The Buffalo Bills took the first step in restocking their quarterback position by agreeing to a two-year contract with A.J. McCarron.

The 27-year-old spent the past four seasons backing up Andy Dalton in Cincinnati after being selected by the Bengals in the fifth round of the 2014 draft.

McCarron's signing on Wednesday came a few hours after the NFL's free-agency period opened Thurman Thomas Jersey , and five days after Buffalo traded three-year starter Tyrod Taylor to Cleveland. The trade left 2017 fifth-round pick Nathan Peterman as the only quarterback on Buffalo's roster.

General manager Brandon Beane said he intended to add a veteran quarterback this offseason to provide experience.

With two picks in each of the first three rounds of the draft, Buffalo also is expected to target one of the highly touted quarterback prospects.

McCarron was a two-time national champion at Alabama but appeared in just 11 games in Cincinnati, mostly in mop-up duties. McCarron did start the final three games of the 2015 season and led the Bengals to the playoffs after Dalton broke his thumb.

Against Pittsburgh in the wild-card playoff game Kavon Frazier Jersey , McCarron had the Bengals in position to win their first playoff game since the 1990 season. Jeremy Hill however lost a fumble, and penalties on Vontaze Burfict and Adam "Pacman" Jones set up the Steelers for a winning field goal in the final seconds.

Though he missed his rookie season because of a sore passing shoulder, McCarron was allowed to become an unrestricted free agent after an independent arbitrator ruling last month. McCarron was also nearly traded to Cleveland last season Darqueze Dennard Jersey , but the deal fell through after the Browns failed to submit the paperwork on time.

Former Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Jonathan Martin was charged Tuesday with threatening two former teammates who had harassed him in the NFL and with threatening his former prep school classmates, Los Angeles County prosecutors said.

Martin pleaded not guilty to four felony counts of making criminal threats and a misdemeanor charge of carrying a loaded firearm, district attorney's office spokesman Greg Risling said.

A post on Martin's Instagram page last month showed a shotgun and referred by name to the private Harvard-Westlake prep school in Los Angeles that he once attended.

The post also included mentions of the Instagram usernames of former Miami Dolphins players Richie Incognito and Mike Pouncey and said suicide and revenge were the only options for a victim of bullying.

Martin left the Dolphins midseason in 2013 after accusing teammates of bullying. An NFL investigation found that Incognito Greg Olsen Jersey , Pouncey and teammate John Jerry engaged in persistent harassment directed at Martin.

Incognito was suspended for the final eight games and sat out the 2014 season before joining the Buffalo Bills.

Pouncey was released by Miami last week and agreed to a two-year contract Monday with the Los Angeles Chargers

The NFL's investigation also found that teammates threatened to rape Martin's sister, called him a long list of slurs and bullied him for not being "black enough." Martin is black and Incognito is white.

Court documents say Martin "did willfully and unlawfully threaten to commit a crime which would result in death and great bodily injury" of Pouncey and Incognito. Both Pouncey and Incognito feared for their own safety and the safety of their families, the documents said.

Prosecutors said Martin also had a loaded firearm in his vehicle in Glendale O. J. Simpson Jersey , but court papers provided no other details.

The name of Martin's attorney was not immediately known. Prosecutors said he is due back in court next month and faces up to six years in prison if he's convicted.

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