The Bills have re-signed 30-year old safety Bryan Scott.  Scott played in all 16 games for the Bills last year and he had 66 tackles, 1 sack, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 fumble recovery, 6 passes defensed and 2 interceptions (one returned for a TD).  Scott has now played in 71 games in his first five years with the Bills and he has 282 tackles, 18 passes defensed, 3 interceptions (one returned for a TD), 3 tackles for a loss, 7 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 4 fumble recoveries.  This was a good move for the Bills as Scott is a solid player.

The Bills have re-signed 27-year old WR Derek Hagan.  Hagan played in 4 games for the Bills last year and he caught 13 passes for 138 yards (10.6 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He played in 10 games overall last year for the Raiders & Bills and he caught 24 passes for 252 yards (10.5 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Hagan has now played in 69 games in his first six years in the NFL and he has caught 109 passes for 1,221 yards (11.2 avg) with 6 TD grabs.  This was a good move for the Bills as Hagan played pretty well for them last year.

The Bills have signed 27-year old DE Mario Williams to a 6-year, $100 million dollar deal ($50 million guaranteed).  Williams played in 5 games for the Bills last year and he had 11 tackles, 5 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 1 pass defensed.  Williams has now played in 82 games in his first six years in the NFL and he has 241 tackles, 53 sacks, 26 tackles for a loss, 11 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries and 10 passes defensed.  This was a outstanding move for the Bills as they had virtually no pass rush last year.  Williams will return to playing DE (his natural position) after playing outside linebacker for the Texans last year.

The Buffalo Bills re-sign 30-year old linebacker Kirk Morrison to a 2-year deal.  Morrison played in 14 games for the Bills last year and he had 7 tackles, 1 sack and 1 pass defensed.  Morrison has now played in 110 games in his first 7 years in the NFL and he has 728 tackles, 41 tackles for a loss, 6 sacks, 6 forced fumbles, 5 fumble recoveries, 21 passes defensed and 7 interceptions.  This was a good move for the Bills as Morrison is still a pretty solid linebacker.

The Bills have re-signed 26-year old TE Scott Chandler to a 2-year contract.  Chandler played in 14 games for the Bills last year and he caught 38 passes for 389 yards (10.2 avg) with 6 TD grabs.  He has now played in 18 games in his first two years with the Bills and he has caught 39 passes for 397 yards (10.2 avg) with 6 TD grabs.  This was a good move for the Bills as Chandler really stepped up for them last year, especially in the red zone.

The Buffalo Bills have re-signed 29-year old WR Ruvell Martin.  Martin played in 14 games for the Bills last year and he caught 7 passes for 82 yards (11.7 avg).  He also was a solid special teams player as he had 11 tackles and 2 forced fumbles.  Martin has now played in 68 games in his first six years in the NFL and he has caught 72 passes for 1,088 yards (15.1 avg) with 7 TD grabs.  He also has 18 tackles and 2 forced fumbles so far in his career.  This was a good move for the Bills as Martin gives them depth at WR while excelling on special teams.

The Buffalo Bills have re-signed 25-year old WR Stevie Johnson to a 5-year, $36.25 million bucks with $19.5 million bucks guaranteed.  Johnson played in all 16 games for the Bills last year and he caught 76 passes for 1,004 yards (13.2 avg) with 7 TD grabs.  Johnson has now played in 48 games in his first four years with the Bills and he has caught 170 passes for 2,189 yards (12.9 avg) with 19 TD grabs.  It was smart of the Bills to re-sign Stevie Johnson as he gives them a true #1 WR for Ryan Fitzpatrick to aim at.

The Bills have released 27-year old safety Jon Corto.  Corto didn’t play a down last year for the Bills as he spent 2011 on the Injured Reserve List.  He played in 43 games in his four years with the Bills and he had 37 tackles and he forced 2 fumbles.  This isn’t much of a loss for the Bills as Corto did most of his work on special teams.

The Bills have re-signed 35-year old kicker Rian Lindell.  Lindell played in 8 games (0 starts) last year for the Bills and he connected on 13 of 15 field goals (86.7%) and he made all 25 of his extra points, good for 64 points.  Lindell has now played in 136 games in his first 9 years with the Bills and he has nailed 204 of 246 field goals (82.9%) and 266 of 267 extra points, good for 878 points.  This was a good move for the Bills because they can’t afford to leave any points on the field.

The Buffalo Bills took seven defensive players and only two offensive players in last April’s NFL Draft.  The early returns are good on this bunch overall.  Here is a look at how they did as rookies in 2011:

The Bills took 22-year old DE Marcell Dareus in the 1st round of the NFL Draft last April.  He played in 16 games for the Bills last year and he had 43 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 4 tackles for a loss, 1 fumble recovery and 2 passes defensed.  Dareus really started to excel after the Bills switched him back to DT after he started the season at DE.

21-year old CB Aaron Williams came to the Bills in the 2nd round.  He played in 9 games for the Bills last year and he had 32 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 forced fumble, 1 interception and 5 passes defensed.  Williams will likely earn his way into the starting lineup in the near future.

24-year old LB Kevin Sheppard was the Bills’ 3rd round pick last April.  He played in 16 games for the Bills last year and he had 70 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 fumble recovery and 1 pass defensed.  Sheppard will likely have his P.T. increase in 2012 as he looked pretty solid for the Bills last year.

23-year old safety Da’Norris Searcy was solid as a rookie for the Bills last year.  He was picked in the 4th round.  Searcy played in all 16 games for the Bills last year and he had 34 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception.  He was a very solid #3 safety for the Bills last year, and he could develop into a starter in the very near future.

22-year old OT Chris Hairston was also pitched in the 4th round by the Bills last year.  Hairston played in 13 games (7 starts) for the Bills last year and he could be a full time starter in the very near future.

23-year old RB Johnny White was selected in the 5th round by the Bills last April.  He played in 12 games for the Bills last year and he carried the ball 12 times for 38 yards (3.2 ypc) and he also caught 1 pass for -3 yards.  White also had five tackles last year for the Bills.  White is pretty far down the Bills’ depth chart at RB.

22-year old LB Chris White came to the Bills in the 6th round of the 2011 NFL Draft.  He played in 7 games and he had 8 tackles and 2 forced fumbles.  He will likely be back on special teams for the Bills in 2012.

23-year old CB Justin Rogers was a pretty good pickup for the Bills in the 7th round last April.  Rogers played in 13 games for the Bills last year and he had 16 tackles, 4 passes defensed and 1 interception.  He also returned 13 kickoffs for 373 yards (28.7 avg) last year for the Bills.  He has a nice upside.

25-year old DT Michael Jasper came to the Bills in the 7th round.  The 6’4″, 394 pound Jasper didn’t get into any games as a rookie last year for the Bills.

GRADE FOR 2011:  B+

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  A