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Contract Details: Allen, Bills, Bears, Giants, Adebo, Packers, Hobbs, Chiefs, Saints

March 13th, 2025 at 2:27pm CST by Sam Robinson

Starting with one monster Bills extension and another big-ticket deal, here are the latest contract details from around the NFL:

  • Josh Allen, QB (Bills): Six years, $330MM. Classified as a two-year add-on that provides the reigning MVP with a roughly $90MM raise, the deal includes some key dates. On fully guaranteed salaries in 2025 and ’26, Allen will see all of his 2027 pay become fully guaranteed on Day 5 of the 2026 league year, per OverTheCap. On Day 5 of the 2027 league year, Allen’s 53.5MM salary locks in. $14MM of Allen’s 2029 roster bonus ($22.3MM) becomes guaranteed on Day 5 of the 2028 league year. Allen will be due a $35MM roster bonus on Day 5 of the 2029 league year. He is tied to a $41.3MM cap number in 2025, but restructures are likely coming; his cap hit spikes to $61.4MM in 2026.
  • Gregory Rousseau, DE (Bills). Four years, $80MM. Rousseau will see $49MM guaranteed at signing, OverTheCap notes, while his 2025 and ’26 base salaries are fully guaranteed. The Bills are providing guarantees into Year 3, as KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson notes that $5MM of Rousseau’s $16.41MM base is locked in already. The rest will shift from an injury guarantee to a full guarantee on Day 5 of the 2027 league year. A $3MM roster bonus is also in place on Day 5 of the 2029 league year.
  • Paulson Adebo, CB (Giants). Three years, $54MM. The young cornerback will see $34.75MM guaranteed at signing. Despite Adebo only signing a three-year deal, that full guarantee ranks 10th among corners. The Giants guaranteed $13.5MM of Adebo’s $17.25MM 2026 salary, ESPN.com’s Katherine Terrell tweets. The rest becomes guaranteed on Day 5 of the 2026 league year.
  • Dayo Odeyingbo, DE (Bears): Three years, $48MM. The ex-Colt will see $29.5MM guaranteed at signing, per OverTheCap. $13MM of Odeyingbo’s $15.5MM 2026 base salary is guaranteed at signing, with Wilson adding the rest locks in on Day 3 of the 2026 league year. A $1MM roster bonus is also due on Day 5 of the 2027 league year; Odeyingbo’s 2027 base is nonguaranteed.
  • Nate Hobbs, CB (Packers). Four years, $48MM. While Hobbs is guaranteed $16MM at signing, the general Packers contract structure resurfaces here. Reminding of Josh Jacobs‘ 2024 deal (also 4/48), his former Raiders teammate has no guarantees beyond that $16MM signing bonus, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio notes. A $6.25MM roster bonus is due on Day 3 of the 2026 league year, Wilson tweets. The Packers typically do not guarantee second-year salaries, but they would be out $12MM in dead money if they move in on 2026 — due to signing bonus prorations.
  • Darius Slayton, WR (Giants). Three years, $36MM. Now on a third Giants contract, Slayton will receive $22MM at signing, Wilson tweets. That is $10MM more than his second contract was worth in total. Slayton’s 2026 salary is mostly guaranteed, with Wilson adding $9.75MM of that $12.25MM is locked in. A $2.5MM roster bonus in place on Day 5 of the 2027 league year.
  • Juwan Johnson, TE (Saints). Three years, $30.75MM. Johnson will see $21.25MM at signing, with Wilson adding his 2025 and ’26 base salaries are guaranteed. Johnson’s 2027 paragraph 5 number ($7.5MM) is nonguaranteed, but a $2MM roster bonus is due on Day 5 of the 2027 league year.
  • Jaylon Moore, T (Chiefs). Two years, $30MM. The Chiefs are guaranteeing their new left tackle hopeful $21.24MM at signing. A career-long 49ers backup, Moore will see $7MM of his $14.24MM 2026 base salary guaranteed at signing, Wilson tweets.

Bills To Trade CB Kaiir Elam To Cowboys

March 12th, 2025 at 2:16pm CST by Adam La Rose

After three seasons with the Bills, Kaiir Elam is on the move. Buffalo has agreed to trade the former first-round corner to the Cowboys, as first reported by The Exhibit’s Josina Anderson.

Dallas will send Buffalo a fifth-round pick in 2025 along with a future seventh-rounder in exchange for Elam and a sixth-round selection, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. This will give Elam a fresh start after struggling to carve out a starting role on the Bills’ defense. Presuming the Cowboys intend to decline his fifth-year option this spring, 2025 will represent his walk year. Confirming the deal, the Bills announced the seventh-round pick will be in 2026.

Elam had a strong three-year college career at Florida, and expectations were high upon arrival in Buffalo as the No. 23 pick in the 2022 draft. He made six starts and 13 appearances as a rookie, collecting a pair of interceptions. That showcased his potential to an extent, but since then Elam has not developed as hoped.

The 23-year-old tore an ankle ligament prior to the start of his second Bills season, and after attempting to play through the injury he was on injured reserve for an extended stretch. Elam appeared in only three games that year, finding himself passed on the depth chart by Christian Benford (who has set himself up well to be one of the next Bills to secure a lucrative extension). Even without Tre’Davious White in the fold in 2024, Elam only handled a 35% snap share on defense, something which further fueled trade speculation.

The latter’s departure will clear up $2.57MM in cap space for the Bills. That figure represents Elam’s 2025 salary as he looks to build his value during the final year of his rookie contract. Earning at least a rotational role in a secondary which is set to lose longtime slot starter Jourdan Lewis would give the Cowboys a cost-effective option at the cornerback spot. Dallas still has Trevon Diggs on the books through 2028 (as his knee rehab continues), while fellow perimeter cover man DaRon Bland is entering the final year of his rookie deal.

Last August, the Cowboys made a similar move in trading for cornerback Andrew Booth. The former Vikings second-rounder had a modest role on defense with Dallas in 2024, and he too is set to see his rookie deal expire after the coming campaign. It will be interesting to see if the buy-low approach with Elam pans out and leads to a long-term commitment from his new team.

Bills To Sign S Darrick Forrest

March 12th, 2025 at 11:49am CST by Sam Robinson

Already carrying Taylor Rapp and Cole Bishop on their roster going into free agency, the Bills have used Day 3 to add two more safeties. After re-signing Damar Hamlin, Buffalo is bringing in a former NFC East starter.

Ex-Washington draftee Darrick Forrest is heading to Buffalo on a one-year deal, Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz tweets. Forrest is a 17-game Commanders starter, with most of those opportunities coming during the 2022 season.

Washington drafted Forrest in the 2021 fifth round and made him a primary 2022 starter. That season included 88 tackles and four interceptions. The Cincinnati alum, however, did not grab any INTs outside of that 2022 season. A starter during the ’22 campaign’s second half, Forrest saw his momentum stall in 2023. A shoulder fracture ended his season five games in, and the Commanders changed plans soon after.

Hiring Adam Peters as GM, the team signed Jeremy Chinn to pair with 2023 second-round pick Quan Martin. Even with Kamren Curl leaving in free agency last year, Forrest did not earn his starting job back. He made one start and played only 74 defensive snaps. Washington has lost he and Chinn this offseason; two years remain on Martin’s rookie deal. The team has since signed former Lions and Saints DB Will Harris as a potential option alongside Martin.

Forrest, 26 in May, graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 42 overall safety (out of 88 qualifiers) in 2022. While avenues to the Buffalo starting lineup appear closed, the Bills at least have secured another experienced depth piece a year after their Mike Edwards pact did not work out.

Bills To Bring Back S Damar Hamlin

March 12th, 2025 at 9:18am CST by Sam Robinson

Damar Hamlin became a regular starter for the Bills again in 2024, moving back to the lineup after his injury rehab largely took him off the field in 2023. Despite Hamlin’s rookie contract expiring, the inspirational figure is staying in Buffalo.

The Bills announced they re-signed Hamlin to a one-year deal Wednesday morning. This will keep an experienced player in the fold alongside Taylor Rapp and second-rounder Cole Bishop.

Only used on 17 defensive plays in 2023, Hamlin won a starting safety job last season — after the Bills disbanded their seven-year Micah Hyde–Jordan Poyer safety partnership. Hamlin started all 14 games he played in 2024 and logged a 98% snap share, which checked in beyond his usage rate from 2022. Hamlin, 27 later this month, notched his first two career interceptions last season.

Set to hold a place in NFL history thanks to his recovery from the chest injury that caused cardiac arrest in Cincinnati, Hamlin held an uncertain place with the Bills after his comeback. The former fifth-round pick entered the Bills’ 2024 training camp on the roster bubble, as the team had drafted Bishop highly and signed Mike Edwards. Hamlin, however, beat out both to start alongside Rapp. The Pitt alum made 89 tackles and broke up five passes last season.

Bishop figures to be a threat to Hamlin’s starting position this year, as the Bills chose the Utah product 60th overall. Bishop played on 34% of Buffalo’s defensive snaps last season, starting four games. Pro Football Focus also ranked Hamlin 85th among safety regulars in 2024. The Bills also have versatile backup Cam Lewis rostered entering free agency. Rapp is signed for one more season.

Regardless of Hamlin’s path back to a starting role, his journey back from the near-death scene — one that prompted the first canceled NFL game in decades and prompted the league to devise a contingency plan in case a three-loss Bills team advanced to the AFC championship game that year — will make him a revered figure in Buffalo. If nothing else, Hamlin, who had started 13 games in place of Hyde in 2022, brings plenty of experience as a potential depth player — in the event Bishop takes a step into the starting lineup.

Bills To Sign DT Larry Ogunjobi

March 12th, 2025 at 8:09am CST by Sam Robinson

A second high-profile D-line cap casualty is heading to Buffalo. After agreeing to terms with Joey Bosa on Tuesday night, the Bills have reached a Wednesday-morning agreement with Larry Ogunjobi.

The recent Steelers release will join the Bills on a one-year, $8.3MM deal, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports. Incentives could bump the number to $10MM for Ogunjobi, who spent the past three seasons with the Steelers.

This will be Ogunjobi’s first trip outside the AFC North. The eight-year veteran has played for the Browns, Bengals and Steelers, becoming a quality interior pass rusher. The 108-game career starter will join a Bills team that features Ed Oliver and DaQuan Jones at D-tackle. Quinton Jefferson and Jordan Phillips, each acquired in-season last year, are free agents.

Ogunjobi’s sack numbers have tailed off in recent years, but he does have three seasons with at least 5.5. These came with Cleveland and Cincinnati. With Pittsburgh, Ogunjobi tallied six sacks in three combined seasons. The Steelers did see the Cameron Heyward sidekick post 15 tackles for loss and 26 QB hits in that span, one that included the Steelers giving him a three-year, $40.5MM contract. Ogunjobi became a release candidate, however, and Pittsburgh cut bait with a season left on the contract.

Working as a starter for the Bengals team that eventually ventured to Super Bowl LVI, Ogunjobi suffered a season-ending foot injury during the team’s wild-card win. An ensuing physical led the Bears to nix a deal with the former Browns third-rounder the following March, as Ogunjobi landed in Pittsburgh on a one-year, $8MM deal. He played well enough to command the above-referenced Steelers extension, and enough of a market formed over the past two days to bring the Bills past $8MM.

Playing on an extension he signed in 2023, Oliver operates as Buffalo’s top interior pass rusher. The former first-round pick posted a career-high 9.5 sacks in 2023 and has combined to deliver 29 QB hits over the past two seasons. Jones, conversely, is the Bills’ top interior run stuffer. It would stand to reason Ogunjobi will play behind this duo as a high-end reserve option. This is certainly a lot to pay such a player, pointing to Bills confidence Ogunjobi can excel as a frequently used second-stringer.

Ogunjobi’s career-high sack total (seven) came with the Bengals in 2021, and he combined for 20 TFLs between the 2018 and ’19 seasons as a Brown. Chosen in the same draft as Cleveland added Myles Garrett, Ogunjobi has never been an advanced metrics darling. But the 48.3 overall grade he received from Pro Football Focus for his 2024 work was especially low and positioned him as the 94th-best interior DL out of 118 qualifiers. Still, the Bills will bet he has quality football left.

Bills, DE Joey Bosa Agree To Deal

March 11th, 2025 at 11:10pm CST by Sam Robinson

A wild-card contender will ride to victory in the Joey Bosa sweepstakes. Rather than a 49ers deal to play with his brother, Bosa is heading to Buffalo.

The Bills and Bosa have a one-year, $12.6MM deal in place, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. This reminds of the 2022 Von Miller sweepstakes, when a supposed Cowboys-Rams duel ended with the future Hall of Famer choosing the Bills. Soon after Buffalo released Miller, Bosa will be on track to play opposite Gregory Rousseau.

[RELATED: Bills Give Josh Allen Record-Setting Guarantee]

Also rostering A.J. Epenesa in the second season of a two-year contact, the Bills will be expected to keep the former second-round pick on the bench. Bosa received natural interest from the 49ers, who were the rumored favorites due to Nick Bosa‘s presence on the team. Similar to the 2021 J.J. Watt free agency, a dynamic brother tandem will not form. Joey Bosa also will spurn his hometown team, as the Dolphins showed interest as well. He will join a five-time reigning AFC East champion that continues to be denied Super Bowl berths.

Buffalo will land the older Bosa brother ahead of his age-30 season. Unlike Miller at the time, Bosa has a steady history of nagging injuries that ended up leading to a Chargers release. (That said, Miller did miss all of 2020 and had an ACL tear on his resume previously.) The Bolts re-signed Khalil Mack, despite the potential Hall of Famer being four years older than Bosa. The latter will attempt to prove he can stay healthy with the Bills, whose pass rush could receive a jolt if Bosa is healthy.

The former No. 3 overall pick made it through 14 Chargers games last season but was limited to five in 2022 and nine in 2023. The Chargers gave Bosa pay cut in 2024. He made the Pro Bowl last season but only registered five sacks; his 19 pressures ranked 68th last season. While injuries have taken Joey Bosa off the top tier on which his brother resides, he remains a formidable blocking assignment. His presence figures to boost Rousseau, though the latter will not exactly be viewed as a sidekick the way Mack, Uchenna Nwosu and Melvin Ingram were opposite Bosa with the Chargers. Continuing to invest in their early-2020s draftees, the Bills just gave Rousseau a four-year, $80MM extension.

Five Pro Bowls appear on Bosa’s resume. His career does not closely rival Miller’s at the time of a Bills signing, as it will not take anything close to Miller’s terms (6/120 with guarantees into Year 3) to land the 10th-year veteran. But Bosa has four double-digit sack seasons on his resume. The most recent came in 2021, a season that included seven of Bosa’s career 17 forced fumbles.

Although the Bills have separated from Miller, NFL.com’s Cameron Wolfe reported earlier tonight the team has continued to talk with the veteran’s camp about a potential deal at a lower rate. While this Bosa signing could nix that, Wolfe indicated the Bills wanted Miller back and to add another quality edge rusher. Bosa (again, if healthy) would qualify for the latter role, so it will be interesting to see if the team is still interested in working something out to bring Miller back as a rotational rusher. Miller posted six sacks last season, bouncing back from a 2023 slate marred by his injury recovery.

Buffalo has already added ex-Rams pass rusher Michael Hoecht as well. Given an $8MM-per-year deal, Hoecht has worked as a versatile piece during his career. He will come to Buffalo with 13 career sacks. Hoecht and Epenesa may well be Buffalo’s second-string defensive ends, which would seemingly leave little room for Miller. Though, the soon-to-be 36-year-old may not be out of the equation entirely just yet.

The Bills did not see Miller’s prime extend beyond his 2022 ACL tear, and they will bet on Bosa still having some of his left. Rousseau’s arrow is pointing upward, but the former first-rounder has topped out at eight sacks in a season thus far. The Bills were unable to consistently disrupt Patrick Mahomes in the AFC championship game, allowing a Chiefs team they defeated by two scores in the regular season to post its only 30-plus-point game of the season. As the Bills attempt to finally push their Josh Allen-driven nucleus to a Super Bowl, Bosa will be asked to play a central role.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/11/24

March 11th, 2025 at 10:23pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Here are today’s minor moves from around the NFL:

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

New Orleans Saints

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Anger is a 13-year veteran who has spent the last four years in Dallas, which included Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors in 2021 and 2023. He will stay with the Cowboys on a two-year deal, per ESPN’s Todd Archer.

Tonyan had a few strong seasons in Green Bay earlier in his career, but he has struggled to produce over the last two years. He spent 2024 in Minnesota, but only played 15 snaps on offense with zero targets. He will add tight end depth in Kansas City.

Stoops received a two-game suspension for violating the NFL’s Performance-Enhancing Substances Policy, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. He will be eligible to participate in training camp and preseason games, but will be sidelined for the first two games of the regular season.

McNichols is staying in Washington on a one-year deal, according to Pelissero. The seven-year veteran appeared in 17 games for the Commanders in 2024 and rushed for 261 yards and four touchdowns on 55 attempts. McNichols will likely continue as Washington’s RB3 behind Brian Robinson and Austin Ekeler.

Bills To Re-Sign RB Ty Johnson

March 11th, 2025 at 5:32pm CST by Sam Robinson

Maintaining a role on the Bills’ offense despite Ray Davis arriving in the draft to join James Cook, Ty Johnson intends to stay in the fold. Johnson is re-signing with Buffalo, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler reports.

The veteran backup RB is sticking around on a two-year deal. This will be his third season with the Bills. Johnson is re-signing for $5MM on the two-year pact, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero adds. This will be a raise for Johnson, who played out a one-year, $1.29MM deal.

Even with Davis making inroads into Buffalo’s backfield, Johnson still accumulated 497 scrimmage yards in 2024. That marked a significant uptick from a 194-yard 2023. The six-year veteran averaged a whopping 15.8 yards per catch. That came on just 18 receptions, though Johnson’s performance against the Lions (five catches, 114 yards) helped give Buffalo one of the 2024 season’s top wins. Johnson, 27, added four receiving touchdowns before picking up another in the playoffs.

Johnson totaled 41 carries for 213 yards, finding a home despite Cook soaring onto the extension radar. Three seasons remain on Davis’ rookie deal. Barring something drastic with Cook amid his top-market extension push, the Bills look to have their backfield set for next season.

Johnson’s best season remains his 2021 Jets effort, when a 372-yard receiving year produced 610 from scrimmage and four touchdowns. The Jets had claimed Johnson off waivers (from the Lions) in 2020 but cut him in 2023. That led to the Bills swooping in, and they have been pleased with the returns since that initial investment.

Bills Agree To Record-Setting Extension With Josh Allen

March 11th, 2025 at 3:03pm CST by Sam Robinson

MARCH 11: The contract includes $147MM fully guaranteed, SI.com’s Albert Breer notes. This does not rival Watson’s $230MM number — one achieved under historically unusual circumstances — but it does eclipse every other player’s full guarantee figure. Classifying this as a $90MM raise, Breer adds Allen will see $220MM over the next four years.

MARCH 9: Josh Allen completed an MVP season but had seen his contract drop outside the top 10 at quarterback. That is no longer the case. As the Bills finish a stream of extensions, they have reached a new deal with Allen.

Despite four seasons remaining on Allen’s $43MM-per-year extension, the Bills are doing right by their superstar. Allen agreed to a six-year, $330MM contract, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. Allen will see a whopping $250MM guaranteed. While that may not be the full guarantee, the overall total tops Deshaun Watson for the most ever guaranteed to an NFL player.

This does not add six more years to Allen’s term length, as NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero classifies this as a top-up deal. The contract will, however, add two more years — and an astonishing $200MM — to Allen’s overall outlay.

The new number settling in at $330MM over the next six seasons, Allen will be tied to $55MM per year. The guarantee figure is more important here, and it will be interesting to see if the Bills actually topped the Browns’ Watson windfall in terms of full guarantees. But Allen is obviously not going anywhere. His Hall of Fame course will be charted in Buffalo.

Allen’s AAV does not exceed Dak Prescott‘s NFL-record $60MM number, but it does check in on the second-place tier Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence and Jordan Love populate. Allen already earned $174MM through seven seasons, rising from raw super-prospect to arguably the NFL’s best active quarterback. Allen certainly does not have Patrick Mahomes‘ resume, but he has outplayed the Chiefs megastar over the past two seasons. This has not resulted in the Bills conquering the Chiefs in the playoffs, as they are now 0-4 against their rivals in January, but Buffalo is certainly betting that is on tap.

Prescott also landed his monster Cowboys re-up thanks to extraordinary leverage stemming from no-trade and no-tag clauses, and Dallas also faced a steep void years penalty if it did not pay its quarterback. That deal occurred hours before the team’s Week 1 game; the Bills are checking this off their to-do list years in advance. Allen, however, had slipped to 14th in QB AAV. The Bills had one of the best bargains in football, even with Allen at $43MM per annum, and it will be interesting to see how the massive adjustment changes their numbers moving forward.

Allen, 28, is coming off his best season, reaching that perch despite the Bills trading Stefon Diggs last April. Allen also played through a left hand fracture last season. Three times a top-five MVP finisher previously, Allen won the award after dragging a Bills team believed to be retooling — after moving on from several starters — to a 13-4 record and a third straight AFC No. 2 seed.

Allen sported a 28-6 TD-INT ratio and added 531 rushing yards and 12 scores. The do-it-all QB did not beat out Lamar Jackson‘s statistically superior season for first-team All-Pro honors but edged him for MVP, as voters either recognized the Bills having fewer All-Pros compared to the Ravens and/or punished Jackson for previous playoff shortcomings. The Bills defeated the Ravens in the divisional round this year, making Allen 2-0 against the two-time MVP in the playoffs. Matters have not gone as well against Allen’s other top rival, however.

A contract update was on the radar for Allen, though this is a bit more than a mere update. It both adds years and considerable guarantees to his deal. Allen joins Mahomes and Lawrence as being the only current NFLers signed into the 2030s. Mahomes, who received a reworking after his second Super Bowl MVP award in 2023, is still signed through 2031 on a Chiefs-friendly deal. Allen was the only QB to follow Mahomes’ lead and help his team in term length, as no other passers since have signed for more than five years. Allen adding two years to his deal will help the Bills, should they choose to keep restructuring it. The Chiefs have gone to this well with Mahomes three times and will likely keep doing so.

The Bills traded up twice to land Allen in the 2018 draft, and by 2020, the No. 7 overall pick had become one of the league’s best QBs. Allen’s carry workload probably needs to be a bigger talking point, as he has taken plenty of hits during his career on run plays. The Wyoming alum has already compiled 759 carries to go with 112 more in the playoffs. A controversial call on an Allen QB sneak helped sink the Bills in their latest Chiefs matchup, and Kansas City’s latest playoff win keeps bringing the Buffalo timeline into focus.

While the big-bodied QB’s run-game skills may run the risk of seeing his prime end early, the Bills have him at his absolute best right now. They are also loading up their roster to keep a new core intact. Buffalo has extended Khalil Shakir, Terrel Bernard and Gregory Rousseau over the past two weeks. Future Allen restructures will help the Bills afford those payments, though none of the performers received top-market money. James Cook might, and he is certainly pushing for it. Cook is Allen’s top skill-position weapon now, but the Bills are betting on their QB playing long enough he will thrive with another wave of skill players down the road.

The franchise will hope an elusive Super Bowl, perhaps more than one, emerges during this contract. The team must keep contending with an AFC gauntlet that features Mahomes, Jackson and Burrow. As Allen keeps proving he is squarely on that tier, the Bills no longer will need to worry about his contract for the foreseeable future.

Bills To Sign LB Michael Hoecht

March 10th, 2025 at 7:23pm CST by Rory Parks

The Bills have agreed to sign free agent linebacker Michael Hoecht, per Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network. Hoecht, who had spent his entire career with the Rams after signing with the club as a UDFA in 2020, will move across the country to continue his career.

He is also getting a nice payday, especially considering his undrafted status. According to Pelissero, Buffalo has authorized a three-year deal for the Ivy Leaguer, a deal that can max out at $24MM.

Now 27, Hoecht spent the entirety of his rookie campaign on the Rams’ taxi squad, finally getting his first taste of regular season action in 2021. By 2022, he had established himself as a regular part of Los Angeles’ defensive rotation, and he was also shifted from defensive tackle to outside linebacker to take advantage of his unique athleticism. The 6-4, 267-pound defender has frequently been asked to drop into coverage and has even lined up at slot corner from time to time.

In 2023, Hoecht became a full-time starter, starting all 17 of the Rams’ regular season games and their lone playoff contest, racking up an 85% snap share and a career-high six sacks. Pro Football Focus did not think highly of his work that season, however, grading him as the 90th-best edge defender out of 112 qualifiers. Perhaps realizing that the Brown product was better suited to a complementary role, the Rams cut his snap share to 57% in 2024 (although he did appear in all 17 games again).

The Bills, who have been busy extending their own players (including several core defenders), did release Von Miller yesterday and could use additional depth on the edge. Hoecht will provide that while also offering some schematic versatility (as detailed by The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue back in November (subscription required)).

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