A day after the season ended the Bills wasted no time in re-signing a handful of future free agents. Buffalo re-signed five players from their 2012 practice squad ensuring that they'll be back with the club for this coming offseason and training camp.
The Bills signed RB Zach Brown, DE Corbin Bryant, DT Jarron Gilbert, OT Adam Grant and LB Brian Smith.
Brown (5'10" 220) first joined the club as a late training camp addition, but did not make the 53-man roster. The Pitt product re-joined the team on Dec. 11th when he was signed to the practice squad.
Bryant (6'4" 300) was signed to the Bills practice squad on Nov. 28th after there was a vacancy on the eight-man unit. He entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with Pittsburgh in 2011. The Northwestern product spent portions of the 2011 and 2012 seasons on the Steelers' Practice Squad and 53-man roster.
Gilbert (6'5" 289) came very close to making the 53-man roster out of training camp with the Bills, but spent the entire 2012 campaign on the practice squad. The former third-round pick (2010) has spent time with Chicago and the Jets before latching on with Buffalo, appearing in a total of five NFL games in his career.
Grant (6'6" 325) was signed by the Bills on Dec. 5. He originally entered the league as an undrafted free agent with Denver in 2011 and spent 2011 and portions of 2012 on the Broncos practice squad.
Finally, Smith (6'3" 240) just joined the team on Dec. 18, but apparently made enough of an impression to get re-signed by Buffalo. The linebacker began his NFL career with Cleveland as an undrafted rookie where he appeared in two games in 2011. He spent his 2012 training camp with Tampa Bay.
NFL clubs typically have a week from the time their season ends to retain rights of their practice squad players by signing them to a futures contract. That's usually when the player's practice squad contract expires.
