Last season, the Buffalo Bills were supposed to have one of the most vaunted defenses in all of the NFL.
Featuring their shiny, new toy, edge rusher Von Miller, Buffalo was going to be a menacing defense and the team was going to ride them to the Super Bowl.
After Miller went down with an ACL tear, though, this defense changed. Now that the BIlls won’t have Miller for quite some time, the edge rusher position is going to be a position of interest this offseason.
Without Miller for a good part of the season, Buffalo is going to have to go out and find help either via the draft or free agency. Let’s take a look at the current state of the edge rusher in Buffalo before free agency opens up.
Edge rusher is a key position for the Buffalo Bills during 2023 free agency
Bills edge rushers under contract for 2023:
Von Miller — $18.6 million
Greg Rousseau — $3.6 million
A.J. Epenesa — $1.87 million
Boogie Basham — $1.5 million
Kendal Vickers — $1 million
Brandin Bryant — $1 million
The big storyline with the above names, of course, is the Von Miller injury. He will likely miss a good chunk of the 2023 season, which means the Bills have to find a way to replace him for that time. Greg Rousseau was maybe the only one, of this group, to show anything of merit when Miller went down.
Epenesa and Basham (more of a versatile defensive lineman than anything) are solid rotational players, but the Bills have to find a way to get themselves another quality starting edge rusher.
Bills free agent edge rushers for 2023:
Shaq Lawson
Lawson played roughly half of all defensive snaps over the course of the 2022 season, so he’s leaving quite the void in terms of playing time. Lawson was inconsistent, though, in both realms of the game. Whether it was against the run or getting to the quarterback, Lawson is not irreplaceable.
Best available free agent edge rushers for 2023:
Brandon Graham
Robert Quinn
Yannick Ngakoue
Marcus Davenport
Justin Houston
Jadeveon Clowney
Any of the veterans listed above could ideally come in and fill the other starting spot while Miller is out, but the prices are going to vary. Someone like Justin Houston, Robert Quinn or Jadeveon Clowney could come cheaper due to their age (Quinn and Houston, specifically).
Would a line featuring Von Miller and one of the above names, plus Rousseau, Basham and Epenesa be enough to get the Bills to the Super Bowl?