 million contract with the Miami Dolphins last offseason after the Bills released him last March. A longtime resident of South Florida, he viewed the signing as effectively a homecoming.
The 2021 first-team All-Pro finished second on the team with 98 tackles while playing 96% of the team’s defensive snaps. He has been banged up frequently but is known for his toughness and ability to play through minor injuries; he has missed just nine games in the past eight seasons, five of which occurred during the 2022 season.
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Poyer was a seventh-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2013 but was released midway through his rookie season. He signed with the Cleveland Browns and spent four seasons with them until his tenure was abruptly cut short by an illegal hit in October of the 2016 season. Poyer was blindsided during a punt return and suffered a lacerated kidney and missed the remainder of the season.
He has 24 interceptions, 904 tackles, 12 sacks, 57 passes defended and 9 forced fumbles in 12 seasons.
The reunion was first reported by NFL reporter Jordan Schultz.
ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques contributed to this report.
