Bills safety likely out for season

The Buffalo Bills placed Taylor Rapp on IR before their Week 8 game. While that move only mandates a four-game absence, the veteran safety appears unlikely to factor into Buffalo’s plans for the rest of the season.

Sean McDermott confirmed (via The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia) Rapp underwent knee surgery this week; that procedure is likely to shelve him for the rest of the season. While the ninth-year HC did not confirm Rapp is done, it does not sound like he will factor into the Bills’ IR-return calculus this season.

Rapp had not played well before being moved to IR; Pro Football Focus rated him 84th out of 88 qualified safeties. The Bills had re-signed Rapp in 2024, giving him a low-cost deal (three years, $10.63M) to stick around and replace Jordan Poyer at the position. After Poyer’s Dolphins one-off, he is back receiving regular reps. The Bills have signed Poyer from the practice squad ahead of their pivotal Week 9 Chiefs matchup.

While Micah Hyde‘s second stint did not involve any game action (before the standout’s offseason retirement), Poyer has taken over as Buffalo’s primary option alongside Cole Bishop. The Bills also have Damar Hamlin on IR, thinning their safety corps to the point Poyer (34) is suddenly being counted on — while tied to vet-minimum money — after the team released him in March 2024.

Hamlin and Rapp’s exits have Cam Lewis, Sam Franklin and fifth-round rookie Jordan Hancock as Buffalo’s backups at safety. Rapp is on Buffalo’s books for 2026, but his base salary ($2.58M) is nonguaranteed.

Additionally, McDermott said (via Buscaglia) the team hopes second-round defensive tackle T.J. Sanders — on IR after knee surgery — will be able to return in a few weeks. The Bills are in decent shape for injury activations, having only used two thus far. The Bills are in trouble at defensive tackle, however, with Ed Oliver‘s best-case scenario of returning from a biceps tear being late in a potential playoff run. Also ruling out DaQuan Jones for the annual Kansas City regular-season matchup, the team has fourth-round rookie Deone Walker and Larry Ogunjobi in place at the position. Buffalo mainstay Jordan Phillips is also back on the team’s 53-man roster as a rotational option.