Bills players under contract will begin reporting today at St. John Fisher with the first practice of training camp to get underway early Friday. But four rookies are unable to do that as of this morning as Buffalo's top three draft choices and sixth-round pick Xavier Omon remain unsigned.
Bills Senior Vice President of Football Administration Jim Overdorf and the pro personnel staff have worked diligently to bring contract negotiations to a conclusion, but the pace of contract agreements across the league has slowed the past week.
But Buffalo's front office is not going to use that as an excuse.
"Each year we go through the process and we are coming along with our picks," said Bills COO Russ Brandon. "Jim and the football operations staff are working hard in an effort to get everyone here."
The Bills current front office staff has been in this position before. Last year Overdorf and his staff worked around the clock and completed a flurry of signings the day before camp opened signing Paul Posluszny, John Wendling and Dwayne Wright prior to the team's first practice. Marshawn Lynch then signed a day later.
The club just signed fifth-round pick Alvin Bowen late Wednesday. Significant progress has been made with third-round pick Chris Ellis.
Being a sixth-round choice and at a deep position on Buffalo's roster running back Xavier Omon would be best served to be in camp on time, but he recently changed agents which put his negotiations in a holding pattern for a time.
Still with a majority of the sixth-round picks in the NFL now signed completing a deal with Omon isn't expected to be especially difficult.
The challenge, as is usually the case, lies with Buffalo's top two selections in James Hardy and Leodis McKelvin. The contracts are usually more complex and thus more challenging to complete in a timely fashion.
