The Bills entered 2022 with Super Bowl expectations and ended the season in the divisional round of the playoffs thanks to Sunday's loss to the Bengals. Less than a week later, the team has begun tweaking its staff for 2023, dismissing safeties coach Jim Salgado on Thursday, according to ESPN.
Salgado was one of head coach Sean McDermott's original hires back in 2017. He was reassigned to the role of safeties coach just this season. The former Hofstra product spent his first three years as a defensive assistant, then became the Bills' nickels coach from 2020-2021, overseeing the emergence of No. 3 cornerback Taron Johnson.
Buffalo's defense finished No. 6 overall in 2022, but the pass defense ranked 15th. The safety position in particular was hampered by injuries. Both of the team's All-Pro starters, Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde, missed extended time; and replacement Damar Hamlin missed the end of the year after suffering cardiac arrest on the field. Poyer was active for the Bills' two playoff games, but Buffalo surrendered 58 combined points in those games, and the veteran was briefly sidelined after colliding with teammate Tre'Davious White on a deep ball against the Bengals.
Prior to joining the Bills, Salgado spent seven seasons at Princeton, first as the college's defensive backs coach, then as its defensive coordinator from 2013-2016.
