Buffalo Bills make the right decision with Shaq Lawson

The Buffalo Bills decided to make Shaq Lawson prove himself in 2019. That is a smart decision based on how his career has started.

The Buffalo Bills chose to stick with Shaq Lawson last season when it appeared he could become a casualty of the roster purge of anyone who joined the team before Brandon Beane took over.

Instead, he remained on the team and appeared in a career-high 14 games. His 30 total tackles were down a bit from the 33 he had in 2018, but it was still a solid year for what Lawson was to the defense.

Being a first-round pick back in 2016 meant the Bills had to make a decision this year on whether or not to sign Lawson to his fifth-year option. Yesterday brought news that the team would not be doing that.

So right now Lawson is set to be a free agent after the season and it will be interesting to see if he is still a member of the Bills at the end of the year.

He is set to earn just under $2 million in base salary this year and would have earned nearly $10 million in 2020 if the option was picked up, so this move makes perfect sense for the Bills.

This should also inspire Lawson to give it his all and attempt to earn a big deal in 2020, even if it is with another team. Sometimes it takes a wake-up call like this to really get going. Lawson is only 24 so there is plenty of time to turn things around after a slow, but injury-riddled start to his career.

The key for Lawson is staying healthy and playing a full season. He has only appeared in 35 games over his first three seasons and a full 16 games in 2019 could help him secure that next deal.

This is not a shocking move and one that most fans should have expected. The only surprise is that he made it this far after Beane took over.