One free agent visit was all offensive tackle Cornell Green would need. He had other visits lined up after Buffalo, but after his meetings with the Bills staff he was ready to sign on the dotted line Monday as he agreed to a multi-year contract with the Bills.
"At the end of the day Buffalo made me feel real comfortable," said Green. I came out here (Sunday) and everything was first class. I feel comfortable here, feel comfortable moving my family here. Everything was positive."
Green (6'6" 315) is Buffalo's first signing of the free agent period, which began last Friday. With 89 games and 46 career starts under his belt, Green is expected to bring some welcome veteran leadership to an offensive line that is still quite young.
"I've been in the league 10 years now and one thing they've encouraged me to bring here is the leadership I do have," Green told Buffalobills.com. "I've been waiting for a long time to get this opportunity to be a leader and be an example for other guys. I've been a lot of places in my career. I've won a Super Bowl in Tampa so I bring some intangibles that a lot of guys don't have right now because of their inexperience. I'm just willing to work with the guys and be a part of the team."
After his conversations with Buffalo's coaching staff over the past day or so, Green believes he'll be manning the right tackle position when all is said and done, a position that's very familiar to him.
"I've been playing right tackle for most of my career," he said. "I'm very comfortable there. There's not going to be a transition at all for me. I'll be playing right tackle and be wearing big number 74."
Filling that right tackle position was essential for the Bills following the sudden retirement of Brad Butler last month. Right tackle is where Green has spent the past three seasons for the Oakland Raiders.
What encourages Green the most about his new team is the approach head coach Chan Gailey intends to implement, especially when it comes to the ground game.
"That's where the game is won and lost in the trenches," Green told Buffalobills.com. "I'm a firm believer in running the ball and passing and getting that going. One thing I will bring is a lot of toughness to the line. I love the run blocking and love the scheme that we're going to be doing here. So I'm proud to be a part of this."
Green's conversation with Gailey is what sold him on Buffalo as he was nothing but impressed with the Bills head coach.
"He's a first class guy," said Green of Gailey. "He wants to change the environment here and make it family so the locker room is good and have people that are accountable to what he wants to do. He wants all of us to come up and work out and make it a positive climate. I'm very excited to work with coach. He gave me a lot of good insight and told me what direction he wanted to go in and I want to do everything in my power to help him do that."
Green has also played for Tampa Bay and Denver in his career. He was also on the roster of the New York Jets for his first two seasons in the league.
Set to turn 34 before next season, Green made 12 starts last season for the Raiders.
