By Jordan Long
Free agent defensive end J.J. Watt is attracting teams. The number could be up to at least 12. Those already named are the Green Bay Packers and the Cleveland Browns. One more added to that list is the Buffalo Bills.
The Bills’ defense put pressure on the quarterbacks in the regular season. Those pressures didn’t necessarily end in sacks. They took down the quarterback 38 times ranking 15th in the NFL. When the Bills pressured the quarterbacks, they threw the ball sooner than they wanted which were usually incompletions or turnovers. The Bills created 15 interceptions.
The defense was one of the reasons they went 13-3, winning the AFC East division for the 1st time since 1995. In the postseason, the defense continued to rush the quarterbacks. In 3 playoff games, the Bills totaled 5 sacks but were unable to create any turnovers.
The Bills season ended in the AFC Championship Game losing to the Kansas City Chiefs. In that game, they tried to blitz Patrick Mahomes. The problem was they couldn’t take him down as much because of his legs, sacking Mahomes just 1 time. Kansas City’s offensive line was able to block and not allow Mahomes to be hit or taken down. Mahomes had time to throw the football down field which cost the Bills the game.
The Bills know they need help on the defensive line. Watt would like to go to a team that is a Super Bowl contender. The Bills have a defense built to win a championship right now which may be intriguing enough for Watt to sign with the Bills.
The Bills right now are over the cap by around $1.01 million. They don’t have the money to sign Watt at this time. Of course when players restructure and players are cut that will create space for them. Watt is not exactly cheap. His salary for the Texans was around $15 million. If the Bills want him, that number might have to come down to $10 million but Watt would like a chance to win a Super Bowl. He may take less money to do so. The market could determine where he goes but the Bills make a lot of sense.
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