The Buffalo Bills operated in a zone-heavy scheme under head coach Sean McDermott. With McDermott gone, the Bills are transitioning to a new defense under defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard, a defense that has been advertised as far more aggressive than the one Bills’ fans became accustomed to seeing over the last ten years.
Will this change lead to some better opportunities for players who have been hanging around the fringes of the roster for a while? Or, will the switch in schemes lead to these
players losing their tenuous hold on even practice squad spots?
In today’s edition of “91 players in 91 days,” we discuss one such depth piece, a defensive back looking to make the 53-man roster on his third try.
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Name: Te’Cory Couch
Number: 33
Position: DB
Height/Weight: 5’10” 185 lbs.
Age: 26 (27 on 9/6/2026)
Experience/Draft: 1; signed with Bills following the 2024 NFL Draft
College: Miami (FL)
Acquired: UDFA signing
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Couch signed a two-year contract at the end of the 2026 season. That deal is worth $1,939,500 in total. For the 2026 season, his cap hit is $887,250 if he makes the 53-man roster. If he’s released, Buffalo will carry a dead cap charge equal to the guaranteed amount on the contract, which is $4,500.
2025 Recap: Couch played in one preseason game, making one tackle and breaking up two passes against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was a strong showing, but unfortunately, he suffered a hamstring injury during joint practices with the Chicago Bears the following week. That injury led to the Bills waiving him, and he agreed to an injury settlement on August 27. On November 5, Buffalo signed Couch to their practice squad, which is where he remained for the duration of the season. He was not called up for any regular season games or postseason games.
Positional outlook: Couch is one of five players listed at defensive back. The others are Jordan Dunbar, Sam Franklin Jr., Jordan Hancock, and Kani Walker are the others. Couch plays corner, though, and not all of the other players listed at DB play corner. Christian Benford, Dee Alford, Toriano Pride Jr., Maxwell Hairston, and Davison Igbinosun are listed at corner.
2026 Offseason: Couch is healthy and participating in OTAs to date.
2026 Season outlook: Buffalo is light at corner in the sense that they don’t have a ton of bodies, but they’re top-heavy at the position in the sense that there are four players who are clearly going to be on the roster as long as they’re healthy. Benford, Hairston, Igbinosun, and Alford are going to make the team. If you consider Jordan Hancock to be a corner, then he’s on the squad, as well. Given his versatility and value on special teams, though, Hancock could theoretically count as a lot of things in terms of how the staff constructs the roster.
If we assume that the Bills will keep a maximum of ten defensive backs in total, and one of them—Sam Franklin Jr.—is almost certain as a special teams player, we’re looking at six spots essentially being spoken for among the names listed above alone. Cole Bishop and C.J. Gardner-Johnson are locks, and Jalen Kilgore feels safe at safety, so that brings us to nine. Does Couch have what it takes to beat out a veteran safety like Damar Hamlin or Geno Stone? Will he be a better option than speedy rookie Toriano Pride Jr. for the last spot in the defensive backfield?
Couch is a tough player who does have experience at safety, having played there a bit in college at Miami, but that versatility hasn’t come into play this far professionally. If he wants to prove that he belongs on Buffalo’s 53-man roster, he’ll need to utilize that versatility and show promise on special teams in order to claw his way onto the back end of the roster. Otherwise, he’ll likely be looked at as a practice squad player once again in 2026.
