Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane said at the conclusion of the NFL Draft that he would continue to look at the free agent market to add players to the roster.
He said that in response to a question about how he was unable to draft a defensive tackle over the weekend because the board simply did not dictate that.
So Monday, the Bills announcing that they have signed running back Latavius Murray came as a bit of a surprise.
Murray, who grew up down the Thruway in Syracuse, is now added to a running back room that already counts second-year pro James Cook and NFL veterans Damien Harris and Nyheim Hines.
Murray played his high school football at Onondaga Central and then attended Central Florida. The 33-year-old was originally a sixth-round draft pick of the Raiders in 2013 and he later played for the Vikings, Saints, Ravens and Broncos.
“Obviously it’s been a team that’s been contending for the past few years,” Murray said of joining the Bills. “I think we have an opportunity to compete for a championship, so that’s first and foremost. And then, growing up just a few hours from here, I think it’s just really cool to be able to come back to the state of New York and play football, especially at this stage of my career.”
Across nine seasons he has carried 1,481 times for 6,252 yards and 55 touchdowns and has caught 222 passes for 1,501 yards and two TDs.
He had just one 1,000-yard season, that with the Raiders in 2015. Since then, his season-high was 842 yards in 2016. Last year he rushed for 703 yards for the Broncos after they signed him from the Saints’ practice squad.
On the surface, the signing doesn’t make a whole lot of sense given his age and the depth chart. However, Murray is 6-foot-3 and weighs 230 pounds, so if he can show something in training camp, the Bills might be thinking he’d be a short yardage and goal line option. The next-biggest back on the team is the 213-pound Harris.
“I just think we’re all different running backs in that room,” Murray said. “So I think it starts there just bringing a different element to the backfield, to the running back room. You got James, you got Nyheim, you’ve got Damien, really all different, different in size even.
“What stands out first and foremost is that my size and my speed at that size. And so I think this offense has been great at finding ways to put players in positions, players that do things that they do well. And so I look forward to exploring that and learning the offense and fitting in.”
The Bills will probably continue to scour the free agent bargain bin for a defensive tackle and perhaps a middle linebacker because they did not draft anyone who could come in and compete to win Tremaine Edmunds’ job.
Sal Maiorana can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. To subscribe to Sal’s newsletter, Bills Blast, which will come out every Friday during the offseason, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Latavius Murray signs with Buffalo Bills to add running back option