The Buffalo Bills have signed long snapper Reid Ferguson to a three-year contract, the team announced on Monday. As the special teams unit transitions to the tutelage of new coordinator Heath Farwell, Ferguson is the first core free agent to lock up a roster spot.

Ferguson, 24, entered the NFL in 2016 out of LSU, spending the season on Buffalo’s practice squad. The team elected to move on from Garrison Sanborn in 2017 and promoted Ferguson in his place; for the past two seasons, he’s been the long snapper.

Ferguson was set to be an exclusive-rights free agent as the off-season begins. Now, he’ll be signed through the end of the 2021 season. This allows Buffalo to skip the ERFA and RFA tenders over the next two off-seasons, but likely keeps Ferguson’s salary about the same as those two years would have been.

The Bills return Stephen Hauschka as their primary kicker, hoping to see him return to form after a back injury affected his kicking strength at the end of 2018. They still have a decision to make at punter, where Cory Carter and Corey Bojorquez both could compete for the roster spot in training camp as they return from injuries.