BUFFALO, NY — After being out of the NFL since 2019, defensive tackles Shane Ray is back in the league, signing with Buffalo’s wages after tryouts at the team’s rookie camp on Friday and Saturday.

Ray was selected as the 23rd by a Denver Broncos in the 2015 draft out of Missouri and played four seasons for the Broncos. He played in 49 games, starting 15, with 14 sacks, 94 tackles and 33 quarterback hits. He was on the Broncos team that won Super Bowl 50, forcing a fumble in the game. Starting in 2017, Ray injured his left arm and underwent surgeries.

“Words can’t describe how I feel right now. Many tears, sleepless nights, depression, everything that comes with losing the game. Many days with nothing but hope while fighting an uphill battle,” Ray. he wrote on Saturday on his Instagram account.

Ray, 29, added that there were “times when I thought I should quit, but I wouldn’t be me if I folded” and that “even in the dark I believed in myself. I believed in my preparation. That I would have another chance even if the world didn’t.”

Ray joined them Baltimore Ravens in the 2019 offseason but was cut at the end of training camp. He played in 2021 and 2022 for the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL, recording six sacks last season. Joining the Bills, Ray reunites with his old Broncos teammate It’s Miller.

The Bills also signed a former UCF running back Isaiah Bowser and linebacker Travin Howard – The seventh pick of 2018 is Rams who played 29 games with Los Angeles — after a rookie minicamp tryout.