Bills, Ed Oliver agree to 4-year, $68 million extension, source says

BUFFALO, NY — The The Buffalo Bills will finally have a defensive tackle under contract after the 2023 season. The Bills agreed to terms with the 2019 first-round draft pick, Ed Oliver, on a four-year, $68 million extension, including $45 million guaranteed, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The deal will keep Oliver under contract through the 2027 season, according to the source.

The $45 million guaranteed is tied for eighth among active interior defensive line contracts, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. With his $10.753 million fifth-year option included, Oliver has an average salary of $15.75 million over the next five years, currently ranking 16th among interior defensive linemen. Before reaching an agreement with the former ninth overall pick on the extension, the Bills did not have a defensive tackle signed for the 2024 season or beyond.

“I would like not to finish the season and be at zero [tackles defensivos bajo contrato en 2024]”General manager Brandon Beane said during the team’s rookie minicamp. “That would be my hope. But it would have to make sense. If it’s someone who’s here now, it would have to make sense to do an extension with any of those guys, so we’ll see. you know me well We’ve figured out a way to do an extension or two in training camp, so maybe we’ll look at it at that point, see where the guys are, who’s all in, who looks good, and if there’s a chance of getting one. . extended, we might look to do that.”

The team has several veterans at the job, but they didn’t draft him despite Beane saying afterward that he hoped to. The team signed Poona Ford for one year and $2.25 million, including $1.5 million guaranteed, in the days after the draft. Returning veterans include Da Quan Jones, Jordan Phillips y Tim Settle.

Oliver, 25, was set to play his fifth-year option in 2023. He is coming off a mixed 2022 season that began with a right ankle injury in the season opener against Los Angeles Rams. Oliver missed the next three games and gradually increased his involvement, with Beane describing that he “wasn’t himself for a while” even after returning.

He finished the season playing 13 games with 2.5 sacks, nine tackles for loss, and six pass breakups. Oliver was second on the team with a 41.5% career stoppage win rate (behind Jones). Their best performance of the season came in a Thanksgiving victory over the Detroit Lions. Oliver finished the game with a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, a safety, six tackles, two tackles for loss, and a sack.

“I think you have to weigh when you thought he was healthy? And what did that look like? And how did it affect the whole group,” Beane said in March of Oliver’s evaluation. “And, you know, he definitely didn’t have the production that he wanted, but how much of that was affected by the lack of games or because he was playing 85% instead of 100%?”

Oliver has shown the ability to make impact plays during his four years in Buffalo, but coach Sean McDermott said he would like to see him have a “really good, consistent season” and that the team had the confidence in him to do it. Senior defensive assistant/defensive line coach Eric Washington noted that Oliver’s processing speed is an area they are working on.

“When you have the kind of talent that Ed has, you have to understand situations, that could mean the difference in separating you from the opponent,” said Washington, who also noted that he has seen Oliver talk more and have more confidence this offseason. “I have to be able to process very, very quickly, and to be able to win my one-on-one, to be able to play before a play as opposed to playing with the sequence of that particular play. So with where Ed is, from the point of Given the experience, we need him to anticipate and play ahead rather than play with the pace of the play.”

Oliver joins tight end Dawson Knoxwho received a four-year extension in September, as the only members of the team’s 2019 class still on the roster.