BREAKING: The Bills Activate CB Kaiir Elam Off IR

Orchard Park, N.Y. – The Buffalo Bills added some much needed CB depth Wednesday morning, activating CB Kaiir Elam off of IR on the final day they could do so. Elam has been dealing with an ankle injury, and wound up being placed on IR on November 2nd. Kaiir was dealing with this injury since the preseason, and the team shut him down following the Tampa Bay Buccaneers game to allow him to get healthy. So, let’s break this down.

CB Room (11)

• Rasul Douglas
• Kaiir Elam
• Christian Benford
• Dane Jackson
• Cam Lewis
• Taron Johnson
• Siran Neal
• Josh Norman (practice squad)
• Ja’Marcus Ingram (practice squad)
• Kyron Brown (practice squad)
• Herb Miller (practice squad)

What Elam brings to the Bills defense

While he hasn’t been a part of the team’s rotation in the past (pre-Rasul Douglas era), this move gives the Bills needed flexibility at the position in case a player were to go down. Because, let’s face it, all of us would rather see Kaiir Elam on the field over Josh Norman, right?

Elam has the length and speed the Bills need to match some of the corners they’re about to face, whether that’s in the regular season or the postseason. With Douglas and Benford locking down the starting jobs, Elam will rotate in with Jackson instead of seeing Cam Lewis subbing in for an injury. As I mentioned earlier, Elam has only played in three games for the Bills this year. In those three games, he has totaled 14 tackles.

Other injuries to note

The Bills still have a plethora of players on IR, with two other practice windows expiring soon. DaQuan Jones is starting the second week of his 21-day window, and Justin Shorter has until January 3rd to be activated. With the roster at 53 players now, we might not see Shorter return. With DaQuan Jones and Jordan Phillips coming back, it’ll be hard to find room for them in addition to Shorter.

Featured Image Credit: AP Photo/Matt Durisko