By Nick Wojton / Billswire.usatoday.com
When the Buffalo Bills signed running back Frank Gore this offseason, question marks flung up all over the place.
What? Why? Were among them. Mostly because he was the first free agent the team signed. Little did folks know it was the calm before the storm.
But one of the top questions raised involved because of Gore was the status of running back Chris Ivory. Would there be room for those two plus LeSean McCoy? The answer is reportedly no.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Bills will release the veteran back after the team signed Gore earlier this month.
In his lone season with the Bills, Ivory, 31, had 385 rushing yards, a 3.3 yards per carry average, with one touchdown. He added another 205 yards on 13 catches as well.
Gore joins the Bills at the age of 35 and as the NFL’s fourth all-time leading rusher. He’ll be entering his 15th season in Buffalo. In a lone year with the Dolphins last season, Gore averaged 4.6 yards per carry and had 722 rushing yards.
However, it’s worth mentioning LeSean McCoy in regard to both. It wasn’t only Ivory that struggled in Buffalo’s 2018 offseason, so did Shady. McCoy, also slated to be 31 when the 2019 season begins, only had 514 rushing yards and 3.2 yards per carry last year.
In relation to Gore, McCoy notably has a strong friendship with him, which is one of the reasons why the Bills likely brought him in.
According to Spotrac, the Bills will endure a $750,000 dead cap hit via Ivory’s release, but the move also clears $2.15 million in salary cap space. Ivory also makes room in terms of a roster space if the Bills intend to select a prospect at the 2019 NFL Draft.