The Buffalo Bills and defensive tackle Ed Oliver have agreed to a four-year contract extension that is worth up to $68 million. Oliver will get $45 million guaranteed as well. This means that Oliver is tied to the Bills for the next five years, with this upcoming year still being on his rookie contract.
The news was reported first via Adam Schefter on Twitter. The Bills opted to pick up the fifth-year option for Oliver last offseason and now he will be sticking around for the foreseeable future. With this agreement, the Bills will officially have a defensive tackle under contract after this upcoming season.
In four seasons with Buffalo, Oliver has racked up 151 tackles and 14.5 sacks. He also has 11 passes batted down from the line of scrimmage which is impressive. As the former ninth overall pick from 2019, Oliver came into the league with comparisons with Aaron Donald. Certainly, Oliver is not at that type of level as of now, but he has shown flashes of greatness and the ability to disrupt the momentum of an opposing offense.
Buffalo Bills are certainly taking some risk with this contract extension for Ed Oliver
There are some risks to this contract, but one thing for sure is that this provides stability to the Bufalo Bills' defense. Oliver has been pretty much healthy his entire career with the Bills, only missing four games last season. Going into this season, the Bills will now have Oliver, Da’Quan Jones, Jordan Phillips, Poona Ford and Tim Settle under contract. These four are expected to make the 53-man roster, but Oliver is now considered the future at the position for the Bills.
With this extension, the Bills have their guy in the middle of the trenches and they are hoping that he can continue to keep growing in this process that has been built by Sean McDermott and the coaching staff. Oliver is now another draft pick under McDermott and Brandon Beane that gets his second contract with the team.