Editor’s note: This is the first in a series examining the Buffalo Bills’ free agent possibilities at key positions. Today’s installment looks at defensive ends.
Building an elite pass rush in the NFL is expensive.
It usually takes a top-15 draft pick or a giant expenditure in free agency. Once in awhile, teams get lucky with a Day 2 or Day 3 draft pick who blossoms into a superstar. An example is the Raiders’ use of a fourth-round pick in 2019 for Maxx Crosby, who has made four Pro Bowls.
That’s the exception.
Drafting at the end of the first round adds to the challenge. The Bills took Greg Rousseau 30th overall in 2020, and he’s about as good as you’re going to get at that spot. Rousseau is a high-level No. 2 pass rusher or perhaps a capable – but not elite – No. 1 edge rusher. Rousseau is still developing at age 24.
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In a perfect world, the Bills will find someone better this offseason to pair with Rousseau. They hoped Von Miller would be great, but he wasn’t elite last season, and his roster status is uncertain entering the start of the new year Monday.
The pass-rush gap between the Bills and the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles was obvious in the title game against Kansas City, when the Eagles sacked Patrick Mahomes six times.
“As you saw, that’s a pretty good copy, a carbon copy, of what you can do,” coach Sean McDermott said of the Eagles’ defensive line. “And give credit to the Eagles, to their players, played well and this and that, and scheme.”
Here’s a look at candidates in free agency or the trade market for the Bills to boost their pass rush at defensive end. The free agent negotiating window opens Monday.
Trade market: The biggest move in the NFL waiting to happen is Cleveland dealing All-Pro Myles Garrett, who wants out. The Browns were adamant at the NFL scouting combine they don’t want to deal Garrett, who is 29. We’ll see. He will cost a fortune, but his cap hits the next two seasons are modest ($19.7 million and $20.3 million). It likely would cost the Bills two first-round picks (No. 30 this year and their 2026 first-rounder) plus more (another future Day 2 or Day 3 pick) and maybe a complementary player.
Las Vegas’ Crosby was the subject of trade speculation but Wednesday signed an extension worth $31 million a year. The Los Angeles Chargers could deal Joey Bosa, partly to save big cap space. Bosa, a former third overall pick who will be 30 in July, had 10½ sacks in 2021 but has missed 23 games the past three seasons. That makes him a gamble, depending on the cost. The Titans’ Harold Landry, given the OK to seek a trade, doesn’t fit the Bills’ standard run-defending profile.
APTOPIX Eagles Cowboys Football (copy)
Philadelphia's Josh Sweat, intercepting a pass against Dallas, is one of the more expensive edge rush options available in free agency. Associated Press
Top of the heap: The Chargers’ Khalil Mack, age 34, is the most accomplished edge rusher on the market. Signing him would be similar to the Bills’ signing of Miller at age 33 three years ago. Do the Bills want to try that again? Probably not. Mack’s market value is $23 million per year, according to Spotrac. He had 17 sacks in 2023 and six in 2024, but his pressure rate was eighth-best in the league, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
Philadelphia’s Josh Sweat, soon to be 28, might make more sense if the Bills want a big splash. He’s a speed rusher with 33 sacks the past four seasons and a market value of about $19 million, according to Spotrac.
Chase Young, the No. 2 overall pick in 2020, hasn’t lived up to his draft billing but had a good year for the Saints in 2024, with 5½ sacks, the sixth best pressure rate and the 14th best “quick pressure” rate. Market Value: $18 million.
Names to know: Washington’s Dante Fowler is a proven veteran who would come at a much more reasonable cost (about $5 million a year via Spotrac). He had 10½ sacks for Washington and has speed off the edge. His previous four years, he produced just 17½ combined sacks. Houston’s Derek Barnett, soon to be 29, had five sacks in 2024 in just 208 pass-rush snaps. (The Bills’ A.J. Epenesa had six in 334 snaps.) The Chiefs’ Charles Omenihu had seven sacks in 2023 and spent much of 2024 recovering from knee surgery.
Under-the-radar options: Las Vegas’ K’Lavon Chaisson is a speed rusher who had five sacks for the Raiders last season after busting in four years with the Jaguars. He would be an inexpensive backup candidate, a speedier version of last year’s signing, Casey Toohill. Another in that category is the Rams’ Michael Hoecht (pronounced Hoyt), who had six sacks in 2023 and three in 2024. The Raiders’ Malcolm Koonce, the University at Buffalo product, is only 26 but tore his ACL in September, so he probably isn’t a factor for the Bills. Older guys like Brandon Graham (soon to be 37) and Emmanuel Ogbah (31) would be veteran depth pieces.
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