Buffalo Bills: Signing Efe Obada impacts 2021 NFL Draft strategy

The Buffalo Bills continue their bargain bin shopping during the dog days of free agency as they recently signed former Panther Efe Obada to a one year deal. Throughout the 2020 season, the Buffalo Bills struggled to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks despite having the highest paid defensive line in the league. Once the Bills were eliminated by the Cheifs in the AFC Championship Game, the need for additional pressure on opposing quarterbacks was emphasized.

Heading into the offseason, many Bills fans and people that cover the Bills assumed that the team would release defensive end Mario Addison after a lack of return on investment. Instead, the Buffalo Bills agreed to terms on a pay cut with Addison to keep him in Buffalo for the 2021 season while given the team financial flexibility to improve the roster in other areas.

Before signing Obada, there was an argument to be made that Sean McDermott and the Buffalo Bills would prefer a power rusher on the left side of the defensive line. Bigger and stronger prospects like Carlos Basham from Wake Forest, Dayo Odeyingbo from Vanderbilt, Rashad Weaver from Pittsburgh, and Payton Truner from Houston, who the Buffalo Bills met with at the Senior Bowl, were all guys that seemed to fit what the Bills were looking for in an edge prospect in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Not to say that these prospects are off the table for the Bills after signing Obada, but it seems less likely. By signing Obada, it suggests that maybe the Buffalo Bills are in the market to find a bendier edge rusher to be the successor to Jerry Hughes. Edge prospects like Azeez Ojulari from Georgia, Ronnie Perkins from Oklahoma, and Joseph Ossai from Texas, who the Bills have had their eyes on, come to mind as prospects that could fill that role on the defense behind Jerry Hughes.

Furthermore, fortifying the edge rusher position with an under-the-radar player like Obada could lessen the priority to draft an edge rusher in the 1st round. This move even further emphasizes the flexibility Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane has created for himself to select the best player available. The Bills are now in a position at 30th overall where they could select a tight end, running back, or cornerback in the 1st round, while still being able to address the need to get younger on the edge of the defensive line in the 2nd round or even later.