BUFFALO, N.Y. --- Former Tusculum University football cornerback Dee Alford has signed a three-year contract with the Buffalo Bills on Thursday.

Alford joins the Bills after spending his entire four-year NFL career with the Atlanta Falcons where he played in 64 games with 23 starts from 2022-2025.

In his last two years with Atlanta, he made 18 starts and totaled 150 tackles with three interceptions, 24 passes defended and tallied three sacks. In 2025, he established a career-best 13 passes defended with six tackles for loss and a pair of sacks in his final season with the Falcons.

Alford has amassed 216 total tackles with 10 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks in his NFL career. He has recorded 37 passes defended and four interceptions since joining the league in 2022.

Alford played on the Tusculum gridiron from 2016-2019 and was a three-time All-South Atlantic Conference standout including All-SAC first team distinction accolades during his senior campaign. He was also named to the 2019 D2CCA All-Super Region 2 Team.

He led the SAC with 20 passes defended (T4th in NCAA II) including his team-best five interceptions (3rd SAC / 25th in NCAA II) and 15 pass break-ups. His passes defended total was the second most in a TU single-season, while his five interceptions were tied for second-most as well. He returned those five picks for 122 yards which are second in school history.

In his home finale against Mars Hill, Alford established a new TU single-game record with his seven passes defended including two interceptions, which are tied for a TU record and becomes the 24th Pioneer to achieve the feat. For his efforts, he was named the SAC Defensive Player of the Week for a second time this season and was also tabbed the College Defensive Player of the Week by the Tennessee Sportswriters Association.

Alford was also Tusculum's punt returner and averaged 14.22 yards per return, which was second in the conference and 10th in the country. His 27 punt returns and 384 punt return yards were the second-most in school history, while his punt return average was fifth-best by a Pioneer.

His 40 career passes defended are a Tusculum record, while his 195 career interception return yards were also a TU-best. His 10 career interceptions are third in the school record book while his 50 career punt returns and 547 punt return yards are both the third-most in school history. Alford finished his career with a 10.94 punt return average, which is the fourth-best in TU history.

Following Tusculum, he went on to play with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League where he earned All-CFL Divisional Team laurels and led the Bombers to a Grey Cup title.

Alford graduated from Tusculum 2020 where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree while majoring in sports science.