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Extension Candidate: Courtland Sutton

July 8th, 2021 at 2:49pm CST by Sam Robinson

Having fully transitioned at wide receiver following the in-season trades of Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders, the Broncos have assembled an interesting group of pass catchers. Denver’s quartet consists of a first-rounder (Jerry Jeudy), two second-rounders (Courtland Sutton, K.J. Hamler) and a contract-year UDFA (Tim Patrick) — all tied to rookie contracts or an RFA tender.

Joining Patrick in entering a contract year, Sutton is in line to be the first Broncos wideout to sign a lucrative extension since Sanders’ September 2016 re-up. A Sutton deal would top Thomas’ five-year, $70MM pact as the richest the Broncos have given a receiver. But a few factors complicate the 25-year-old playmaker’s status going into his fourth season, making him one of the more interesting 2021 extension candidates.

Sutton’s rookie-year form prompted the Broncos to trade Thomas, and the SMU product built on that in 2019. Despite Denver using three starting QBs in Sutton’s second year, the jump-ball standout served as the top weapon in an offense lacking other notable targets. The 6-foot-4 pass catcher’s 72-reception, 1,112-yard season — with an aging Joe Flacco, rookie Drew Lock and inexperienced backup Brandon Allen targeting him — garnered a Pro Bowl nod and opened the door to the prospect of an extension.

The Broncos then became the first team since the 2003 Cardinals to select receivers in the first and second rounds of a draft, but Sutton’s ACL tear — after just 31 snaps — changed the club’s plans to have the draftees develop in a Sutton-centered attack. Denver will now give its hopeful Sutton-Jeudy-Hamler trio, with Patrick mixing in, another try.

Since Sutton’s injury, the Broncos hired a new GM. But George Paton identified Sutton as a core player the Broncos want to keep around long-term. They have an opening for a veteran receiver contract, with Jeudy and Hamler not extension-eligible for a while and only one skill-position player — Melvin Gordon, whose roster spot may not be assured — making midlevel money. Sutton’s production with suboptimal quarterback play points to untapped potential for when/if the Broncos acquire a long-term passer.

Waiting makes some sense for both parties. Sutton is not expected to begin camp on the active/PUP list and will be on track to lead or co-lead Denver’s receiving corps this season. The Broncos making an offer before they determine Sutton’s fit alongside the younger receivers in Pat Shurmur‘s offense would be a bit of a gamble, but the team could also reap some value if Sutton wanted to lock in a slightly lower AAV now as protection against a sluggish season following ACL rehab. The Broncos certainly have the cap space to do a deal now or in the fall; their $28MM in room ranks behind only the Jaguars.

An in-season extension could be in play, too. That would make for an interesting middle ground — similar to Garett Bolles‘ November 2020 deal — and avoid a situation where this forces the Broncos to use their franchise tag for a third straight year. Of course, if Sutton proves willing to bet on himself going into a post-injury contract year, it would take a big offer to convince him to bypass a potential free agency bid or — in the more likely scenario — the leverage that comes with being tagged.

Sutton picking up where he left off would be a good problem for the Broncos, who have not featured this kind of depth at receiver since the mid-2010s. This has likely caught the attention of Aaron Rodgers, though that situation has produced little of consequence in months. A return to form would put Sutton on the radar to land a deal in the Kenny Golladay range — four years, $72MM — with perhaps some upside from this salary place, as the cap balloons over $200MM after 2021’s dip.

Sutton’s production alongside Jeudy will illustrate how the Broncos view him. With the fifth-year option allowing the Broncos to table Jeudy’s payday — if the impressive route runner proves worthy — until 2024, a window for a Sutton extension should be open. Given the Rodgers connection and the receiving corps’ new look since Sutton’s last full season, his contract status will be monitoring in the coming weeks and/or months.

This Date In Transactions History: Seahawks Extend Cortez Kennedy

July 8th, 2021 at 12:35pm CST by Sam Robinson

Although the Seahawks’ apex occurred during the 2010s, the franchise has a few Hall of Famers whose careers wrapped up before Pete Carroll‘s arrival. One of them signed his final (and most lucrative) extension on July 8, 1998.

Twenty-three years ago today, the Seahawks reached an agreement to retain Cortez Kennedy. A perennial Pro Bowl defensive tackle, Kennedy agreed to a three-year deal worth $17MM. Kennedy’s third Seattle contract contained a $6MM signing bonus and marked a raise from his previous accord.

The Seahawks’ first Kennedy extension took place in the initial year of the free agency era (1993). That four-year, $12.6MM pact put the dominant D-lineman on track for free agency after the 1998 season. But the Seahawks worked proactively to prevent a Kennedy free agency bid, and the summer ’98 extension allowed him to play his entire career in Seattle.

Part of the Miami Hurricanes’ 1980s dominance, Kennedy came to Seattle as the No. 3 overall pick in 1990. The Seahawks held two top-10 choices that year and sent both to the Patriots to move into the top three for Kennedy. He rewarded the move.

Although the then-AFC West franchise hit a rough patch, with its issues finding a quarterback at the epicenter of what became 10-season playoff drought, Kennedy more than delivered. The interior pass rusher ripped off a dominant stretch that crested with a 14-sack 1992 season. Despite the Seahawks finishing 2-14 that year, Kennedy earned Defensive Player of the Year acclaim.

Kennedy made every Pro Bowl from 1991-96 and booked his final two Hawaii trips over the course of his July 1998 extension. (Kennedy’s eight Pro Bowls rank second in Seahawks history, behind fellow Hall of Famer Walter Jones‘ nine.) After an injury-marred 1997, Kennedy returned to play in 47 of a possible 48 games during his final three seasons. His lone playoff appearance also occurred during this stretch, with a Jon Kitna-quarterbacked Seattle team winning the AFC West title in 1999. Kennedy recorded 6.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss that year.

After the Seahawks released Kennedy in March 2001 — three days following the signing of future Hall of Fame defensive tackle John Randle — the 11-year veteran called it a career. Although Kennedy and Randle were never teammates in Seattle, they were voted as the two first-team defensive tackles on the 1990s’ All-Decade team. Only Randle accumulated more sacks among D-tackles during the ’90s. Kennedy finished his career with 58 QB takedowns and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012.

Trade Candidate: Bears QB Nick Foles

July 7th, 2021 at 10:29pm CST by Ben Levine

A year ago, there was hope that Nick Foles could guide the Bears to the postseason. Now, the veteran quarterback finds himself on the outside looking in with the franchise.

Chicago has completely revamped their quarterbacks room this offseason. The team first signed veteran Andy Dalton to take over the starting gig, and they surprised many pundits when they traded up to select Justin Fields with the No. 11 overall pick in this year’s draft. As a result of the quarterback refresh, Foles will find himself as the third quarterback heading into 2021. Matt Nagy indicated as much the other day, referring to Fields as “the guy” if Dalton ends up getting sidelined with an injury, and the coach seemed pretty steadfast on the team’s current pecking order.

“There will be a process and a plan,” Nagy said (via Patrick Finley of the Chicago Tribune). “We will stick to that. That plan is not going to change tomorrow. The plan is not going to change in training camp. The plan is a plan — and it’s been thought out.

“All three of those guys know that you need to produce, you need to play well, you need to compete, you need to be the best quarterback you can be. And then it’s going to be really pretty easy for us to see who that is and how that goes.”

Normally, a team would probably let the veteran third-stringer go so he could find his next gig before training camp. However, it’d end up costing the Bears more to cut Foles than keep him. The 32-year-old is still owed $4MM in guaranteed money, and they’d be left with a hefty $6.6MM dead cap charge if they release him. In other words, cutting Foles would just exasperate the Bears salary cup crunch, meaning the only way Foles isn’t on the roster to start 2021 is if he’s traded.

Of course, it takes two to tango, and the Bears front office would need to find a taker for Foles. The former Super Bowl MVP didn’t impress during his first season in Chicago; he guided the Bears to a 2-5 record in his seven starts, completing 64.7-percent of his passes for 1,852 yards, 10 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. Teams probably aren’t lining up for Foles services at the moment, but that could easily change. QBs will surely suffer injuries during training camp and the preseason, and those teams could easily turn to the Bears if they need an experienced arm.

Further, teams will also get clarity on their quarterback depth throughout August. For instance, several pundits have recently suggested that the Jets would be a logical suitor for Foles as a backup to Zach Wilson. The team will surely want to get a thorough look at their current backup options (including 2020 fourth-round pick James Morgan and former UDFA Mike White) before they start exploring the trade market, but they could be at least one suitor who’s uninspired by their current choices.

While Foles disappointed in 2020, he’s not far removed from that iconic 2017 (and, to a lesser extent, 2018) run, and teams would surely take him on as their number-two QB. However, if one of these teams does want to acquire the veteran, they’ll likely have to do so via trade.

Release Candidate: Packers WR Devin Funchess

July 7th, 2021 at 5:55pm CST by Ben Levine

Could Devin Funchess‘ stint with the Packers end without him appearing in a game? There’s certainly a chance. As ESPN’s Rob Demovsky recently wrote, the veteran receiver is on the roster bubble heading into training camp.

There’s a variety of reasons why the Packers could look to move on from Funchess. For starters, the wideout has only appeared in a single game since the 2019 season; a broken collarbone limited him to only one content in 2019 (with the Colts), and he opted out of his first season with the Packers in 2020 due to COVID concerns. Funchess is still only 27-years-old, but it’s never easy for any player to return following a two-year absence.

Further, the Packers depth chart is packed. Behind Davante Adams, the Packers are eyeing a grouping that includes holdovers like Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Allen Lazard, Equanimeous St. Brown, and Malik Taylor. There’s also third-round rookie Amari Rodgers, and if you add Funchess to that bunch, that’s seven guys competing for at most six spots…and that doesn’t include the journeymen and undrafted free agents who are rounding out the offseason roster.

The financials aren’t necessarily in the receiver’s favor, either. The team would get around $1.2MM in savings by cutting the 27-year-old…while that doesn’t sound like a significant chunk of money, it still provides more financial breathing room than some of the other receiver options. While Funchess could theoretically give the team some money back, he’s already participated in one restructuring this offseason.

To top it all off, Funchess skipped OTAs earlier this offseason, and he only showed up to two of the three minicamp sessions. As a result, coach Matt LaFleur recently indicated that the six-foot-four receiver has some catching up to do.

“Well, he sure looks the part, there’s no doubt about that,” LaFleur said (via Wes Hodkiewicz of the team website). “You’re talking about a big, strong, long, physical guy that can run, sink his hips. So, I know he’s got a lot to learn, but we’re excited about having him on this team and letting him go compete and we’ll see what he can do.”

Funchess is only four years removed from a campaign where he finished with 840 yards from scrimmage and eight scores, and he hasn’t necessarily had the best luck over the past few years. As a result, there’s a good chance that the receiver will end up cracking a Week 1 roster. However, there’s also a chance that might not be in Green Bay.

This Date In Transactions History: Raiders Trade Eric Dickerson To Falcons

July 7th, 2021 at 11:22am CST by Sam Robinson

While Eric Dickerson is best remembered in Rams and Colts uniforms, the Hall of Fame running back finished his career with two other franchises. Those teams made a deal on this date 28 years ago.

The then-Los Angeles Raiders, who had acquired Dickerson in 1992, traded the veteran back to the Falcons on July 7, 1993. The Falcons sent the Raiders a conditional sixth-round pick for Dickerson. The 10-year vet had visited Atlanta earlier that summer, and the teams soon agreed to a trade that would send him to his fourth and final NFL team. This move came after some key running back developments for both teams.

Dickerson was traded three times in his career, not counting the Rams trading up one spot to acquire him at No. 2 overall in the 1983 draft. The SMU product spent four-plus seasons with the Rams, who traded him to the Colts for a monster haul midway through the 1987 season due to a contract dispute. Dickerson delivered the fifth, sixth and seventh 1,000-yard rushing seasons while in Indianapolis, where he won the fourth and final rushing titles of his career (in 1988), but the Colts sent him to the Raiders for fourth- and eighth-round picks in April 1992.

After missing 11 games between the 1990 and ’91 seasons, Dickerson played all 16 in his lone Raiders season. He ended up leading the 1992 Raiders in rushing, with 729 yards, and reduced Marcus Allen to a minimal role (67 carries in 16 games). Embroiled in a feud with Al Davis, Allen signed with the Chiefs in June 1993. After rostering two first-ballot Hall of Fame running backs in 1992, two summer 1993 transactions led to the Raiders pivoting to younger players at the position.

The Falcons ranked 27th in rushing in 1992, despite having drafted Tony Smith in the first round, and totaled just three rushing touchdowns as a team. Smith was the player the Falcons selected with the pick they obtained from the Packers in that year’s Brett Favre deal. Smith did not receive an NFL carry after that rookie season. Dickerson, however, did not provide much of a stopgap. He played in just four Falcons games (two starts) and amassed 91 rushing yards. Erric Pegram, a 1991 sixth-round pick, ended up surpassing 1,000 rushing yards for Atlanta that year.

Dickerson’s final NFL snaps came with Atlanta, but he nearly joined Favre in Green Bay. Atlanta attempted to trade the aging back to Green Bay in October 1993, but a post-trade physical revealed a bulging disk in Dickerson’s neck and led the Packers to nix the deal. Dickerson retired shortly after the trade fell through.

He ended his career as the NFL’s No. 2 all-time leading rusher, with 13,259 yards. While Dickerson has fallen to ninth on that list, his 2,105 rushing yards (in 1984) remain the league’s single-season standard. It will be interesting to see if the NFL’s move to a 17-game season will lead to that record falling in the near future.

This Date In Transactions History: Patrick Mahomes Signs Massive Extension

July 6th, 2021 at 6:16pm CST by Ben Levine

On this date last year, Patrick Mahomes became a very, very, very rich man. On July 6, 2020, the former MVP signed a historic 10-year extension with the Chiefs.

The massive deal was worth $477MM, with potential bonuses bumping the contract to a max value of $503MM. The deal marked the first time that an NFL player held the title of “highest-paid player in American sports history.” Mahomes’ $477MM in “guarantee mechanisms” exceeded the 12-year, $426.5MM deal that Mike Trout signed with the Los Angeles Angels in 2019, and the $50.3MM average annual value topped Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard‘s $49MM AAV (part of a four-year, $196MM deal that will begin in 2021).

Worldwide, Mahomes’ contract value only trailed Lionel Messi’s head-spinning four-year deal worth around $674MM. With Messi’s contract recently expiring, the Chiefs QB could soon hold the title for largest contract in all of sports.

From an NFL standpoint, both the $477MM value and $140MM in guaranteed money shattered NFL records. Mahomes’ ~$50MM-per-year price tag was a staggering $10MM increase on Russell Wilson‘s $35MM-AAV deal that previously resided as the NFL salary benchmark. As far as guarantees go, Mahomes’ bests the previous leader — Jared Goff‘s 2019 re-up — by $30MM.

It wasn’t a huge surprise that Mahomes was able to garner such a deal, and it wasn’t a huge surprise that the Chiefs were willing to make such a commitment to the franchise quarterback. After all, few players have managed to accomplish all Mahomes had through their first two seasons as a starter. Fortunately, Mahomes continued to back up the organization’s faith in 2020. The 25-year-old had another standout campaign, completing a career-high 66.3-percent of his passes for 38 touchdowns vs. only six interceptions. Mahomes also guided the Chiefs to their second-straight Super Bowl appearance, where they ultimately lost to the Buccaneers.

Unsurprisingly, we’ve already seen Mahomes work with the Chiefs to save the organization some cash. We learned earlier this offseason that the quarterback had restructured his contract, providing the team with an extra $17MM in cap space by moving much of Mahomes’ $21.7MM roster bonus into a prorated signing bonus. Language in Mahomes’ deal allows the Chiefs to automatically restructure it to create cap space, and since the quarterback is inked through the 2031 season, this surely won’t be the last time we see both sides agree to a reworked deal.

The 10-year deal that was signed one year ago today was practically unprecedented. Considering Mahomes’ standing as the best young QB in the NFL, it will probably be a while before we see another franchise commit half-a-billion dollars to a player.

Extension Candidate: Wyatt Teller

July 5th, 2021 at 10:09pm CST by Rory Parks

Just before the start of the 2019 season, the Browns acquired guard Wyatt Teller from Buffalo. The Bills had selected Teller in the fifth round of the 2018 draft, but they deemed him expendable just a year later. Cleveland was in need of offensive line depth, so for the fairly modest price of a fifth- and sixth-round draft pick, the John Dorsey-led Browns acquired the Virginia Tech product, who in 2020 emerged from relative obscurity to become the best guard in the league per Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics. Dorsey might be gone, but he did leave the Browns with a few lovely parting gifts.

With three years of service time under his belt, Teller is now extension-eligible, and we recently heard that current GM Andrew Berry has a new contract for the 26-year-old on the agenda. Of course, long-term deals for quarterback Baker Mayfield, running back Nick Chubb, and cornerback Denzel Ward are also on the docket, so it’s uncertain when (or even if) a Teller deal might get done.

As with virtually all big-money contracts, as Teller’s promises to be, there are a couple of issues that need to be resolved. For one, Teller was not particularly impressive in 2019, his first year in Cleveland. To be fair, the offense as a whole underperformed under the stewardship of since-deposed head coach Freddie Kitchens, so Teller’s excellence in new HC Kevin Stefanski’s wide-zone scheme is probably a better indicator of how he will fare moving forward.

Another potential sticking point is the fact that, as good as he was in 2020, Teller missed five full contests and most of a sixth due to injury. Berry & Co. might want to see Teller sustain a certain level of performance for at least a full season’s worth of games before authorizing a massive extension (which is also rumored to be the front office’s mindset with respect to Mayfield). It is also fair to wonder whether the presence of center J.C. Tretter (PFF’s second-best pivot in 2020) to Teller’s left and right tackle Jack Conklin (PFF’s 10th-best tackle) to his right makes Teller look better than he actually is.

As of today, Spotrac estimates Teller’s market value to be roughly $12MM per year. That would position him as the fifth-highest-paid guard in football, behind Joe Thuney, Brandon Brooks, Zack Martin, and Andrew Norwell. For purposes of this exercise, we’re excluding Washington’s Brandon Scherff, who is presently attached to his second franchise tender and whose $18MM+ salary for 2021 might be a bit of an outlier. However, if Scherff and the WFT were to agree to an extension, it would almost certainly come with an AAV at least as high as Thuney’s $16MM, thereby making Teller’s estimated market value of $12MM/year the sixth-highest mark in the league.

In light of the above-referenced concerns, Berry could, with a straight face, offer a four-year deal to Teller worth around $48MM and including about $30MM in practical guarantees. But if Teller is anything like his quarterback, he will be willing to bet on himself and will demand something that puts him closer to the top of the guard market.

And it would not be surprising to see the Browns go there. After all, though Mayfield may be good enough to bring a championship to Cleveland with the right pieces around him, he does not appear to be the type of passer that can overcome the deficiencies of a weak O-line. Right now, the Browns have arguably the best offensive front in the league, and Berry would surely be loathe to let one of that unit’s best assets walk away. That is especially true when considering how a good line can make the two-headed rushing tandem of Chubb and Kareem Hunt even more imposing than it already is, and given that Teller is especially adept at run-blocking.

Just yesterday, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com confirmed that the Browns will try to extend Teller, although she did not offer any indication that contract talks had advanced particularly far. With so many other high-profile talents in line for lucrative extensions, it’s hard to determine exactly how Berry is triaging the situation, but Teller is certainly a player that other clubs are hoping makes it to free agency in 2022. 

PFR Originals: Tags, Contracts, Cam, Ertz, Browns

July 4th, 2021 at 3:53pm CST by Sam Robinson

In case you missed it, here’s a look back at some of our recent originals from this past week:

  • Ryan Ramczyk‘s five-year, $96.2MM Saints extension moved him to the top of the right tackle salary list. He joins Trent Williams, Joe Thuney and Frank Ragnow as the highest-paid players at each offensive line position. I took a look at the other positions’ highest-paid performers, as of July.
  • Mentioned as likely to leave Philadelphia, Zach Ertz remains with the Eagles months after those rumors emerged. Here is a look at the top teams that would make sense as fits to acquire the three-time Pro Bowl tight end. What other teams would make sense for Ertz?
  • While three 2021 franchise tag recipients have signed extensions, seven remain on the tag. Chris Godwin, Allen Robinson and Brandon Scherff are three of those seven. I looked into where things stand with these respective negotiations.
  • We updated our This Date in Transactions History page with a few entries, spanning five decades.
    • A year ago this week, the Patriots brought in Cam Newton to serve as their starting quarterback. Ben Levine looked at how a hotter-than-usual quarterback market moved a year ago and assesses Newton’s place with the Patriots going forward.
    • Three Junes ago, Tamba Hali opted to hang up his cleats after 12 seasons with the Chiefs. Zach Links takes a look at the former Kansas City first-round pick’s career and his decision to focus on other endeavors — including a music career. Hali finished his NFL career as the Chiefs’ No. 2 all-time sacker — behind only Derrick Thomas.
    • In 2017, the Raiders locked up both Derek Carr and Gabe Jackson. Ben looked at the latter’s five-year extension. Jackson ultimately headed to the Seahawks over the course that deal and has since signed another contract. But the veteran guard provided the Raiders with four more seasons as a starter after signing the eight-figure-per-year accord.
    • The Bills and Kyle Williams enjoyed a 13-year partnership. In 2008, Buffalo gave the standout defensive tackle his first extension. The team did so despite Williams having played just two years on his rookie contract. I looked at Williams’ initial extension putting him on a path toward becoming one of this era’s top backfield disruptors.
    • Thirteen years earlier, the 49ers had a decision to make at wide receiver. They had just engineered a costly first-round trade-up for J.J. Stokes, but the team opted to bring back Jerry Rice‘s longtime sidekick — John Taylor — for one more contract. I looked at that 1995 decision and how the 49ers transitioned from their successful Rice-Taylor era.
    • The NFL’s supplemental draft has not taken place since 2019, and the event has lacked the impact it once had. I examined one of the July draft’s signature sequences, when Bernie Kosar maneuvered his way to his hometown Browns — in a complicated saga that involved a blockbuster trade with the Bills for a supplemental draft slot — and made NFL history in doing so. Cleveland’s 1985 trade ended up paying dividends for the next several seasons.

5 Key Stories: 6/27/21 – 7/4/21

July 4th, 2021 at 3:52pm CST by Sam Robinson

Been busy? Let’s get you caught up with a look back at some of the NFL’s biggest stories from the past week:

Dan Snyder status with WFT uncertain: This week’s $10MM fine levied against the Washington Football Team as a result of a problematic workplace culture, which stemmed from 2020’s sexual harassment allegations, has led to a change at the top of the franchise’s power structure — for the time being. Dan Snyder is no longer running the day-to-day matters for the franchise, ceding that control to his wife (co-CEO Tanya Snyder). Tanya will represent the WFT at league meetings for the foreseeable future. Dan Snyder, however, may be prepared to contest whether Roger Goodell must approve his return to full-fledged responsibilities.

Lamar’s negotiations raising eyebrows: Lamar Jackson continues to negotiate a potential record-breaking extension without an agent. His negotiating team, to some degree, includes his mother. Jackson’s mother played a key role in negotiating his admittedly less complex rookie contract. While advisers are also involved, the NFLPA has attempted to intervene to help the former MVP quarterback. Thus far, Jackson has resisted the union’s efforts. This has tripped alarms in the agent community.

Broncos sale becoming real possibility: A key trial pitting the Pat Bowlen Trust and two of the late owner’s daughters — Amie Klemmer and Beth Bowlen Wallace — has been delayed indefinitely, leading to expectations a Broncos sale is moving closer to reality. Prospective buyers have surfaced, with the trustees receiving offers — or, indications true offers will come if the franchise is put up for sale — over the past few months. NFL intervention may impede a potential sale, but the Broncos may be on the verge of changing hands for the first time in nearly 40 years.

Saints lock up Ryan Ramczyk: The right tackle market moved this week, with the Saints giving their All-Pro starter a five-year extension that averages $19.2MM per season. One of two Saints who previously were attached to the fifth-year option, joining Marshon Lattimore, Ramczyk is now signed through 2026. His future position may be uncertain, with this contract including an interesting clause that would provide a raise if Ramczyk becomes an All-Pro at left tackle. Longtime New Orleans left tackle Terron Armstead is going into a contract year.

No 2021 opt-outs expected: The NFLPA secured the right for players to opt out due to COVID-19 concerns for a second straight year. While the opt-out only pertains to players deemed high risk for developing coronavirus complications, the deadline for players to notify teams came and went without any news. With the vaccines changing the virus landscape, nothing has surfaced on any players opting out. However, official word on opt-outs is not due until Tuesday.

This Date In Transactions History: Bills Extend DT Kyle Williams

July 3rd, 2021 at 6:42pm CST by Sam Robinson

While the 2011 collective bargaining agreement prohibited teams from extending their draft picks until they had played at least three seasons, as does the 2020 agreement, the 2006 CBA did not do so. The Bills took advantage of this to lock up one of the top draft finds in franchise history.

The Bills and defensive tackle Kyle Williams came to a few extension agreements during his 13-year tenure with the team; the first of those transpired on July 3, 2008. Less than two years after the former fifth-round pick signed his rookie contract, he came to terms on a three-year, $14.4MM extension. This through-2012 deal came with $5.2MM guaranteed and became a bargain for the Bills.

Despite arriving as a late-round pick, albeit one who played a role on LSU’s national championship-winning 2003 team, Williams broke into Buffalo’s starting lineup as a rookie. His first Pro Bowl, however, came during this initial extension. Williams ended up making five more Pro Bowls during what became a historically long stay in the Bills’ starting lineup. In the franchise’s 61-year history, only Hall of Famers Andre Reed and Bruce Smith and offensive lineman Joe Devlin made more starts for the team than Williams’ 178.

The 300-plus-pound defender played three seasons on his 2008 extension and emerged as one of the NFL’s top D-tackles. From 2009-10, he combined to tally 30 tackles for loss. His 16-TFL/5.5-sack 2010 season led to a Pro Bowl nod and preceded the biggest extension of Williams’ career. For the second time, the Bills extended Williams with two years remaining on his previous contract. In August 2011, they gave him a six-year, $39MM extension.

Teaming with 2011 first-round pick Marcell Dareus to form one of the league’s top D-tackle duos, Williams made three Pro Bowls from 2012-14 and peaked with a 10.5-sack season in 2013. Williams ended up outlasting Dareus in Buffalo. The Bills traded the former top-three pick to the Jaguars during the 2017 season.

Although team success eluded the Bills during most of Williams’ career, he was on the fourth of his five Bills deals when they snapped their 17-season drought and made the 2017 AFC playoff field. Williams retired after the 2018 season, playing only with Buffalo. He finished with a Bills-most 103 tackles for loss in the 21st century. Among pure interior D-linemen in this span, that total ranks behind only Aaron Donald and Kevin Williams.

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