Former Bills CB Ronald Darby retires from the NFL
A second-round pick by the Bills in 2015, Darby was an important piece to the Bills defense in the Rex Ryan era. He started 29 games across 2015 and 2016, intercepting two passes and recording 33 PBUs.
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Darby finished second in defensive rookie of the year voting following the 2015 season where he thrived in Ryan's man-heavy approach. In his first career NFL game, he intercepted Colts four-time Pro Bowler Andrew Luck:
When the Sean McDermott regime took over in Buffalo prior to the 2017 season, they cleaned house, trading Darby to the Eagles for wide receiver Jordan Matthews. They also traded WR Sammy Watkins to the Rams that day.
Darby won the Super Bowl as a starting cornerback in his first year in Philadelphia (SB LII) while playing every snap in the big game.
Impressively, Darby started 78 more games in his career after leaving the Bills, playing for five more teams over eight seasons.
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He joined the Houston Texans this offseason on a one-year deal in free agency, but decided to retire before playing for his seventh career team.
He retires with eight career interceptions, 447 tackles, and a Super Bowl win across a decade as a pro.
In retrospect, a solid draft pick by Bills general manager Doug Whaley in 2015. Known as a man-to-man corner, maybe Darby would have stuck around in Buffalo had that fit what McDermott was trying to do with his defense.
This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: Former Bills CB Ronald Darby retires from NFL at age 31
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