Buffalo Bills pick up the fifth-year option for defensive tackle Ed Oliver

The Buffalo Bills announced Tuesday that they have officially picked up the fifth-year option for defensive tackle Ed Oliver

The 2022 NFL Draft is only a few days away and the Buffalo Bills are set to add a number of new players to their roster over the seven rounds. However, before they do that they ensured one of their prior draft picks won’t be leaving the team for at least a few more seasons.

In 2019, the Bills drafted Ed Oliver with the ninth overall pick, which was the last time the Bills picked inside the Top 10. The former University of Houston defensive tackle has become a key part of the defensive line and will now remain with the team through the 2023 season after Buffalo announced they have exercised his fifth-year option.

This was not a surprise and seemed to be more of a formality as last month general manager Brandon Beane said they would be picking up that option in Oliver’s contract.

Ed Oliver is coming off his best season with the Buffalo Bills

After a slow start to his career in his rookie season, Oliver has been a big part of this defense and has continued to improve each season. In the past two seasons he has started every game for Buffalo and in his career has 117 total tackles, 21 tackles for a loss, 12 sacks, and 28 QB hits.

This past season he had career highs in tackles for a loss (10) and QB hits (14) to go along with four sacks. He also played a career-high in snaps with 623, which was 58% of the Bills’ defensive snaps.

This season though could be his best as Oliver has the most talent around him on the defensive line since he entered the NFL. The additions of Von Miller, DaQuan Jones, Tim Settle, and Jordan Phillips with the expected development of Greg Rousseau, could give Oliver winnable matchups that allow him to be more of a presence on the interior of the defensive line.

While this was expected, it is good to hear it is official and the next step for Buffalo will be to try and work out a long-term extension either this offseason or next year.