The Buffalo Bills have reportedly agreed to terms with their first free agent on the defensive side of the ball this offseason. The defensive tackle was one of the top positions of needs and general manager Brandon Beane didn’t waste much time with the addition of Tim Settle.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the two sides agreed to a two-year contract.
Tim Settle was a fifth round pick by the Washington Commanders in 2018 and has had a limited role in his four years in the NFL. In fact, he has never played more than 350 snaps in a season and only has two career starts.
However, this lack of playing time seemingly is due to a numbers game as Washington has one of the best defensive lines in the NFL. They have four first round picks on their defensive line and Settle wasn’t able to move up the depth chart.
Buffalo Bills add much-needed depth at defensive tackle
The Buffalo Bills is probably the perfect landing spot for Settle as the coaching staff rotates defensive linemen frequently so Tim Settle should finally get the chance to make an impact and be a regular part of the rotation.
For the Bills to do this though, they needed to add depth with Harrison Phillips, Vernon Butler and Justin Zimmer free agents. The most notable player in that group is Harrison Phillips who was one of the best defensive tackles on the Bills down the stretch last year.
Settle doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t re-sign Harrison Phillips, and they certainly could bring him back because they need more players at the position, but it gives Buffalo a replacement if he does leave in free agency.
Settle is a big defensive tackle at 6’3″ and 308 pounds that not only can help against the run but has shown some flashes as a pass rusher. In 2020, when he played a career high 347 snaps, he had five sacks and seven QB hits.