ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- The Buffalo Bills signed fullback John Conner after he made a free-agent visit to the team Wednesday.
Nicknamed "The Terminator" for sharing a name with a character in the Arnold Schwarzenegger film, Conner is reunited with Bills coach Rex Ryan, who coached Conner for parts of four seasons with the New York Jets.
"You want your team to have a bunch of guys that you don't want your kids playing against," Ryan said Wednesday. "Give me those types of players; that's usually a good thing."
Conner joins a crowded Bills backfield that also includes fullback Jerome Felton, who the Bills signed to a four-year deal in March. Felton's deal is worth an average of $2.3 million per season, second among NFL fullbacks to Carolina's Mike Tolbert.
"When you look at, 'What kind of team are the Bills?' Well, a lot of teams don't even have a fullback," Ryan said. "We got two of them -- two of the best fullbacks in the league on our football team. So I think that may tell you about the style of football we want to play."
The Jets selected Conner in the fifth round of the 2010 draft. After spending more than two seasons with the Jets, he spent time with the Cincinnati Bengals and the New York Giants before returning to the Jets last season.
"What [general manager] Doug Whaley and I talk about it all the time, is to keep the best players. If that means two fullbacks, then so be it," Ryan said. "... Can they contribute on special teams as well? I think both guys can. But clearly we brought Felton in to be the guy, but it just so happens that John Conner is still sitting out there and ... You know what? I know John. He's a heck of a football player, he's an excellent teammate, so let's bring him in, let him compete and I would not be surprised if John makes our team."
The Bills waived first-year fullback Corey Knox, who played for the University at Buffalo, to make room for Conner on their 90-man roster.
