Amidst the ongoing discussions between the Bills and safety Jordan Poyer over his desire for a contract extension, Poyer says he's loved his time playing in Buffalo, and would like to stay where he is long enough to get the team a ring.
After having a career year last season, Poyer made it known that he wanted an extension, holding out of voluntary workouts last month (though he did participate in mandatory minicamp). But while the talks continue with no end in sight yet, Poyer made it clear that he still wants to be in Buffalo for the foreseeable future.
"The team is just such a really cool group of guys. I always tell the rookies when they come in, 'You really won't ever be around a better group of men,'" Poyer said during an appearance on the Inside The Garage podcast last week. "Just the relationships that we built in Buffalo ... those are relationships that we've built over the years that's really second to none, and I can't really think of a better situation for me to be in than Buffalo right now."
Poyer signed with the Bills in 2017 after four years split between the Eagles and Browns, and at the time was coming back from a lacerated kidney injury that had ended his 2016 season. The former seventh-round pick immediately found his stride in Buffalo, and over his five years with the team he has become an integral part of the secondary and a leader on the Bills defense. Poyer had his best season yet in 2021, being named an All-Pro for the first time in his career after collecting five interceptions and three sacks.
Poyer said that coming to Buffalo and having coaches who showed they believed in him was something he'd never experienced, and he attributes much of his success in the past few years to that support.
"You can tell that coaches in Buffalo are really invested. ... They're guys who all really saw me and believed in me," Poyer said. "As a player, that's all that you really want, is for somebody at that level to believe in you."
Poyer was one of the first acquisitions made by then-new head coach Sean McDermott after his hiring in 2017. Under his leadership, Buffalo has managed to leave behind its infamous status as a consistently bad team, making it to the playoffs in four of the last five seasons, including a trip to the AFC Championship game in 2020. Poyer said it's been great for him and fellow safety Micah Hyde, who was brought in at the same time, to watch the Bills turn it around from their previous reputation to now being considered one of the top teams in the league.
"You know the Bills hadn't been relevant for a long time when we got there. We always heard about it coming to Buffalo, the Bills hadn't been to the playoffs in 20 years," Poyer said. "Micah Hyde, me and him came in together in 2017, and really it was a whole culture shift, and it was really cool to be a part of that shift."
The Bills have their quarterback of the future in Josh Allen, and the defense led by Poyer was the best in the NFL in 2021, indicating that Buffalo is likely to be in the running for a championship this season and maybe even beyond. And based on Poyer's positive words about the team and his insistence on an extension, it's safe to say he'd like to be there to see that happen.
"I think we have the right group of guys in the locker room to [win], obviously I think we have the best quarterback in the damn league, so that being said I think sky's the limit for this team," Poyer said. "Buffalo's been cool, man, I've enjoyed my time out there and definitely want to come away with a ring before I leave."
