Buffalo Bills: Ranking the team’s top 2018 offseason additions

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LANDOVER, MD – NOVEMBER 20: Quarterback Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers carries the ball against defensive end Trent Murphy #93 of the Washington Redskins in the second quarter at FedExField on November 20, 2016 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

3. Trent Murphy, DE (from Washington Redskins)

It wasn’t all that long ago that the front four of the Buffalo Bills was terrorizing opposing quarterback around the league. The quartet of ends Mario Williams and Jerry Hughes and tackles Kyle Williams and Marcell Dareus put up huge numbers over a two-year span. There were a combined 111 sacks — 57 QB traps in 2017 and a league-best 54 sacks one season later.

We haven’t seen those same kind of figures the last three years. And slowly but surely, the pieces have changed. Only veteran defensive tackle Kyle Williams remains from that front four. He was re-signed by the club this offseason and will have a new partner on the interior of the line (more on that later). The Bills are still waiting for defensive end Shaq Lawson to stay healthy and play up to his first-round status.

Enter standout pass-rusher Trent Murphy, an outside linebacker in the Washington Redskins’ 3-4 scheme but an end in the Bills’ 4-3. When last we saw the 6-5, 250-pound performer, he was rolling up 46 tackles, nine sacks and three forced fumbles in 16 games for the ‘Skins in 2016. A preseason knee injury shelved him for all of 2017 and Buffalo grabbed him in free agency. Off the edge, he should make a big difference for a club that totaled only 27 sacks this past season.

Next: No. 2

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