Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

7/19/2010 at 3:52pm

Alex Carrington is now officially a Buffalo Bill. The NFL team's third-round pick and Bills management came to terms Monday on a contract, according to Bills blogger Chris Brown as well as The Associated Press.

Carrington, a four-year star at Arkansas State as a defensive end, was one of three Bills draft picks who had yet to sign for 2010. Training camp for the Bills starts in 10 days at St. John Fisher College in Pittsfield, N.Y.

The deal is for four years, though no financial terms were disclosed.

Brown reports:

“I’m blessed,” Carrington told Buffalobills.com. “My agent, Roosevelt Barnes, did a great job. I wasn’t rushing him. I just wanted to get it done before camp obviously. I’m glad we’ve got it sealed off and glad to be official now.”

The defensive end has been hard at work the past few weeks as Buffalo’s rookies have been spending time in Buffalo brushing up on their playbooks while staying in shape for training camp. Now having put pen to paper, it’s finally hitting Carrington that his NFL career is about to begin.

“This puts things into perspective,” he said. “To actually sit down in front of a contract and see the numbers and know you’re actually official now, it’s a little different feeling. Draft day was great, but this gives me an even bigger smile.”

Carrington is eager to get started as he has not put pads on since the Senior Bowl in late January. At the same time he has sought as much input as possible from NFL veterans for what he should expect from an NFL training camp.

“Just talking to vets and just people I know, it’s going to be pretty tough, but it’s going to be great preparation for the long season,” said Carrington. “I’ve been getting a lot of feedback and advice from the vets. Massages, cold tubs and all that. Stay off your feet, but I can’t wait to start clacking again in camp. I can’t wait.”

During the spring camps Carrington ran mostly with the second team defense at the defensive end position, and is expected to see respectable playing time as a rookie. At 6-5, 295 pounds, Carrington is a prototype end for defensive coordinator George Edwards’ 3-4 scheme.

At 6-foot-5 and 285 pounds, Carrington had 21.5 career sacks, ranking second in school history and fourth in the Sun Belt Conference. He was also the Sun Belt 2008 defensive player of the year.

The last two unsigned Bills are the two chosen just before Carrington, who was taken with the 72nd pick in the April draft: first-round pick C.J. Spiller, the running back out of Clemson, and second-round choise Torell Troup, a defensive tackle.