Defensive Tackle: Star Lotulelei, Buffalo Bills
Contract: Five years, $50 million with $18.5 million guaranteed
Sean McDermott was with the Carolina Panthers from 2011 through 2016 as the defensive coordinator. In 2017, he joined the Buffalo Bills as their head coach and started to build the team to his liking. After his rookie season, he decided he needed some more beef on the defensive line, and added a familiar face in Star Lotulelei who played for him with the Panthers.
Lotulelei ended up getting a $50 million contract, but after one season with the Bills that appears to be a massive overpay on their part. Lotulelei started all 16 games in 2018 but had just 17 tackles which was a career low. He also failed to record a sack for the first time in his career.
Defensive Tackle: Dontari Poe, Carolina Panthers
Contract: Three years, $28 million with $10.8 million guaranteed
Star Lotulelei was replaced by the Carolina Panthers with Dontari Poe, the former 11th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. Poe was a big name with the Kansas City Chiefs but did very little in 2017 with the Atlanta Falcons. He then joined the Panthers and did even less.
Oddly enough, he recorded the same amount of tackles as Lotulelei did with the Bills, as he finished with a career-worst 17 tackles on the season. It’s a far cry from his early days with the Chiefs and Carolina is now paying a lot to a guy they are hoping will make some drastic improvements this season.