Anquan Boldin is a good signing for the Bills

Anquan Boldin is still going strong. The 36-year-old wide receiver will spend his 15th season in the NFL with the Buffalo Bills, the team announced on Monday. It’s a one-year, $2.75 million deal for the veteran with $1.25 million in incentives, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

He’ll join a Buffalo offense in need of receiving help. Tyrod Taylor is coming off his second Pro Bowl invitation, but his mid-career breakout has come despite a lack of reliable targets. Last season’s leading wideout, Robert Woods, signed with the Rams this offseason. Even as the team’s top WR, he had just 613 receiving yards in 2016.

Boldin will add instant punch for a unit that will rely on a pair of talented question marks. Sammy Watkins is a dynamic threat who was the No. 4-overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, but he’s played in only 21 games the last two seasons due to injury. Zay Jones had 1,746 receiving yards as a senior at East Carolina in 2016, but he’s an untested rookie making a major jump in competition from the AAC to the NFL.

The Bills outbid two of Boldin’s former teams, the Lions and Ravens, to secure his services.

Boldin spent 2016 with the Lions after inking a one-year, $2.75 million deal to help replace the retired Calvin Johnson. While he produced career lows in receiving yards (587) and yards per catch (8.7), his 70.5 percent catch rate was the second highest of his career. The 220-pound wideout also provided a key red zone presence in Detroit — his eight touchdown receptions led the team.

With the veteran providing a steady outlet, quarterback Matthew Stafford was able to produce a breakout season behind center.

Boldin’s 2016 was another solid step in a prolific career. The Cardinals drafted him in the second round of the 2003 NFL Draft, and he made an immediate impact as a pro. He led all rookies with 101 receptions and 1,377 receiving yards that fall, earning the first of three Pro Bowl selections in the process.

He spent seven seasons in the desert, cracking the 1,000-yard barrier five times. That big production came with a big price tag, which led the Cardinals to trade him to the Ravens in exchange for third- and fourth-round picks in 2010. He failed to play up to his Arizona standard, but still served as a valuable addition to one of the AFC’s top teams.

He’d be traded once more, in 2013, when Baltimore sent him back west to the 49ers for a sixth-round pick. He fared much better for weapon-needy San Francisco, gaining more than 2,200 yards through the air in his first two seasons with the team. He’d spend one more season on the coast before moving to the Midwest with the Lions last year.

Boldin is one of the league’s oldest position players, but his combination of size, hands, and veteran savvy makes him a dangerous receiver even as he approaches his 37th birthday.