Bills sign playoff-winning quarterback, also add the nephew of Junior Seau
Veteran T.J. Yates joins Buffalo's QB room
By
John Breech
•
1 min read
Although the Buffalo Bills haven’t won a playoff game since 1995, they do now have a playoff-winning quarterback on their roster.
The Bills announced on Monday that they have added quarterback T.J. Yates. The 29-year-old veteran comes to Buffalo from Miami, where he spent the final few weeks of the 2016 season. After tearing his ACL in December 2015, Yates spent most of last season out of football before being signed by the Dolphins in December after Ryan Tannehill strained his ACL.
Yates is best known for the four seasons he spent in Houston (2011-13, 2015), where he won a playoff game over the Bengals as a rookie in 2011.
In Buffalo, Yates expects to battle Cardale Jones for the right to serve as Tyrod Taylor’s backup quarterback.
“That was one thing that was expressed to me, that no matter what, there’s going to be competition in the quarterback room and whoever it may be, I’m here to compete and raise the level of play in the quarterback room,” Yates said on Monday, via a transcript from the team.
Make no mistake though, Yates doesn’t expect to be the starter.
“This is Tyrod’s team. I’m here to bring leadership, knowledge of the system, and make the QB room better,” Yates said.
Part of the reason Yates ended up in Buffalo is because he’ll be familiar with the Bills’ system. The quarterback will be reunited with Rick Dennison, who served as Houston’s offensive coordinator for four years (2010-13).
“I’ve been keeping up with [Dennsion] quite a bit this offseason and being comfortable with him, comfortable with his offense I ran for so long, it’s definitely a good thing for me and hopefully for the team.”
The Bills also officially added defensive end Ian Seau on Monday. Ian, who is the nephew of Pro Football Hall of Famer Junior Seau, originally signed with the Rams as an undrafted free agent in May 2016. However, the defensive lineman, who tallied 10 sacks during his senior year at Nevada in 2015, didn’t latch on with the Rams and was cut in August.
