Jairus Byrd has signed a franchise tender keeping him with the Buffalo Bills for the 2013 season.

The safety was placed under the team's franchise tag earlier this year, but could not agree a long-term deal with the AFC East side before the deadline last month.

General manager Doug Whaley told the team's website: "When he gets in, we'll just put the playbook in front of him and hopefully he's in shape and we just go from there.

"Safeties do make a lot of calls, so he;s missed that. [He's missed] a lot of the tempo of practice, so he's going to have some ground to make up, but he's a professional. I know he'll come in here ready to work and try to contribute as soon as possible."

Byrd, who is expected to return to practice later this week, made 76 tackles and five interceptions for the Bills last season.

Written by
Sian Cowper