Buffalo Bills: 4 players who need to make a statement in Week 1

Trent Murphy

Throughout the offseason, most Buffalo Bills fans were waiting to hear the news that the team had released Trent Murphy. It certainly made sense considering he didn’t really produce the first two years with the franchise and was entering the final year of his deal where if he was cut would have saved the Buffalo Bills $8 million in cap space.

That was not an idea that was shared within the organization and general manager Brandon Beane described that as “fan talk”. It was clear that the team believes Murphy will be a key part as they have him listed as their starter at the defensive end.

The good news for Murphy is that he did finish the year very strong with three sacks and four QB hits over the final three regular season games plus two sacks against the Texans.

While there hasn’t been any question about the team’s commitment to him, the Buffalo Bills will need to see a similar level of production like the one he showed at the end of the year. The depth the team now has at the position with Mario Addison and second round draft pick A.J. Epenesa will likely push the veteran for playing time.