During Sean McDermott’s call with the media on Thursday, he didn’t sound overly confident that their answer to the ‘big nickel’ position is currently on the Buffalo Bills roster.
One of the more talked about positions on this Buffalo Bills roster this offseason has been the ‘big nickel’ position. This is something that Sean McDermott likes to use, especially considering how frequently the team is in nickel.
Entering the 2020 NFL Draft, the Bills were connected frequently to safety Kyle Dugger and in a recent article by Jeff Howe of The Athletic, he wrote that if Dugger was there at 54 he would have definitely been the Bills pick. The Patriots ended up taking Dugger at 37th and the Bills didn’t get a chance.
It certainly makes sense that McDermott would be asked about this position and his answer seemed far from being confident that the answer was currently on the roster. He said that this is a position that “remains to be seen” and mentioned that Dean Marlowe and Siran Neal both got looks at the role last year.
He went on to mention again that the lost reps due to current restrictions in place hurt the team’s evaluation of this position.
While the Bills do still have Marlowe and Neal on the roster, the team may consider looking at a free agent to bring in to fill the need. One intriguing player that is worth watching is Mark Barron, formerly with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The former college safety turned linebacker has experience as a big nickel and could still give the Bills some meaningful snaps at this point in his career.
The Buffalo Bills prioritized the ‘big nickel’ position leading up to the NFL Draft and while they missed out on Dugger, they should still try to bring in someone that can secure that role for this defense in 2020.