Update: Jordan Schultz has walked back his original report, saying that the scheduled visit with the Bills has been called off. That means Fournette will remain a free agent, unless something changes with a visit elsewhere in the league.
One of the biggest areas the Tampa Bay Buccaneers needed to improve this offseason was the run game. Last season the team had the worst rushing attack in the league, and drastic changes were made to try and fix the problem.
Dave Canales was hired as the new offensive coordinator, hailing from a run-heavy system up in Seattle. He brought in Skip Peete to work whatever magic he had with the Dallas Cowboys and turn things around with Rachaad White leading the charge.
The result of those changes has been the Buccaneers run game somehow getting even worse than it already was.
Last season Tampa Bay ranked dead last in the league averaging an abysmal 3.4 yards per carry. This season the Bucs are averaging 3.0 yards per carry and are once again failing to get anything going in the run game which is starting to stall the offense.
White was handed the keys to the RB1 role after Leonard Fournette left the Bucs in free agency back in March. It was a mutual parting, but Fournette ran into a brutal running back market that has him unemployed through the first quarter of the season.
That seems like it's about to change, though, but not with the outcome Bucs fans might have been hoping for.
Leonard Fournette expected to sign with Buffalo Bills this week
According to NFL insider Jordan Schultz, the Buffalo Bills are bringing in Leonard Fournette for a visit this week and the expectation is a deal will get done if everything goes well.
Fournette is visiting the Bills after the team lost running back Damien Harris to a scary neck injury during Sunday night's win over the Giants. He would join James Cook in the Buffalo backfield, and would have a perfect chance to atone for the sins of how things went last year with his production.
Leonard Fournette tells me he is visiting the #Bills tomorrow.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) October 17, 2023
Fournette has fielded interest from several teams, and there’s a good chance he signs in Buffalo if all goes well. pic.twitter.com/zs64rnZiK3
If this ends up happening, it would reunite Fournette with the Bucs -- just not the way fans might have been hoping. Fournette would be eligible to play in Buffalo's game this week against New England but might need some time getting up to speed.
That would put him on track to potentially make his true debut for the Bills when the Buccaneers come to Buffalo for Thursday Night Football in Week 8.
With how badly the Bucs run game has been struggling, there was some hope that Fournette might return to Tampa Bay and get a chance to redeem himself. We tossed the idea out back when Chase Edmonds was placed on IR, but it never went further than blog fodder.
The more the Bucs fail to get anything going in the run game, the more chatter there will be about potential changes. If an addition was going to be made, Fournette seemed like an easy and natural fit, but that ship is likely to sail up to Buffalo in the next few days.