Taylor Rapp was forced to accept a one-year, $1.77 million contract with the Buffalo Bills, a team that already had two starting safety of the highest caliber, as a free agency for the first time last year. He was leaving the Los Angeles Rams to start over, not necessarily to make a fresh start. Rapp did had the chance to start this week, as the Bills cut loose Jordan Poyer and appear to be parting ways with free agent Micah Hyde, making room for a new safety. In response, Buffalo offered Rapp a contract that could total up to $14.5 million over three years prior to his free agency.
In 2023, Rapp had four starts, totaling 50 tackles and one interception. Other than missing nearly all the season in 2020, it was the fewest snaps he had ever played. Rapp did, however, play a career-high 191 special teams snaps and stayed with Buffalo until an opportunity—which it obviously has—came along. The Bills are paying other former Rams as well.
In 2023, guard David Edwards also traveled from Los Angeles to Buffalo during free agency. On Wednesday, the Bills extended his contract by two years and $6 million. Similar to Rapp, Edwards appears to be being signed as a utility backup rather than a starter, although he might be holding out for the ideal opportunity. Edwards, a fifth-round pick in 2019, had 148 snaps as a reserve and 80 on special teams for the Bills in 2023, although he did not start any games.
The Rams can be happy that two guys they cultivated have been paid not only once but twice more; they are not really missing Rapp or Edwards.
