Extend Current Players’ Contracts
In recent years, the Buffalo Bills have done an excellent job of finding talent through the NFL Draft. However, for successful franchises that is only half the battle as they must be able to keep those players past their rookie contracts.
The Bills have four players, three of whom they drafted, that the front office should look to extend this offseason. This group is led by cornerback Tre’Davious White, who the Bills must decide about picking up his fifth-year option this offseason. This is really a formality and it is almost a guarantee they will but if the Bills want to save some cap space next year, working out a long term deal this offseason could help spread some of those guaranteed dollars to future years.
White had a breakout year this past season by leading the league in interceptions and resulting in his first Pro Bowl and his first selection to the first-team All-Pro. He has developed into being one of those cornerstone pieces for a team and the Bills must secure a long term deal sooner rather than later.
In addition to White, the Bills have two players from his draft class that will be entering their final years with left tackle Dion Dawkins and linebacker Matt Milano. Since they were later picks, the Bills don’t have the luxury of a fifth-year option for them and there should be a little more urgency to get a deal done now versus letting this play out into next offseason.
If these players get to that point, they will more than likely want to test free agency so extending now makes more sense.
The final player the Bills should try to extend is safety Jordan Poyer. He joined the Bills as a free agent in 2017 and is entering the last year of his deal. He, along with Micah Hyde, have developed into one of the better safety tandems in the league and at 28 years of age he still has plenty of good football left in his career.
The Buffalo Bills have had one of the best defenses the past few years and it will be important to keep players like White, Milano and Poyer in this group moving forward.