The Buffalo Bills were determined to overhaul their pass rush this offseason, and so far they’ve done just that during the opening days of free agency.
The club and free agent defensive end Joey Bosa came to terms on a 1 year, $12.6M contract on Tuesday night. The deal came to fruition following the Chargers decision to release Bosa on Wednesday for salary cap purposes.
The 5x Pro Bowler is expected to fill in the role played previously by Von Miller, whom the Bills cut ties with on Sunday. He will likely lineup opposite Greg Rousseau, who the team signed to a 4 year contract extension on Saturday, before restructuring defensive tackle Ed Oliver’s contract.
All in all, it’s been a busy week along the defensive front for Bills GM Brandon Beane. It does appear that Buffalo has at least learned their lesson from the ill fated Miller signing a few years back. The Bills find themselves in a not so dissimilar position today as they were when they inked the future hall of fame pass rusher a few seasons prior.
In need of help along the defensive line, Buffalo rushed out and signed a proven veteran pass rusher to a 6 year deal. The same played out this time around, but instead, Bosa, received only a 1 year “prove it” contract from the front office.
This will give the team a short term solution along the trenches, while not committing themselves to the kind of term and dollar figure they did when Miller was a free agent. Buffalo finished middle of the back in most defensive categories, but saw their sack total drop to 39 in 2024, down 15 from their 2023 total. And when you’re needing to best the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow and more each season, teams with championship aspirations need a solid pass rush.
Beane began addressing the concerns along the line by bringing in former Rams DE Michael Hoecht on a 3 year deal Monday. He then extended linebacker Terrel Bernard, before shifting his focus to Bosa once he became available.
Bosa has amassed 343 tackles, 157 QB hits, 87 tackles for loss, 17 forced fumbles, 4 fumble recoveries, and 72 sacks across 107 regular season games.
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