Defensive end (4)
Jerry Hughes, Mario Addison, AJ Epenesa, Quinton Jefferson
Defensive tackle (4)
Star Lotulelei, Ed Oliver, Vernon Butler, Harrison Phillips
Cuts: Bryan Cox Jr., Darryl Johnson, Mike Love, Trent Murphy, Jonathan Woodard
The defensive line as a whole for the Bills might be among their deepest in recent memory, or at least has the potential to be. Vernon Butler, fresh off a career-year, joins a promising young pair in Ed Oliver and Harrison Phillips in the middle. Hopefully Phillips will bounce-back from his knee injury. Star Lotulelei just is what he is at this point. Up-and-down but does his job, for the most part.
On the outside, Quinton Jefferson now provides a tweener role, an ability to bring the pass rush from the inside and outside of Buffalo’s defensive line, something Lorenzo Alexander used to do. Jerry Hughes and Mario Addison will take the higher total of snaps on the edge, allowing AJ Epenesa to get into a groove at his own pace as a rookie.
Of course, the most interesting cut is Trent Murphy. It’s doubtful the Bills will be able to trade him, but in cutting him, they’ll take a $1.75 million dead cap hit. Much smaller than his $9.75M cap hit if they kept him.
Quinton Jefferson looked pretty nice last night. If he can turn it on this season and the rookies are as ahead of schedule as they looked last night… đź‘€ pic.twitter.com/O3LezZjOhw
— mike (@SeahawkScout) August 10, 2018