Indianapolis, Ind. (WGR 550) - My 2024 "State of the Bills" positional series continues with a look at the defensive tackles:
Under contract:
- Ed Oliver
- Eli Ankou
Pending free agents:
- DaQuan Jones
- Jordan Phillips
- Tim Settle
- Linval Joseph
- Poona Ford
State of the position:
The first thing that jumps out about this group is the sheer number of pending free agents. Of the seven players who ended the season on the roster in some capacity, only two are actually under contract for 2024.
Thankfully for the Bills, Oliver is one of them still under contract.
The 26-year-old had one of his best seasons as a pro last year, almost reaching double digit sacks with 9.5, and also reaching career-highs in total tackles with 51 and tackles for loss with 14.
The Bills signed Oliver to a four-year, $68 million contract extension last offseason. Many fans questioned that decision at the time, but it’s looking better-and-better now. He’s locked up through the 2027 season.
As good as Oliver was throughout the season, he was even better through the first four weeks when Jones was lined up next to him. He had three sacks and six tackles for loss in those games.
At 6-foot-4 and 320 pounds, Jones is the perfect complement to the undersized Oliver, not only able to eat up blockers when asked to do so, but also a penetrator himself, finishing with 2.5 sacks and four tackles for loss in only seven games.
Jones was sorely missed for a 10-game stretch after injuring his pectoral muscle in Buffalo's Week 5 matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.
Now Jones is scheduled to become a free agent. He might be priority No. 1 for the Bills to retain, but that could be tough if another team wants to pay him the same $7 million annual average the Bills were giving him for the past two seasons.
It will be interesting to see what his market is coming off the injury, albeit able to return, and now at 32-years-old.
Settle never really produced to the level of the two-year, $9 million contract he signed heading into the 2022 season. Through 32 games played over the last two seasons, he’s only collected 2.0 sacks and 33 total tackles. He was on the field for 35% of the defensive snaps a year ago.
It’s certainly possible the team would like to keep Settle, but it would have to be at a much lower rate. He may find more money elsewhere.
An emotional leader of the Bills' defense, Phillips, once again, had to battle through injuries last season, just as he did in 2022. He was placed on Injured Reserve in December and did not play over the team’s final three regular season games or two playoff games.
Following his second stint in a Bills uniform, the 31-year-old told reporters after the season that he might consider retirement.
If Phillips does decide to continue to play, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Bills brought him back on a one-year deal worth the veteran minimum, or not much more.
Ford was one of the bigger free agent names still available following last year‘s draft. The Bills signed him, but he spent most of the season inactive on game day, suiting up for only eight games. In those contests, he did have some nice moments that showed he can be a valuable rotation piece.
Ford is set to be a free agent once again at only 28-years-old. He could still offer depth along a line that uses a heavy rotation, if the Bills want to revisit that.
A few weeks after losing Jones to injury and with others banged up, the Bills signed the veteran Joseph to help a depleted line.
At 6-foot-4 and 329 pounds, Joseph didn’t join the team until November and was mainly used as a run-stuffing big body and to eat blocks upfront. It's the second year in-a-row Joseph joined a team late in the season, doing the same with the Philadelphia Eagles in November of 2022.
He’s now 35-years-old, has played 14 NFL seasons for five different teams, and most likely won’t be a player signing anytime soon again this free agent period.
Ankou has been a really nice depth player to have on the practice squad in case of emergency. That’s where he was for the first four games before signing with the Atlanta Falcons to their 53-man roster.
After the Falcons released him, Ankou re-joined the Bills' practice squad, then signed a Reserve/Future contract to return in 2024.
Related
