Archives for March 18, 2020

‘Now with Diggs in place, there is more fear in the defensive coordinator’s heart. It’s much more difficult to make the Bills play left-handed.’

‘Now it is up to Allen to make the absolute most of that investment.’

‘Make no mistake: There would have been sweating come Day One of the draft April 23 because it was increasingly looking like the draft did not fall perfectly to meet the Bills’ two biggest needs.’

‘The contract is worth $19.5 million, according to contracts website spotrac.com, with $8.5 million guaranteed at signing.’

‘Butler, who turns 26 in June, is a former first-round draft pick, the 30th overall selection out of Louisiana Tech in 2016. The 6-foot-4, 330-pound lineman has played in 52 career games. He started nine of 14 games last season, when he recorded 32 tackles, seven for loss, and six sacks and played 40 percent of the defensive snaps.’

‘Matakevich’s primary role with the Steelers came on special teams. He has averaged more than 300 special-teams snaps per season since he joined the team in 2016. He tied for the NFL lead in tackles on special teams in 2019 with 16, and has finished in the top 10 of the league in that category during three of his four seasons.’

‘”It was a tough decision, because you know how much I love Buffalo,” Lawson told The Buffalo News in a phone conversation Tuesday afternoon. “I was getting in my groove in Buffalo and everybody was starting to enjoy me around Buffalo. I spent my whole NFL career there, so man, it’s tough when you’ve got to leave those guys, great teammates, great coaches and stuff like that. To sit back and think about all the memories you had with those guys, I mean, it was just a hard decision. But I feel like I made the right decision, what’s best for me and my family.”‘

‘However, Phillips’ departure is no surprise. The Bills spent the ninth overall pick of the draft last year to take Oliver, who is more physically gifted than Phillips. They play the same 3-technique position, opposite the outside shoulder of the guard.’

‘Gone are the days when the Bills, and especially their fans, looked at the Patriots with envy. All those Super Bowl trophies and the obnoxious mantra about “The Patriot Way” being the gold standard that every other team could only try to mimic but never truly match are things of the past.’