Grade for the Buffalo Bills re-signing Daryl Williams
The Buffalo Bills continue to bring back key starters a season ago before they have a chance to reach free agency. The first move was to re-sign Matt Milano to a four-year deal and then a day later they re-signed starting right tackle Daryl Williams to a three-year deal.
Last offseason, general manager Brandon Beane signed Williams to a one-year deal. He knew the former Panthers’ offensive lineman well from his time with the Carolina Panthers. He was with the organization when they selected him in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft and saw the level of play he was capable of achieving when he was named second-team All-Pro in 2017.
However, a knee injury cost him almost the entire 2018 season and then in 2019 he was forced to bounce around to a number of different positions due to injuries the Panthers suffered on the offensive line.
When he joined the Buffalo Bills he was able to return his best position, right tackle, and put together an excellent season. He would start every game last year at the position and played 96% of the offensive snaps. According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed only three sacks this past season.
It certainly made sense that the Buffalo Bills would want to bring back Daryl Williams after the season he had but the question was if they could afford him. He was expected to be one of the more sought-after free agents this offseason considering the number of starting quality tackles available would be limited.
By all indications, the three-year deal worth $24 million is a great deal when taking into account how well Williams played last year. The cap hit of $6.15 million ranks only 15th among right tackles and the average salary of $8 million ranks 10th, according to Spotrac.
Final Grade for the Buffalo Bills re-signing Daryl Williams: A
Similar to the Matt Milano deal, it is hard to find a negative to the Buffalo Bills re-signing Daryl Williams. The way he played this past season, the team was unlikely to find a player who could play better in free agency or the NFL Draft.
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When considering the cost of the contract, how it is structured to give the team flexibility to still add other free agents, this is a great deal for the team and now the team has both starting offensive tackles under contract for the next few seasons.