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Monday, April 21
 
Gary chooses Bills over Lions and Chiefs

By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com

One of the most active teams in the free agent market, the Buffalo Bills on Monday evening made yet another move to bolster depth, strengthening their backfield by adding tailback Olandis Gary.

The four-year veteran, who had played his entire career with the Denver Broncos, agreed to a two-year contract. One of his representatives confirmed the deal but did not divulge financial details.

Olandis Gary
Gary
Gary, 27, and one of the most sought-after of the remaining unrestricted free agents in recent weeks, chose the Bills over the Detroit Lions and the Kansas City Chiefs. The tailback met with representatives of all three teams over the past two weeks and also drew some interest from the Dallas Cowboys.

With the Bills, he will serve as the backup to Travis Henry, who last week signed a one-year contract extension. Buffalo lost backup tailback Shawn Bryson to the Lions as a free agent, and still has veteran Sammy Morris, but wanted another experienced back.

The acquisition of Gary removes one more item from the offseason shopping list of Buffalo general manager Tom Donahoe, who has added at least three new starters, and as many as five, to the Bills' defense.

A former University of Georgia standout, Gary rushed for 1,159 yards and seven touchdowns as a rookie in 1999, replacing fellow Bulldogs star Terrell Davis when the latter sufferd a career-ending knee injury.

But Gary suffered a knee injury the following year and has battled to regain the form of his debut campaign. In the past three seasons, Gary has rushed for 455 yards and two touchdowns on 107 attempts. He also has 46 catches for 346 yards.

Selected in the fourth round in 1999, Gary has appeared in 35 games and has started in 14 of them. With a running back depth chart that already included Clinton Portis and Mike Anderson, and with Davis attempting a comeback from knee injuries, the Broncos did not attempt to re-sign Gary.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.






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