Bills Cut Former Vikings All-Pro
Josh Frey
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The Buffalo Bills remain one of the premiere teams contending for a Super Bowl this season. Following Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest that postponed Monday night’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals, much of the sports world has been focused on his health and recovery. Amidst this attention, on Wednesday afternoon, the Buffalo Bills cut former Vikings All-Pro CB Xavier Rhodes. To replace him, Buffalo also signed S Jared Mayden off the New York Jets practice squad.
Rhodes was a first-round pick by the Vikings in the 2013 NFL Draft, being selected with the 25th overall pick. Rhodes appeared in 13 games as a rookie, making six starts at corner for the Vikings. He recorded 48 tackles, 1 TFL, 10 pass defenses, and a forced fumble.
After that season, Rhodes became a full-time starter at CB for the Vikings from 2014-2019. Overall, Rhodes played 104 games with the Vikings, including 97 starts. He recorded 372 tackles, 15 TFLs, 73 pass defenses, and is one of 37 Vikings to record at least 10 INTs. One of these 10 interceptions was a franchise-record 100-yard pick-six in 2016.
Following the 2019 season, Rhodes signed with the Indianapolis Colts where he played both the 2020 and 2021 seasons. In those two years, he started 29 games and recorded 81 tackles, 19 PDs, and 3 INTs, including another pick six in 2020.
On September 28th of the 2022 season, Rhodes signed onto the Bills practice squad after opening the season as a free agent. Then, in November, the Bills gave him a spot on the 53-man roster to help provide a constant veteran presence in the secondary.
Ultimately, the relationship never turned into anything, though, as Rhodes appeared in just two games for the Bills, recording four tackles.
The former All-Pro and 32-year-old cornerback clearly has his best days behind him at this point. During the early years of his career, Rhodes was one of the best cornerbacks in the entire league, and he was a huge reason why the Vikings made their run to the NFC Championship Game in 2017. That was his All-Pro season, and he was fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting as he started all 16 games and recorded 56 tackles, a TFL, 10 pass defenses, and 2 INTs.
In all, Rhodes has played 135 games, starting 127 of them, and recorded 457 tackles, 16 TFLs, 92 pass defenses, 11 INTs, 3 forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery. His 92 pass defenses actually rank 11th among all active players in the NFL, tied with Marcus Peters. Current Viking Patrick Peterson ranks 5th on that list with 110. Of course, Peterson has played two more years than Rhodes, getting his start in 2011.
While Rhodes’ peak may be in the past, there’s certainly a chance that he catches on somewhere else in the future, likely ahead of the 2023 season. It will be interesting to see what the former Vikings cornerback’s next move will be in his NFL career.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. He also earned minors in History, Human Biology, and Journalism. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys marathon training, playing video games, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. For more of his opinions, check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.