On Thursday, the Buffalo Bills lost two members of their secondary to the reserve/COVID-19 list, at least for the time being, in Siran Neal and rookie Dane Jackson.
The team is now reportedly looking to add some depth as NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero says that veteran cornerback Akeem King is in Buffalo to take a physical.
Former #Seahawks CB Akeem King is in Buffalo to take a physical with the #Bills, source said. King played in 29 games (four starts) over the past two seasons in Seattle. Some experienced secondary help if all goes well medically.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 31, 2020
King has played 34 games in the NFL, five for the Atlanta Falcons in 2015, then 29 for the Seattle Seahawks in 2018 and 2019. In between, King spent time on injured reserve and practice squads.
Although King’s base position is cornerback, he could provide more value for the Bills on special teams. In each of the last two seasons, King played a higher percentage of special teams snaps than defensive snaps. In 2018, King played 29.2% of Seattle’s special teams snaps compared to just 14.6% on defense. Last season, he played 35.5% on special teams and 29.5% on defense.
Most of King’s time on defense was spent as the nickel cornerback. The Bills spend most of their time on defense in the nickel. Taron Johnson, who often occupies the inside corner position, played nearly half of the Bills snaps in 2019, even with missing four games due to injury.
The Bills are also hosting third year defensive tackle Niles Scott on a visit. Scott went undrafted in 2018, but played six games with the Bengals in his rookie campaign. He missed all of 2019 with a foot injury.
Bills starting defensive tackle Star Lotulelei opted out for the 2020 season this week.
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