If the Bills do decide to sign free-agent S Jimmy Leonhard, they’re sure to have one happy man in George Wilson. During Leonhard’s first stint with the Bills, he mentored Wilson as Wilson made the transition from wide receiver to safety. Wilson has since developed into a productive starter and team leader in the secondary.
“It was good to see Jimmy, I’m very fond of Jim,” Wilson said. “I have a high respect for him and have a great deal of gratitude that I always express to him because of the mentoring and the time that he put in with me to help me make the transition from wide receiver to safety. It was good to see him yesterday and I asked him, did he ever think he’d be back here in Buffalo? And he said not until last week.”
Wilson said Leonhard was scheduled to have his workout for the Bills earlier this morning before the team’s walk-through. He was a spectator at practice on Thursday. The former Jets starter is making his way back from a serious knee injury after suffering a torn patella tendon last December.
“I’m not sure what came of it or what the end result was but I know he was supposed to work out this morning," Wilson said. "So I’ll just wait and see.”
The Bills have been looking to improve their depth at safety since the start of camp. They are set with their top three safeties -- Wilson, Jairus Byrd and Da’Norris Searcy -- but would like to add another experienced player to the mix.
“At the end of the day, one thing that our coaching staff has not been quiet about is they want competition at every position,” Wilson said. “There’s nobody on this roster that should feel comfortable or satisfied at this point. If they were to sign Jim, it would just add more competition at the safety position, give us more depth, more experienced depth, more playmaking depth.”
For more updates, follow Bills correspondent Mark Ludwiczak on Twitter @CBSSportsNFLBUF and @MarkLud12.
