Veteran Kareem Jackson is signing a one-year deal with the Buffalo Bills

This offseason, the Buffalo Bills decided to hit a slight rebuild. The team either traded away or let a number of their top player walk in free agency. In the secondary, Buffalo’s safety tandem of Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer is finally split up. It will be the first time since 2017 that they are not starting for the Bills. Hyde left in free agency to the Dolphins and Poyer is expected to retire. 

With both those players gone, the Bills have brought in some veteran help at safety. The Bills announced this morning that 36-year-old Kareem Jackson is signing a one-year deal with Buffalo. Jackson will be entering his 15th professional season in 2024. Safety Mike Edwards suffered a hamstring injury during training camp. He’s considered week-to-week. Kareem Jackson is a veteran player that head coach Sean McDermott can rely on.

Kareem Jackson will play the 2024 season with the Buffalo Bills

Bills announced they signed veteran S Kareem Jackson to a one-year contract. pic.twitter.com/GoAb98VGem

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 30, 2024

With the 20th pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, the Houston Texans selected Kareem Jackson out of Alabama. He was part of the Crimson Tide national championship team in 2009. Jackson played the first nine seasons of his career with the Houston Texans. Ahead of the 2019 season, Jackson signed with the Denver Broncos. The veteran started all 69 games of his career with Denver. During the 2023 season, Jackson was released in December.

Jackson was picked up off waivers by the Texans and was an added piece to their secondary. In 10 seasons with the Texans, Jackson started in 124 of his 134 games. He did not make any starts in 2023 for the Texans. The same might be true for Jackson in 2024 with the Bills. Ideally, the veteran player is someone who comes off the bench and is not playing heavy minutes. However, the Bills did lose a lot of talent in the secondary. Head coach Sean McDermott might have to rely on Jackson more than he’d like to start the season. Taylor Rapp and Mike Edwards are in the depth chart as the starting safeties for the Bills. Damar Hamlin, Kareem Jackson, and rookie Cole Bishop could all see playing time this season.