Bills sign free-agent quarterback AJ McCarron to two-year deal

The Buffalo Bills have signed quarterback AJ McCarron to a two-year deal, team announced.

McCarron joins 2017 fifth-round pick Nathan Peterman on the Bills' depth chart after Buffalo's trade of Tyrod Taylor was made official Wednesday.

McCarron, 27, was a free agent after winning a grievance filed against the Cincinnati Bengals last year to determine whether he had been incorrectly put on the non-football injury list as a rookie. He not only won his grievance for the incorrect designation, but he was also owed back pay for the time spent on the list in 2014.

McCarron played in five regular season games in the 2015 season and started three, completing 66.4 percent of his passes for 854 yards and six touchdowns. He also started an AFC wild-card playoff game that season, completing 56.1 percent of his passes for one touchdown and one interception in an eventual a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

McCarron has contended several times that he wanted his chance to start somewhere, and it almost happened when the Cleveland Browns attempted to send a second- and third-round pick to the Bengals in the fall. However, the paperwork didn't go through before the trade deadline and McCarron remained with Cincinnati for the 2017 season.

McCarron's signing comes after several veteran quarterbacks had found new teams in free agency this week, leaving Buffalo as perhaps the only remaining team which could offer him a chance to start this season.

The signing is unlikely to change the Bills' apparent plans to draft a quarterback this April. Buffalo owns the Nos. 12 and 21 overall picks, as well as two picks in each of the second and third rounds. The Bills could package those selections to trade up for one of the draft's top quarterbacks.

ESPN's Katherine Terrell contributed to this report.