Buffalo Bills Bolster Receiving Corps, Re-Sign Scott Chandler, Ruvell Martin

The Buffalo Bills are looking to build and bolster their receiving corps for the upcoming 2012 season.  The Bills re-signed wide receiver Ruvell Martin on Wednesday and tight end Scott Chandler on Thursday.  Terms of both deals were not disclosed, according to the team’s press release.

In 2004, Ruvell Martin joined the San Diego Chargers as a member of the practice squad.  However, the 6-4, 214-pound receiver made his debut in the NFL as an active member for the Green Bay Packers in 2006.

After being released in 2008, Martin bounced around in the NFL with the St. Louis Rams (2009) and Seattle Seahawks (2010).  The journeyman wide receiver was an undrafted rookie free agent from Saginaw Valley State.

Due to an injury sustained by WR Roscoe Parrish, who was released prior to the start of the regular season, Martin was signed to the Bills’ 53-man roster last season on September 13.

The Michigan native posted seven receptions for 82 yards and also tied for second on the team in special teams tackles.  Martin has totaled 72 catches for 1,088 yards and seven scores in 68 games with nine starts for his NFL career.

Scott Chandler was scheduled to hit the open market on March 13, but will remain in Buffalo, along with Martin and the Bills’ leading receiver Stevie Johnson, who signed a five-year contract extension on Monday.

Chandler’s contract is for two years, according to the Associated Press.  The 6-7, 260-pound tight end had a huge impact over the course of the entire season, but especially in the first half of the year en route to a stellar 5-2 start.  Unfortunately, the all-too familiar trend of second-half season collapses ensued as Buffalo endured endless blows due to incessant injuries.

Chandler also sustained an ankle injury, missing two games in the month of December.  The Bedford, Texas native chalked up 38 catches for 389 yards and six touchdowns in 14 contests (nine starts) in 2011.

His six scores matched a single-season franchise-record among tight ends and his 38 receptions marked the most by any player at his position with the team since 2001, eighth-most since 1990 (Pete Metzelaars in 1992 and Jay Riemersma in 1998).

Selected in the fourth round by the San Diego Chargers in the 2007 NFL Draft, Chandler was waived by San Diego in ’09.  The Iowa graduate spent the 2009 season on the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad, before signing with the New York Giants for the final two games of the regular season.

He re-joined the Cowboys in 2010, but when the team put him on waivers, the Bills claimed the tight end on December 3, 2010.  “Reunited and it feels so good!!! Blessed to be back with the Bills!” Chandler wrote on his Twitter account. “Nowhere else I want to be!”

Update: The Bills have also re-signed linebacker Kirk Morrison two a two-year deal.  

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