Buffalo Bills: 4 potential veteran training camp casualties
By Matt Karas
DT Adolphus Washington
To say that Adolphus Washington‘s time in Buffalo has been a turbulent one would be an understatement. Question marks were raised when (then) general manager Doug Whaley decided to use the team’s third-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft on the polarizing defensive tackle out of (the) Ohio State University. With the likes of fellow Buckeye Braxton Miller still on the board, the pick was mired in scrutiny from the start.
Fortunately for the Bills, Washington has served to be somewhat of a serviceable backup/spot starter for the team over the course of his two years in Buffalo. The problem is that serviceable may no longer be sufficient enough to maintain a spot on general manager Brandon Beane‘s roster.
Knowing that the team was barren within the interior defensive line, Beane made it a top priority this offseason to flip the position on its belly and suddenly make it an area of strength. From the big money signing of proven space creator Star Lotulelei, to the drafting of the highly productive Harrison Phillips, as well as the nifty plucking of talented Tenny Palepoi, the second-year general manager is simply not messing around.
Couple the aforementioned impressive depth of talent with all-time great defensive tackle Kyle Williams deciding to come back to Buffalo for one more season, and the heat is officially on Washington. What might be the determining factor that leads to the third-year tackle’s demise is his checkered past off the field. It is becoming all too familiar that an inability to “respect the process” will not bode well for your time in Buffalo.