Bills sign Latavius Murray to a one-year deal

[BillsFanForever19]

17 minutes ago, IronMaidenBills said:

Nope, guaranteed he sees the field a decent amount this year. If and when will be on primarily 3rd downs. He will be used to block a good amount. 

 

Guaranteed he won't if Cook, Harris, and Hines all stay healthy.

 

Like I said, Beane dresses 3 RB's. And Murray will not play in place of Cook, Harris, or Hines.

 

Murray was a Practice Squad RB all of last season. He only saw the field because of injuries. It will be the same thing here. If there's an injury to any of the 3 - he'll be dressed and playing. Barring an injury, he will not.

Edited May 2, 2023 by BillsFanForever19

[QLBillsFan]

4 hours ago, TheBeaneBandit said:

Not good news for Cook then.

Cook is the 1 Murray plays if injuries happen 

[Buffalo Barbarian]

15 hours ago, McBean said:

Thank God.

 

Got our Bijan folks!

 

Peterson light

 

 

[QLBillsFan]

3 hours ago, Bills Bud said:

Good pick up, power back that will take some pressure off Josh to run in it in close to the goal line and on 3rd and short. We want Josh to take less hits. Don't be surprises if Harris or Hines gets cut since they are similar backs.

Harris is closer to Murray than Hines. Harris gets hurt Murray steps in. Cook and Hines similar. Hines ST and occasional 3rd downs. He was good in Indy w screen game, something Bills are dreadful at. Hope Dorsey puts a few in this year. 

[AuntieEm]

1 hour ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

 

Guaranteed he won't if Cook, Harris, and Hines all stay healthy.

 

Like I said, Beane dresses 3 RB's. And Murray will not play in place of Cook, Harris, or Hines.

 

Murray was a Practice Squad RB all of last season. He only saw the field because of injuries. It will be the same thing here. If there's an injury to any of the 3 - he'll be dressed and playing. Barring an injury, he will not.

 

    That's fine by me.  If the other rbs are getting the job done and Murray only contribution is in practice settings .while the others get the job done behind a oline that can open up running lanes for them he gets to collect his vet minimum pay while being inactive each week I hope he ends up with a SB ring.   

 

 

 

[BillsFanForever19]

18 minutes ago, AuntieEm said:

 

    That's fine by me.  If the other rbs are getting the job done and Murray only contribution is in practice settings .while the others get the job done behind a oline that can open up running lanes for them he gets to collect his vet minimum pay while being inactive each week I hope he ends up with a SB ring.   

 

He's a great insurance policy. He may make the 53 as the 4th RB. But as I said, he's this year's TJ Yeldon, Matt Breida, or Duke Johnson. Break Glass in Case of Emergency Veteran RB, who can be relied upon if there's an injury.

 

And like you said, here's hoping we'll never have to break the glass and he gets a ring.

[John from Riverside]

2 hours ago, IronMaidenBills said:

Nope, guaranteed he sees the field a decent amount this year. If and when will be on primarily 3rd downs. He will be used to block a good amount. 

It’s really gonna boil down to how they use James Cook
 

I think James Cook is going to see a ton of work

 

But one thing is for sure the bills definitely address the position

[BillsFan619]

I know we’ve been one of these teams for a couple years now but it’s still cool to see.

 

I didn’t know he grew up in New York. Hopefully he gets the ring we’ve all been wanting for, for our team. Go Bills!

 

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/latavius-murray-wants-super-bowl-190814336.html

[DJB]

[akm0404]

The whole “he will never be active barring injury” thing is silly. We are going to have multiple rbs banged up all the time. Even the odds of making it to week 1 completely healthy is low. Depth is good, depth wins championships. 

[The_Ripster]

Harris and Murray sounds like a New England backfield

[Heavy Kevi]

1 hour ago, akm0404 said:

The whole “he will never be active barring injury” thing is silly. We are going to have multiple rbs banged up all the time. Even the odds of making it to week 1 completely healthy is low. Depth is good, depth wins championships. 

 

Absolutely. We need "too many" weapons so that when some of them undoubtedly go down to injury, Josh isn't left with just a nerf gun and a few koosh balls.

[Warriorspikes51]

9 hours ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

Latavius isn't going to see the field unless there's an injury. All this talk about what he can do paired with whomever is moot.

 

He's good for depth in case of an injury. But he will not dress on Sunday's unless that happens. He's this year's TJ Yeldon, Matt Breida, or Duke Johnson. He'll be at best our 4th RB on the 53 who doesn't see the field and at worst our Practice Squad RB.

 

McDermott has only ever dressed 3 RB's on Sundays. 2 True RB's and one who plays ST's (was Taiwan Jones and Senorise Perry the one year Jones wasn't here). Cook and Harris will dress with Hines providing more offensive capability than previous ST's backs (while still providing ST Return capability).

 

Haha Murray is so much better than Yeldon, Breida or Duke Johnson.   
With Taiwan no longer on the team, I can see all 4 RBs active on gameday. They each add value 

[Warriorspikes51]

Beane specifically mentions short yardage usage.  I'd expect him to be on the field for 3rd and short + Goal line at minimum 

 

[MikePJ76]

I like the signing.  For Buffalo to get over the hump they need to become more of a tough gritty physical team and that starts in the running game.  Murray has the size and runs with some physicality and his experience is a plus.

[Warriorspikes51]

Beane mentioned Murray again on the Rich Eisen show as "short yardage and goal line"

[without a drought]

They might need 10 RBs on game day to cover all possible scenarios that might come up.

 

 

[SCBills]

7 minutes ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

Beane mentioned Murray again on the Rich Eisen show as "short yardage and goal line"

 

Yea, sounds like he has a role.  Wonder if we keep 4 RB's with Cook/Harris as 1-2, Murray as short yardage and Hines as KR/PR/Gadget.

[John from Riverside]

I know that a lot of people feel that the game is changed, but I still think that when the weather changes and it gets cold, you want to be able to pound the ball, and even though we have a unicorn quarterback, they can throw it anywhere receiver still have to catch it in that weather
 

If you can turn it out on the ground and keep getting first downs and not have to put the ball in the air the chances of turnovers and having to punt go down and you allow your big smashing offense of line to start wearing on a defense and when it gets cold, they don’t want to tackle big backs

 

If you can play good defense and do that when the weather turns bad, you can demoralize a team

[JohnBonhamRocks]

Hines might be in line for the limited role instead of Murray. He only got the ball on offense 11 times last year. 

 

Personally I think Hines should be worked regularly into the offense, but won’t be surprised if he sees the least offensive touches just based on recent history. 

[ColoradoBills]

10 hours ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

 

Guaranteed he won't if Cook, Harris, and Hines all stay healthy.

 

Like I said, Beane dresses 3 RB's. And Murray will not play in place of Cook, Harris, or Hines.

 

Murray was a Practice Squad RB all of last season. He only saw the field because of injuries. It will be the same thing here. If there's an injury to any of the 3 - he'll be dressed and playing. Barring an injury, he will not.

 

Murray was signed off the Saints PS by the Broncos 53 in early October.  He stayed on the team all year.

[Shaw66]

Just came to this thread and haven't read much of it. 

 

Having watched the Murray press conference, it's now clear that Murray is, as someone said, the veteran presence in the running back room.  He may be there just to mentor Cook.   He's known Cook a long time, because he played with Dalvin and followed James's career in college with Dalvin.   Listen to the presser, and you can hear how serious he is about football. 

 

He isn't retired for only one reason:  He wants a ring.  That's it.   He's in Buffalo to do whatever he can to win the ring.   I think he wouldn't care if he didn't get one carry.    I think he'll get plenty, because he is a solid NFL back, but we'll see.  The Bills told him that he had to wait until after the draft, because if the Bills drafted a running back he was out.   He's been around the league long enough to understand that, and he was willing to wait to see what happened in the draft.   It's interesting that Beane called his agent during the draft to ask if Murray would sign with Buffalo if the Bills wanted him.   Beane wanted to know he didn't need to draft a running back.  Agent said yes, Murray will sign, so Beane did day three of the draft knowing the running backs were off his list.  

 

All interesting stuff. 

 

I think Beane has had a great off season. 

 

 

[Shaw66]

By the way, Murray is 15+ years out of Syracuse, but he still has ties there.   He raising money to build a community center in his small town.  I sent a donation.   He's a serious guy, and he's committed to doing good things.  

[Kaenon]

Had one of his best statistical years last year, but he's 33.

Vet presence? Idk...

[Straight Hucklebuck]

Will the Bills stay determined to run the ball more?

 

[The Frankish Reich]

13 minutes ago, Kaenon said:

Had one of his best statistical years last year, but he's 33.

Vet presence? Idk...

He was effective last year, and while he's definitely old, I see no reason to expect a significant drop-off this year, particularly (barring injury to the key guys!) with limited usage. I like the signing.

[MikePJ76]

Signing Murray and now Poona Ford is a big help.  Love both of these signings.

[Shaw66]

2 hours ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:

Will the Bills stay determined to run the ball more?

 

Well, of course, we will know the answer to that only as the season plays out, but they couldn't have done much more to show their determination beyond what they've done already.   Clear upgrades at guard, and more depth as a result, and the addition of two guys who have been successful power running backs.   Harris and Murray aren't tweeners like Motor.   They are full-fledged modern power running backs, guys with power to push the pile AND enough speed and mobility to take advantage of seems.  It's possible that by December they will be after-thoughts in the lineup, but I doubt it.   I think the evidence says that Dorsey and McDermott want a running game that can punish you, a running game that forces you to respect the run, game in and game out.   If they can dominate with run at times, play action suddenly becomes a real weapon, too.  Draw the defense into the box and let your spiffy new tight end get behind the linebackers.  

[GreggTX]

Solid move. If Harris can't go, we still have a capable power funner.

[Straight Hucklebuck]

17 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Well, of course, we will know the answer to that only as the season plays out, but they couldn't have done much more to show their determination beyond what they've done already.   Clear upgrades at guard, and more depth as a result, and the addition of two guys who have been successful power running backs.   Harris and Murray aren't tweeners like Motor.   They are full-fledged modern power running backs, guys with power to push the pile AND enough speed and mobility to take advantage of seems.  It's possible that by December they will be after-thoughts in the lineup, but I doubt it.   I think the evidence says that Dorsey and McDermott want a running game that can punish you, a running game that forces you to respect the run, game in and game out.   If they can dominate with run at times, play action suddenly becomes a real weapon, too.  Draw the defense into the box and let your spiffy new tight end get behind the linebackers.  

Yes I agree with this. 

 

Right now I'd wager the Bills take more risks on defense, and they pull back the offense from the dependence on the big play. The offense may look more like 2019. 

Edited May 2, 2023 by Straight Hucklebuck

[HappyDays]

 

[No_Matter_What]

52 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

Details are also on Sportrac https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/latavius-murray-12463/

 

Cap hit less than $1.1M, dead cap if cut 800k. So great signing if he makes the roster, costly one if he doesn't.

[ColoradoBills]

1 hour ago, No_Matter_What said:

Details are also on Sportrac https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/latavius-murray-12463/

 

Cap hit less than $1.1M, dead cap if cut 800k. So great signing if he makes the roster, costly one if he doesn't.

 

I think he is committed to being a Buffalo Bill.  The 800k dead cap could mean if needed to for a while, he is happy to go the PS.

He stays in Buffalo all year, one way or another.

[AuntieEm]

On 5/2/2023 at 12:56 PM, Shaw66 said:

Just came to this thread and haven't read much of it. 

 

Having watched the Murray press conference, it's now clear that Murray is, as someone said, the veteran presence in the running back room.  He may be there just to mentor Cook.   He's known Cook a long time, because he played with Dalvin and followed James's career in college with Dalvin.   Listen to the presser, and you can hear how serious he is about football. 

 

He isn't retired for only one reason:  He wants a ring.  That's it.   He's in Buffalo to do whatever he can to win the ring.   I think he wouldn't care if he didn't get one carry.    I think he'll get plenty, because he is a solid NFL back, but we'll see.  The Bills told him that he had to wait until after the draft, because if the Bills drafted a running back he was out.   He's been around the league long enough to understand that, and he was willing to wait to see what happened in the draft.   It's interesting that Beane called his agent during the draft to ask if Murray would sign with Buffalo if the Bills wanted him.   Beane wanted to know he didn't need to draft a running back.  Agent said yes, Murray will sign, so Beane did day three of the draft knowing the running backs were off his list.  

 

All interesting stuff. 

 

I think Beane has had a great off season. 

 

 

 

I also love to see there is good communication between Beane and some agents so this type of conversation can take place.  After seeing that fiasco last year with that rb from Washington and being used as leverage just to have him sign back with WFT.

 

Also helps that Buffalo does have a good reputation with the entire organization being well run and when anything Bills related goes viral its generally something very positive.  

 

Often overlooked is that the Bills have a top notch PR team.  While other teams may promote their top stars the Bills seem to help promote all of their players.  Other teams PR hoping they don't have to clean up any media mess from a players actions, Bills PR works with various players to let them showcase their personalities. Those Keenum undercover videos were great and I wish him well with his new team unless it's vs us.  Not a bad thing to have a team with good PR help you when you will be likely retiring soon and transitioning to another career. 

 

Of course in the case I imagine that being so close to his hometown is a big factor.  I mean he could have his closest family popping in to visit on a regular basis being a reasonably short road trip from the Syracuse area.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Shaw66]

14 minutes ago, AuntieEm said:

 

I also love to see there is good communication between Beane and some agents so this type of conversation can take place.  After seeing that fiasco last year with that rb from Washington and being used as leverage just to have him sign back with WFT.

 

Also helps that Buffalo does have a good reputation with the entire organization being well run and when anything Bills related goes viral its generally something very positive.  

 

Often overlooked is that the Bills have a top notch PR team.  While other teams may promote their top stars the Bills seem to help promote all of their players.  Other teams PR hoping they don't have to clean up any media mess from a players actions, Bills PR works with various players to let them showcase their personalities. Those Keenum undercover videos were great and I wish him well with his new team unless it's vs us.  Not a bad thing to have a team with good PR help you when you will be likely retiring soon and transitioning to another career. 

 

Of course in the case I imagine that being so close to his hometown is a big factor.  I mean he could have his closest family popping in to visit on a regular basis being a reasonably short road trip from the Syracuse area.  

 

All of this, especially the first paragraph.   Did you see the Bills video of the draft room for the first round pick?  Bills decide to move up for Kincaid, and as they're calling the Giants to make the deal, the Giants put their pick in, because their guy was still on the board.   So, Bean said to someone, "Get Jacksonville on the phone."  Completely calm and collected.   Then the conversation is totally no nonsense.   Beane only says about five words and hangs up.  It was clear that he was operating on trust with the guys he was talking (of course, one was Schoen).   

 

Everything about this organization makes them attractive.  The weight room.  The PR.  What the players say about the team.  Murray (and Poona) want to come to Buffalo.  Undrafted free agents want to come to Buffalo.  Kincaid was so happy the moment he got drafted, he looked like he would burst.  

 

It's quite impressive. 

[WotAGuy]

On 5/2/2023 at 1:09 PM, Shaw66 said:

By the way, Murray is 15+ years out of Syracuse, but he still has ties there.   He raising money to build a community center in his small town.  I sent a donation.   He's a serious guy, and he's committed to doing good things.  

The community center will be named for Jon Diaz who was shot and killed after an altercation in Syracuse on Thanksgiving Eve a few years ago.  Very sad ending for a young man, who by all accounts, was a really good guy. 

[hondo in seattle]

On 5/2/2023 at 10:28 AM, Straight Hucklebuck said:

Will the Bills stay determined to run the ball more?

 

 

I don't know if it's Dorsey's idea specifically to run the ball more.  My guess is that he wants RBs to run the ball more with Josh running it less.

 

I also think that he wants to be able to take advantage of teams who play against the pass with Nickel and Dime packages.  He wants to have the capability to disincentivize them from selling out to stop Josh.  

[WotAGuy]

1 minute ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

I don't know if it's Dorsey's idea specifically to run the ball more.  My guess is that he wants RBs to run the ball more with Josh running it less.

 

I also think that he wants to be able to take advantage of teams who play against the pass with Nickel and Dime packages.  He wants to have the capability to disincentivize them from selling out to stop Josh.  

Not to mention the Bills couldn’t punch over a short yardage TD or first down to save their lives the last few years. 

[Straight Hucklebuck]

19 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

All of this, especially the first paragraph.   Did you see the Bills video of the draft room for the first round pick?  Bills decide to move up for Kincaid, and as they're calling the Giants to make the deal, the Giants put their pick in, because their guy was still on the board.   So, Bean said to someone, "Get Jacksonville on the phone."  Completely calm and collected.   Then the conversation is totally no nonsense.   Beane only says about five words and hangs up.  It was clear that he was operating on trust with the guys he was talking (of course, one was Schoen).   

 

Everything about this organization makes them attractive.  The weight room.  The PR.  What the players say about the team.  Murray (and Poona) want to come to Buffalo.  Undrafted free agents want to come to Buffalo.  Kincaid was so happy the moment he got drafted, he looked like he would burst.  

 

It's quite impressive. 

For Beane to cram in this many FAs with the money he had available is impressive. 

 

Say for instance the Bengals? Week one of FA they don't try to get Hurst, Bates, Bell back. Pratt signs a below-market value contract to stay in Cincinnati. They get their LT, so props there, then Perine walks, and they done hardly anything else. 

 

After Poyer, the Bills continued on getting Rapp, Anderson, Phillips, Lawson, Harris, Murray and now Ford to sign, extending Bass. The Bills have seemingly had less than $10M to spend for weeks, and they're still getting veterans to sign. 

[Warriorspikes51]

Bills are finally getting more physical