An interesting name has surfaced as a possible franchise tag candidate — one that appeared on the waiver wire during the 2018 season.
The Bills drafted Ed Oliver at No. 9 overall last year, have promising 2018 third-rounder Harrison Phillips coming back from injury and are set to retain Star Lotulelei for a third season. Nevertheless, teams are expecting the Bills to tag defensive tackle Jordan Phillips, according to CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora.
That scenario would represent a remarkable rise for the elder of the Bills’ two D-line Phillipses. Buffalo claimed the former second-round pick off waivers from Miami in 2018. A key cog in the Bills’ top-tier pass defense, Jordan Phillips registered 9.5 sacks last season — nearly twice as many as he collected from 2016-18. Phillips also recorded 16 quarterback hits but graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 103 interior defenders (out of 113 full-time players).
The 6-foot-6, 341-pound defender would collect approximately $16.7MM on a franchise tag in advance of his age-28 season. That would be a significant raise for the part-time starter, who signed a one-year, $4.5MM deal in March 2019 to stay with the Bills.
While the Bills have several notable investments at defensive tackle, they do possess plenty of cap space to afford a tag. Buffalo is projected to hold more than $82MM in space — third-most in the league. Should the Bills tag Phillips, it would give them a deep stable of interior defenders and further illuminate the need for an outside pass rusher. Shaq Lawson is a free agent, and Trent Murphy has not exceeded 10 QB hits in either of his two Bills seasons.
It would still be interesting to see Phillips’ name included with the likes of Chris Jones, Matt Judon or Yannick Ngakoue — all potential tag recipients. Those pass rushers will carry much greater name recognition going into the tag window. Teams can apply tags from Feb. 25-March 10.
Has to be just a bit embarrassing for the Dolphins front office to continually see players they discard, excel with other teams.
It’ll be exciting watching them draft Tua T w/ the 5th, then see him continue on w/ his injury prone career and wonder ‘why us?’.
9.5 sacks but rated 103 of 113? Dear lord how bad was he against the run?
These PFF ratings seem very strange. Their top run linebackers from 2018 were out of a job for 2019, specifically Zach Brown (in fairness, Brown had a six game trial with the Eagles and a five day trial with the Cardinals). Other Redskins linebackers Martrell Spaight, Zach Vigil and Mason Foster have also enjoyed top PFF rankings in 2017, only to find themselves out of football in a year.
This is not true. Jason La Canfora is always wrong.
As a Bills fan I just dont see this happening. Phillips has become a fan favorite this season with not only his play but all around energy and mentality, but that’s one hell of a Cap figure for a team that still needs to make some acquisitions… I’d like to see Phillips stay, but as a rotational player with Oliver I just don’t know they will throw a 1 year deal at him worth that figure. Maybe if they feel like they have to and are close to a long term agreement or something?
I wouldn’t want to be the guy that has to tell a 6’6″ 341 lb defender that he isn’t getting the pay raise he was expecting.