T.J. Yeldon agrees to a 2-year deal with Buffalo.
By Nick Wojton / Billswire.usatoday.com
The Buffalo Bills have started draft week by reminding us what time of the offseason the team really, really must love.
The Bills have dipped back into free agency just before the start of the 2019 NFL Draft on Thursday, signing running back T.J. Yeldon to a two-year deal.
Yeldon, 25, is a four-year NFL vet, spending his entire career with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Yeldon adds youth to the Bills’ backfield, as the team’s top two running backs on the roster, LeSean McCoy and Frank Gore, will be 31 and 36 when the 2019 season begins, respectively.
Yeldon, while a second-round pick of the Jaguars in 2015 out of Alabama, has never consistently featured as a No. 1 back on their roster. As a rookie, he did lead the Jags with 740 rushing yards, but then in 2016 he split carries with now former-Bills back, Chris Ivory.
Over the past two seasons, Yeldon’s played 10 and 14 games, respectively, tallying only 253 and 414 rushing yards in those years. In 2016, Yeldon was actually a healthy scratch, though, not injured. But since 2017, he split time with Leonard Fournette in the Jags’ offense, making touches difficult to come by.
Yeldon has found a knack as a receiving back, though. In 51 career games, he has 171 receptions, 1,302 receiving yards and six scores. Of that, 55 catches, 487 yards and four touchdowns came last season alone.
The team’s newest back is now among the youngest on the roster. Yeldon is the youngest runner Buffalo will trot out next season, pending the NFL Draft, aside from 2018 undrafted rookie free agent Keith Ford.