The Buffalo Bills took the first step in restocking their quarterback position by agreeing to a two-year contract with A.J. McCarron.
The 27-year-old spent the past four seasons backing up Andy Dalton in Cincinnati after being selected by the Bengals in the fifth round of the 2014 draft.
McCarron’s signing on Wednesday came a few hours after the NFL’s free-agency period opened Harrison Phillips Jersey , and five days after Buffalo traded three-year starter Tyrod Taylor to Cleveland. The trade left 2017 fifth-round pick Nathan Peterman as the only quarterback on Buffalo’s roster.
General manager Brandon Beane said he intended to add a veteran quarterback this offseason to provide experience.
With two picks in each of the first three rounds of the draft, Buffalo also is expected to target one of the highly touted quarterback prospects.
McCarron was a two-time national champion at Alabama but appeared in just 11 games in Cincinnati, mostly in mop-up duties. McCarron did start the final three games of the 2015 season and led the Bengals to the playoffs after Dalton broke his thumb.
Against Pittsburgh in the wild-card playoff game, McCarron had the Bengals in position to win their first playoff game since the 1990 season. Jeremy Hill however lost a fumble, and penalties on Vontaze Burfict and Adam ”Pacman” Jones set up the Steelers for a winning field goal in the final seconds.
Though he missed his rookie season because of a sore passing shoulder, McCarron was allowed to become an unrestricted free agent after an independent arbitrator ruling last month. McCarron was also nearly traded to Cleveland last season, but the deal fell through after the Browns failed to submit the paperwork on time.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio — After losing two games to start the postseason Lane Taylor Jersey , the Washington Capitals stand on the brink of completing a comeback and advancing to the next round in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A 4-3 overtime victory on Saturday in Washington gave the Capitals a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series and put them one win from closing out the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Game 6 will be played Monday night at Nationwide Arena, where the Capitals already have won twice in the playoffs.
“It’s a big win moving forward,” Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin said after the fourth overtime game in the series. “We still have one more game. (We have to) just play our game. It’s simple but it’s hard. They’re not going to give us an easy one. It’s going to be interesting.”
The Capitals keep finding ways to win. Their latest victory came on a goal by Nicklas Backstrom, his second of the game, on a redirection of a shot by Dmitry Orlov at 11:53 of overtime after Washington was outshot 16-1 in the third period.
“We know (in a) best out of seven series we need to be a little better if we’re going to win it,” Backstrom said. “I honestly thought we got a little lucky. But we’ll take it.
“We need be a little more aggressive. We need to be better with the puck.”
The bounces had gone the Blue Jackets’ way in their two overtime wins to start the series, but little has gone right for them since then.
The Blue Jackets were beaten in double overtime in Game 3 at home, struggled in Game 4 http://www.chicagobearsteamonline.com/brian-urlacher-jersey , also at their own rink, and then played possibly their best game of the series on Saturday but weren’t rewarded.
With the Blue Jackets in a must-win predicament, they expect to put forth their best effort on Monday. Coach John Tortorella was confident enough to say after the latest loss in Washington, “I won’t have to say a damn word to them. We’ll be back here for Game 7.”
Ovechkin made a similar prediction after Washington dropped the first two games in the series, saying the team would win the next two in Columbus. The Capitals did just that.
Washington coach Barry Trotz understands that Tortorella is trying to motivate his team with a bold prediction.
“Well, what else are you going to say?” Trotz said. “That’s good. He wants to get it out there (that) he believes in his team, just as I believe in my team. So it’s our job for that not to happen, and we’re going to try to do that.”
Can the Blue Jackets deliver for Tortorella and the Columbus fans J'Marcus Webb Jersey , who have yet to see the franchise win a playoff series since its inaugural season in 2000-01?
“Our backs are against the wall, right?” Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno said. “If you can’t play your best game come Monday, then that’s disappointing. I don’t have any worries at all about our group going into Monday. If we have the same effort, the same mentality that we did (Saturday), we should be just fine.”
Blue Jackets forward Matt Calvert, who scored two goals (one short-handed), quickly put Game 5 behind him and looked ahead to Monday night.
“I can’t wait to get back in front of fans,” he said. “I think we really owe them one. It’s a great barn. It’s going to be tough for them to come in. We’re excited about it.
“We’ve got an epic game at home to tie this up. … We want to have a dominant effort at home and get back to Washington.”
Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones said Kyle Long Jersey , “It’s do or die. Desperation level is at an all-time high. We feel confident going on our home ice.”
Capitals goalie Braden Holtby withstood the Blue Jackets’ third-period attack, finishing with 39 saves and giving Washington a chance to come away with a win in overtime. He expects another nail-biter in the highly competitive matchup between the Metropolitan Division teams.
Washington is 7-8 all time in games when it has a 3-2 series lead.
“It’s going to best game yet of the series,”Holtby said. “Both teams are not giving an inch, fighting for every little inch out there. We know they’re going to come out hard for Game 6.”
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