Vernon Butler, DT, Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills lost interior defensive lineman Jordan Phillips in free agency when he signed a deal on the open market with the Arizona Cardinals. That left the Bills needing to replace what Phillips did last season, when he posted a career-high 9.5 sacks along with a career-high 31 combined tackles.
So what do they do? They add Vernon Butler in free agency. It took a while for Butler to live up to his status as a first-round selection by the Carolina Panthers, and 2019 was truly his break-out season, when he finally cracked the starting lineup. Butler started nine games and posted 32 total tackles and six sacks, numbers on par with what Phillips did a season ago.
Furthermore, Butler is still two years younger that Phillips and comes in with a smaller price tag. Butler signed a two-year, $15 million dollar deal, a big contrast to the three-year, $30 million dollar deal signed by Phillips. So in essence, the Bills got a player who produced similar numbers a season ago on a cheaper deal, who also is two years younger than the player that left town.
Bulaga | Sanders | Clinton-Dix | Ebron | Butler | Littleton | Joseph | Agholor | Ebner | Harris | Hargrave