Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - 2025 State of the Buffalo Bills series continues with a look at the defensive ends:
Under contract:
- Greg Rousseau
- Von Miller
- A.J. Epenesa
- Javon Solomon
Pending free agents:
- Dawuane Smoot (UFA)
- Casey Toohill (UFA)
State of the position:
There are two big questions surround this group this offseason.
First, what will the team do with Von Miller and his contract?
Miller still has three years remaining on a $120 million deal he signed prior to 2022. The Bills could release the soon-to-be-36-year-old before free agency begins and clear over $8.3 million in salary cap space that would become immediately available.
The issue with that is they would still have to account for over $15 million on their salary cap for Miller, even though he’s not on their roster (dead cap).
They could, instead, choose to designate him a "post June 1 release," saving over $17 million in cap space this season, and accounting for over $6.3 million in dead cap space for each of the next two years.
However, none of that $17 million would become available to them until June 1, far after the free agency well has basically dried up.
If the Bills choose to keep Miller on the roster at his current pay scale, he counts for over $23 million of their cap in 2025.
The two sides could also choose to restructure his deal, something both have, at least, indicated is possible, lowering that cap number. But at what price is that worth it for the team to keep tied up in Miller, who played over 40% of the defensive snaps just three times last season?
The second question is will the team sign Gregory Rousseau to a contract extension?
Rousseau is entering the final year of his rookie contract after the team picked up his fifth-year option. He’s scheduled to count for over $13.3 million against the salary cap, and then be a free agent next offseason.
The Bills could lower that cap number by quite a bit by signing him to an extension, but the cost of doing that could be pricey, considering he’s still very young - about to turn just 25 years old in April - plays a premium position, and has been a solid overall producer.
Rousseau has collected eight sacks in two of the past three seasons, and not only led the team with 16 tackles for loss last year, but doubled-up the next closest player, A.J. Epenesa, who had eight.
Epenesa is another young, but experienced player on the edge. The 26-year old has had, at least, six sacks in each of his last three seasons. He’s a solid player who is on the field for all three downs, generally for about 60%-to-65% of the defensive snaps.
But Epenesa is often feast-or-famine, either having big games or not showing up much at all on the stat sheet.
He is also entering the final year of an extension he signed last offseason, and is scheduled to count for a hefty $7.48 million on the salary cap in 2025.
Is that number too high for the Bills to live with? Releasing him would save over $3 million, but still count over $4 million in dead cap space.
A "post June 1 release" would be a huge $6.2 million in savings, and only cost about $1.3 million in dead cap space each of the next two years. But again, the team would not get any of that cap relief until June 1.
Moving on from Epenesa would also create, yet, another void at a position the team already needs to upgrade.
A lot of different scenarios could be on the table with him, including an extension to lower that cap number, or letting him play out the final year of his deal.
If the Bills were to decide to move on from Epenesa, a big reason may be because they like what they’ve seen from Javon Solomon.
The rookie only saw action on defense in 11 games last year, but flashed at times, showing both speed and power off the edge, finishing with 2.0 sacks.
Solomon could be a player they really rely on in 2025, especially considering other changes that could be coming to the position.
Dawuane Smoot’s first season in Buffalo never really materialized the way either the team or player envisioned after signing a one-year, $2.5 million deal. He suffered a late training camp injury, and missed the first two regular season games, then came back to play seven games, only to injure his wrist and be shut down again for four weeks.
When healthy and playing, Smoot was a key part of the defensive line rotation, because he could play both outside and inside. He played close to, or even more than half the snaps in seven of the 11 games he was active, finishing the season with 1.5 sacks.
Smoot will turn 30-years-old in early March, and is going to be an unrestricted free agent. Considering he signed a pretty minimal deal last offseason, then had an injury-plagued 2024, he shouldn’t have a huge market.
The Bills could probably re-sign him to the same type of contract, if both parties are interested in running it back.
Another veteran one-year signing that didn’t have the impact hoped for was Casey Toohill, who saw more time on special teams than defense as the season went on. Toohill was even released prior to Week 15 to make room on the roster for other necessary moves.
Toohill re-signed to the practice squad, where he stayed for the remainder of the season, elevated for the team’s Week 18 game against the New England Patriots. He did not play in the playoffs.
Toohill, 28, will, once again, be an unrestricted free agent this March.
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