Buffalo Bills Should Release Mario Williams, Poach Jets Defense
By Dan Salem
Rex Ryan must perfect his defense with the Buffalo Bills by stealing from his former team. Release Mario Williams and add as much talent as possible.
We’re tackling each team in the league, traveling alphabetically to debate their biggest offseason issues. Dan Salem and Todd Salem debate in today’s NFL Sports Debate. Two brothers from New York yell, scream, and debate sports.
TODD:
In Rex Ryan’s first year as Buffalo Bills head coach, the team was a respectable 8-8. The offense looked good when healthy behind Tyrod Taylor and a slew of skill players. The offensive line also gelled well on the left side with Cordy Glenn and Richie Incognito.
Entering this offseason, both Glenn and Incognito are due to hit free agency. However, the Bills have a more pressing issue in that they are already over the salary cap. Money needs to be freed up, and all signs point to the team releasing defensive end Mario Williams.
The interesting thing pertaining to Williams and the rest of the Buffalo defense was the unit wasn’t very good at all in 2015 under Ryan. Ryan entered as a defensive guru of sorts, yet his defense finished well below average as the 24th best in football. Williams had a down season and isn’t worth his pending contract. But the rest of this side needs to be upgraded as well.
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Do the Bills target a first-round end or linebacker in the 2016 NFL Draft? They don’t pick until number 19, but there should be a couple of prospects to choose from at that spot. Do they instead (or also) go after free-agent replacements? If so, more cap room will need to be created.
Or is this simply a case of Rex needing to get his stuff in order? His old defenses never needed the most talent in the league to excel. He blitzed and schemed his way to top units on that side of the football.
Buffalo may be on the precipice of competing for real in the AFC East. Do you trust Ryan to make the defense better with his playbook or does the team need to add players to do that? Keep in mind, the latter may sacrifice some of what was built on offense this past season (although releasing the aforementioned Williams frees up the majority of a hefty $19.9 million cap hit).
I don’t envy the Buffalo front office this offseason trying to repair the holes on this team and get it into a position to compete with New England and New York.
DAN:
Such beautiful irony has befallen the Buffalo Bills. Their former defensive minded head coach Wade Phillips just led the Denver Broncos’ defense to a Super Bowl title. Now they have an equally as impressive defensive mind at the helm of their team, with its primary weakness being that unit. While Rex may have worked magic with his defenses in Baltimore and New York, he also had top-level talent playing for him. Buffalo needs players to execute his schemes.
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The Bills are fortunate that this year’s draft class is once again full of defensive standouts. Selecting one with the 19th pick, or trading up closer to the front of round one, is a must. So is the release of Mario Williams, with so many other talented players hitting the free agent market this offseason. The first place Buffalo should look to add talent in Williams’ place is across the division.
The Jets are unlikely to maintain all of their stars on defense and Buffalo has already made a habit of signing former New York Jets. Adding any one of New York’s free agents not only hurts the competition, but adds veteran leadership and talent to the Bills. It also adds players familiar with coach Rex Ryan and his schemes. This would be huge for the Bills, if they can pull it off. Muhammad Wilkerson, Damon Harrison, Calvin Pace, Demario Davis, Antonio Allen and Leger Douzable are just six of the eleven defense players hitting free agency with the Jets. Not all are household names, but the majority have played well and played for coach Ryan in the past.
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My philosophy on defense is to build an overpowering unit as a whole. Sure, the Broncos appeared to have won the Super Bowl on the back of Von Miller, but in reality you need a complete unit. Mario Williams alone can not make Buffalo’s defense great. With nearly $20 million available upon his release, the Bills could add two or three players at or near his talent level. That’s the move to make. That’s how Buffalo climbs out of the middle of the pack next season.