BREAKING: Bills Sign S Taylor Rapp

The Buffalo Bills made another addition to their defensive backfield Monday afternoon, as they signed S Taylor Rapp to a one-year deal, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Rapp spent his first four seasons with the Los Angeles Rams after they drafted him with their second-round pick in 2019. He went to Washington State for three years where he accumulated 168 total tackles, seven INTs and six sacks. The Bills now have the Rams’ 2019 second-round pick and their 2019 fifth-round pick, as they signed OG David Edwards last week.

As for his years in the NFL, here’s a look at Rapp’s career stats:

Taylor Rapp’s Career Stats:

2019:
15 games (10 starts)
100 tkls
2 INTs
63.3 PFF Grade

2020:
9 games (5 starts)
44 tkls
1 INT
67.5 PFF Grade

2021:
17 games (17 starts)
94 tkls
4 INTs
1.5 sacks
65.5 PFF Grade

2022:
16 games (16 starts)
92 tkls
2 INTs
76.2 PFF Grade#Bills

— Kevin Siracuse (@kevin_siracuse) March 27, 2023

Rapp fits the mold of the type of player the Bills have gone after this offseason — a young player coming off of his rookie contract with his best days still ahead of him. All of the players they have added so far in free agency are between the age of 25 and 27. The Bills are hoping that their coaching staff can develop these guys to the point where these deals will look like steals once the season starts.

According to Spotrac, Taylor Rapp’s market value was $10M. He was projected to get a 3-yr, $30.2M deal.

We don’t know the contract details yet, but for the #Bills to get this former second round pick (who has yet to his peak in the NFL) for presumably way less $, that’s a STEAL

— Kevin Siracuse (@kevin_siracuse) March 27, 2023

How Does Rapp Fit?

So now the question is, how will Taylor Rapp fit into the Bills’ defense? It was looking like the safety position was going to be a huge position to fill this offseason, but then the Bills were able to retain Jordan Poyer. Then, GM Brandon Beane said he thinks that Damar Hamlin will look to resume football activities. And now they add Rapp… That safety room is back to being one of the best in the NFL.

So, on the surface, it looks like Rapp will be the first backup to Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer. I think the Bills learned that you can never have too much depth after seeing what happened to Hyde, Poyer and Hamlin last year. As of right now, Buffalo has seven safeties who are under contract (Hyde, Poyer, Rapp, Hamlin, Cam Lewis, Zayne Anderson, and Jared Mayden).

With Hyde and Poyer entering the final stages of their careers (Hyde is a free agent after this upcoming season), this could be a sneaky good signing where the Bills are setting themselves up for the future. Given their cap situation and the low market for safeties, they may have persuaded Rapp to come here as a reliable backup this year, with the chance to cash in next year as Hyde’s replacement (or whenever he decides that it’s time to move on).

Three Safety Packages?

However, the Bills could use ALL THREE safeties this season. Rapp is very versatile, as he can play multiple different positions in the defensive backfield. (Click on the tweet to expand it.)

BREAKING NEWS: According to @AdamSchefter the Buffalo Bills have signed former starting Safety of the Los Angeles Rams Taylor Rapp to a 1-year deal. Rapp is a perfect fit for Sean McDermott's defense. He has the ability to play deep or in the box. He's 5'11" 208 pounds so he will… pic.twitter.com/oxpRA0tlvY

— Erik Turner (@ErikJTurner) March 27, 2023

How the Buffalo Bills plan on using Taylor Rapp remains to be seen. But with head coach Sean McDermott confirming today that he will be handling the defensive play calling this season, this is definitely an interesting signing. The Bills have attacked the offensive side of the ball so far in free agency; will they look to go after the defense this week?

Feature Image: Steph Chambers/Getty Images