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Pro Football Focus didn’t give their highest of marks to the Bills for their work so far in free agency… but it’s still a good one.
The football analytics outlet only gave out a grade of “excellent” to the Browns, Broncos, and Football Team. Their next level below that, “above average” made mention of the Bills and in their explanation, there was a note that stood out.
Some might peg the Bills’ decision to re-sign linebacker Matt Milano as the club’s most important move. Nope, says PFF.
That honor recently went to Buffalo’s decision to re-sign Daryl Williams instead. Here’s why PFF thinks so:
Buffalo’s free agency was primarily about retaining key players who were scheduled to test the market. They were able to lock down linebacker Matt Milano just before the legal tampering period, as well as a pair of offensive linemen, Jon Feliciano and Daryl Williams.
Williams was the critical move of the two, and he should guarantee a level of quality blocking in front of Josh Allen. Though Williams’ NFL career has featured only two seasons with an overall PFF grade better than 75.0, they have been his two full-time seasons as a starting right tackle. Last year, Williams had the best overall PFF grade of his career and topped 80.0 in pass-blocking grade for the first time in his career.
Both Williams and Milano are important pieces the Bills hung onto, but PFF does make a good point in Williams. The key thing to recall here is how the Bills’ 2020 season went down.
Buffalo’s offense finally entered the realm of being a modern-day unit that’s pass-heavy. Allen is the top factor there, but next most important thing might be just keeping him on his feet.
In locking up Williams to an extension, Buffalo’s offense will have him and Dion Dawkins blocking on the edge for Allen for the foreseeable future. The QB will be happy with that after the strong season the pair of tackles put together last year.
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