Damien Harris: ‘Can finally say it now, but I love Bills Mafia’
What the Buffalo Bills organization has done since head coach Sean McDermott, GM Brandon Beane, and QB Josh Allen joined the franchise is attracting NFL players in free agency.
Including former division rivals.
Beane inked two players from AFC rival squads to its offense in a strategic chess move, adding WR Trent Sherfield from the Miami Dolphins and Damien Harris from the New England Patriots on one-year deals.
Sherfield comes not only as a receiving and special teams threat with blocking ability but also with a knowledge of Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel’s playbook both as an offensive assistant and head coach. Harris, who was among the running backs that beat former Bills ILB Tremaine Edmunds for 100+ yardage on several occasions over recent seasons, brings the size and punch that Buffalo’s been missing in its running backs group.
He’ll join projected RB1 James Cook and fellow back and return man Hyheim Hines in the Bills backfield group.
“I’m excited to be here,” said Harris during his introductory press conference earlier this week. “There’s a lot of reasons why I chose here, this is a great organization, from top to bottom, from ownership to the management to the coaching the players, the entire staff, I feel like the transition into a great organization, it’s just obviously so appealing. The trajectory of this organization, kind of the momentum that this team is building, it’s all appealing. And it’s all something that I wanted to be a part of and something that I felt like I could come in and help with.”
“I can finally say it now, but I love Bills Mafia,” Harris added.
In a league where hybrid mobile backs that can catch-and-run are assuming RB1 roles like the Bills James Cook, there is still an important need for a big back who can gain meaningful yardage or punch through at the goal line.
And the Bills have just that and more in Harris.
“I always said that playing against the Bills, I felt like brought out the best in me as a competitor and as a player,” Harris said about Buffalo. “And from the outside looking in as an opponent if I felt that way then I knew that if I was able to join this organization, I feel like I could just take it to a new height.”
The RB recorded more than 100 rushing yards in three of his four regular-season appearances against Buffalo over the past couple of NFL seasons.
“When I saw the Buffalo Bills on the schedule, I knew I had to be at my best in order to have success against a team like this, so now that I’m here I feel no different. I feel like I have to be at my best to help this organization continue to move forward,” Harris added.
The 26-year-old has a chance to fill the big back role on a team that is looking for a long-term solution in terms of size at his position group. Brandon Beane forecasted the move last week, saying “we’ll probably add somebody that’s a little heavier than that at some point between now and training camp.”
The Bills previously developed third-round NFL Draft selection Zack Moss for that position before swapping him with the Colts for RB Nyheim Hines.
Harris’s one-year pact could be his chance to prove himself before next year’s draft class in his position group, as well as a free agency class potentially headlined by Derrick Henry.
