5 Buffalo Bills deserving of a contract extension

Dion Dawkins – OT

The Bills offensive line has been subject to change this off-season, but one constant remains: left tackle Dion Dawkins. Tabbed as the Cordy Glenn replacement, Dawkins looks to be a part of the team’s long-term plans on the offensive line. Through two years of play, he’s shown why.

Dawkins, admittingly, still has a ways to go. He shined as a rookie left tackle, but his game regressed in his second year, in large part due to his lacking as a run-blocker and ability to rack up penalties. Nonetheless, he’s given the Bills two solid years of offensive line play on a bad unit. Pro Football Focus ranks him highly compared to other NFL tackles over the past two years, as they mentioned in a recent article:

"Dawkins ranks 22nd out of 69 tackles who’ve seen at least 1,000 offensive snaps over the past two seasons with a 76.3 overall grade, and he ranks within the top 26 in both pass-blocking grade (77.9) and run-blocking grade (69.7).–He’s earned an overall grade of at least 70.0 in 13 different games throughout his two-year career."

Dawkins has his faults, but he’s a talented offensive lineman that hasn’t had trouble staying on the field. Due to the league-wide lack of capable blockers, even average starting tackles–where Dawkins stands–get paid well.

If the Bills don’t pay Dawkins, somebody else will and will do so handsomely. Fortunately, Buffalo has him locked up for the next two years on a rookie contract. If they want to extend him, now’s the time, as when/if his game starts to shape, he’ll be an expensive resignee.