The Bills need playmakers. On offense it’s more of a glaring need since overall defensively, the Bills have thrived in recent seasons.
But Buffalo’s defensive playmakers in the trenches could use a bit of an improvement, too. Shaq Lawson is slated to be a free agent this offseason and he led Buffalo’s edge defenders in sacks. However, he only had 6.5 which… isn’t great.
With free agency before the 2020 NFL Draft and plenty of cap space, could the Bills dip into free agency for the boost they need? If they did so, Yannick Ngakoue could be the guy. The Jaguars’ pass rusher is looking like he’s hitting free agency and the Bills were named one of four teams that could be a fit for him by Sports Illustrated recently:
The Bills’ defense led them to a postseason berth in 2019, so it is only logical to think the Bills would be open to improving upon the strength and identity of their team. While Buffalo was good in nearly every area on defense last year, nobody would blame them for upgrading a pass-rush that finished with 44 sacks. Defensive end Shaq Lawson, who was second on the team in sacks with 6.5 last season, is an impending free agent who isn’t a lock to resign in Buffalo, and the team has the cap space ($82,186,963 million) in 2020 to spend big on his replacement. Ngakoue would fill a big need as a dynamic edge rusher for Buffalo, while also serving as a solid fit in Sean McDermott’s defense.
Lawson trailed only Jordan Phillips’ 9.5 in sacks on the Bills last season and he too could be gone as he’s also a pending free agent. In Ngakoue, the Bills would land a former pass rush who has a 12.5 sack-season in his back pocket. In fact, 6.5 is Lawson’s single-season career high while Ngakoue’s career-low is eight in a single season.
And not only would Ngakoue be an upgrade, he’d still be a bit of a youthful player, too. He’s potentially entering free agency at only 24. A long-term deal for him could make plenty of sense for a lot of teams, including the Bills.
Along with Buffalo, SI named the Giants, Seahawks, and Colts as potential fits for Ngakoue as well.
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