6 high-profile free agents the Bills could realistically land

In recent years the Bills have landed some great value free agents and we’ll certainly see Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane tap into those types of players once again.

Seahawks defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

DE Jadeveon Clowney

Age: 27

You know what they say about the Bills. No one signs a former Texans’ first-round pass rusher like the Buffalo Bills. But seriously, Mario Williams comes to mind here, right?

Clowney, of course, was not most recently on the Texans, rather the Seahawks. He didn’t have a fantastic year either, notching only three sacks in 13 games in Seattle. But Clowney has been good in the past with 9.0 and 9.5 sack seasons in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Those are the types of numbers the Bills haven’t gotten from their pass rushers in recent seasons. Shaq Lawson led the Bills’ defensive ends with 6.5 sacks in 2019.

Really this one might just come down to how much the bidding war rises for Clowney. Spotrac estimates an average annual salary of $20 million for him. If a big deal heads Clowney’s way from Buffalo, it’d be a real possibility that Trent Murphy is a cut candidate to help make room for him. Clowney could be the highest-paid defensive end to come from this free agent class, but the Bills have invested in such a deal in the past, and their current front office often stresses the importance of having a strong defensive line.

Worth noting on Clowney’s sub-par 2019 season is a core injury he battled throughout the year.