After four seasons with the New England Patriots, running back Damien Harris switched allegiances in the AFC East by joining the Buffalo Bills in March for a one-year, $1.77 million contract.

“It’s been great so far,” Harris said during an appearance on “One Bills Live” on Tuesday. “The city of Buffalo, the Bills, the organization, my teammates, the coaches, really everybody has welcomed me with open arms, and I think that’s just been the biggest upside for me in this transition is just everybody welcoming me with open arms. I think with my history and my track record of playing here in Orchard Park, it seems like everybody’s excited for me to be on the Bills now. I think everybody knows I’ve had some of my best games here. Hopefully, now that I’m here and I’m settled, we’ll have a lot more of those big-time games.”

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Harris recorded more than 100 rushing yards in three of his four regular-season appearances against Buffalo, including the highest two road rushing totals of his NFL career.

Harris ran for 102 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries in New England’s 24-21 loss at the Bills on Nov. 1, 2020, in the sixth game of his NFL career. The former Alabama standout ran for 111 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries in the Patriots’ 14-10 victory at Buffalo on Dec. 6, 2021.

“I feel like the stars just aligned,” Harris said of his free-agent journey to the Bills. “I say that with all the history I have here in Orchard Park, and just not having to go too far, staying in the division, it almost felt like the stars just aligned for me to be here.

“Once the deal was done, I felt very fortunate to be joining another great organization, coming from one great organization and going to another. I know there’s like this rivalry going on, and I understand that, but I want to express my gratitude for the time I had in New England because those were a great four years.”

Harris was the leading rusher for three Alabama teams with 1,037 rushing yards in 2016, 1,000 in 2017 and 876 in 2018.

After playing in two games as a third-round rookie in 2019, Harris led the Patriots in rushing yards in 2020 and 2021. He had 691 yards and two touchdowns on 137 carries in 10 games in 2020, then went for 929 yards and 15 touchdowns on 202 carries in 15 games in 2021.

In 2022, Harris missed six games, including all four in December with a thigh injury. He ran for 462 yards and three touchdowns on 106 carries as Rhamondre Stevenson became New England’s No. 1 ball-carrier.

Devin Singletary led Buffalo in rushing last season with 819 yards and five touchdowns on 177 carries, but he left in free agency for the Houston Texans.

On their offseason roster, the Bills have four other running backs — James Cook, Nyheim Hines, Jordan Mims and Latavius Murray.

Cook ran for 507 yards and two touchdowns on 89 carries for Buffalo as a second-round rookie in 2022. Primarily a punt and kickoff returner, Hines had 33 yards and one touchdown on 24 carries while dividing 2022 between the Bills and Indianapolis Colts. Mims joined Buffalo as an undrafted rookie from Fresno State.

A Pro Bowler and a 1,000-yard rusher for the Oakland Raiders in 2015, Murray ran for 760 yards and six touchdowns on 171 carries in 12 games for the Denver Broncos and one game for the New Orleans Saints in 2022.

“I think that what excites me the most in knowing I have a role,” Harris said. “Everybody has a role, and everybody’s role is different. We got a lot of great backs, a lot of great players in general, but we got a running-back room full of great players, so everybody’s going to have a role. I know I have my role. That’s been communicated to me. I know what my role is. I got to get better at the role, along with getting better at other things as well.”

Harris did not share specifically what that role was, but goal-line back and four-minute finisher both were discussed.

Harris has run for 20 touchdowns on 449 carries in 38 games. He’s the seventh running back in the AFC/NFC era to have at least 20 rushing touchdowns on fewer than 450 carries in the first 38 games of his career.

Asked about working as a closer, Harris said: “I feel as confident in that as in any other part of my game. At the end of the game, as an offense, you want to end with the ball in your hands just because that means you’re probably going to win the game. In a tough situation trying to put the game away, as a runner, as a team who’s in a four-minute offense that wants to put the game away, it’s just a mentality. You want to put the other team away.”

Buffalo is in the final stage of its offseason program. In Phase 3, teams are allowed to conduct 10 days of organized team practice activity, often referred to as OTAs. The Bills held their first three OTA practices last week. No contact work is permitted during these practices, but teams can expand their offseason workouts to include 7-on-7, 9-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills.

Buffalo also has its mandatory minicamp scheduled for June 13-15, after which the Bills will break for the summer.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.