Buffalo Bills want to keep Leodis McKelvin

Buffalo Bills General Manager Buddy Nix told WGR 550 that the Bills would like to keep impending free agent slot cornerback Leodis McKelvin, who had an excellent season as a returner and is one of the best KR/PR guys in the NFL. However, his skills as a CB leave something to be desired, as the former first-round selection out of Troy has never seen his potential materialize at CB.

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McKelvin, however, would like to see more playing time at CB, but that might not come in Buffalo. He was passed over for fellow slot guy Justin Rogers, and that decision made no sense. Rogers is just putrid in pass coverage and allowed a 93.3 QB Rating against, per the Pro Football Focus. McKelvin, on the other hand, graded out about average in coverage as opposed to Rogers’s horrendous grade that was the lowest on the team. McKelvin allowed just 59.4% of everything thrown at him to be complete, as he had a solid season overall despite getting destroyed in Week 1 against the New York Jets. After that ugly wake-up call, McKelvin settled down.

The 27-year-old’s importance to the team increased with the release of veteran Terrence McGee, and the cost-cutting move opens up the Bills pockets to keep McKelvin, who is also a quality run defender at the CB position. McKelvin is somebody that Nix says the Bills “would like to keep”.

The GM added, “We’d like to keep all our guys. There does come a time when you can’t keep everybody and it just doesn’t fit. If somebody else see their value as a lot more than we do then good luck to them and good luck to the player.”

That’s Nix’s way of saying that McKelvin might end up leaving because he wants to get more time at CB than the Bills are willing to give. Based on how he played in comparison to Rogers at CB in a supposed competition for the gig, it leaves fans wondering why in the world Nix and the Bills would prefer Rogers over McKelvin. The returning ability that McKelvin provides to this team is very valuable indeed, and I think the Bills would be wise to keep him.

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