Bills boost RB depth, signing veteran Fournette

Alaina Getzenberg, ESPNOct 30, 2023, 01:41 PM ET
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BUFFALO, N.Y. — Veteran running back Leonard Fournette is signing with the Buffalo Bills, his agents announced Monday.

Fournette passed a physical and will start on the practice squad, agents David Canter and Ness Mugrabi said Monday.

The move comes over a week after the team placed running back Damien Harris on injured reserve with a neck strain and as he remained in concussion protocol. Harris had a major injury in the team’s 14-9 win over the New York Giants in Week 6 that led to him being taken off the field in an ambulance.

“We’ll see. I don’t know,” coach Sean McDermott said last week when asked if Harris will be available later this season. “I can’t answer that one way or the other right now. I can’t say yes, and I can’t say no.”

With Harris unavailable, Fournette will join a Bills depth chart led by second-year player James Cook, who leads the team with 486 rushing yards and three touchdowns, and includes veterans Latavius Murray and Ty Johnson.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers released Fournette before the start of the 2023 league year. The veteran told the Tampa Bay Times that it was at his request and there was “no bad blood” between the franchise and him.

Murray has started the last three games for the Bills, but Cook has almost doubled his carries in those games (41 to 21) and overall has seen more snaps than Murray in the last three games (58% to 41%). Cook is also a receiving option for this offseason (18 receptions for 192 yards and a touchdown).

Johnson was signed to the active roster in response to Harris being placed on injured reserve, but that left the team without a running back on the practice squad. This season, Murray has five goal-line carries, sixth-most in the NFL, but has only one touchdown, gaining a total of one yard on those plays. Fournette had four goal-line carries last season and three touchdowns on those plays.

Last offseason, the Bucs signed Fournette, the fourth pick in the 2017 draft, to a three-year deal worth $21 million and up to $24 million with incentives. Fournette told the Times that Tom Brady’s retirement was a factor in his decision.

Fournette, 28, rushed for 668 yards and three touchdowns and also had 523 receiving yards with three touchdown catches in 16 games last season. In three seasons with the Buccaneers, he had 3,057 total yards and 22 touchdowns.

He earned the nickname “Playoff Lenny” — and later, “Lombardi Lenny” — while leading the Bucs with 448 scrimmage yards and four touchdowns in a postseason run to Super Bowl LV, where he rushed for 135 yards as Tampa Bay beat the Kansas City Chiefs.

He has 6,697 total yards and 41 total touchdowns in his career, which began with the Jacksonville Jaguars, who selected him fourth overall in 2017.

ESPN’s Jenna Laine contributed to this report.