Buffalo Bills add Von Miller, OJ Howard after JD McKissic mishap
By Khari Demos
Wednesday started out odd for Buffalo, as its deal with JD McKissic fell through. But the consolation prizes on the day were Super Bowl champions Von Miller and OJ Howard.
It would only be a team as historically snake-bitten as the Buffalo Bills to have a free agent signing renege as JD McKissic did after agreeing to a two-year deal Tuesday. Bills GM Brandon Beane clearly had other plans in mind, first by adding one of the biggest fish in the free agent pool, Von Miller.
Coming off the second Super Bowl victory of his career, Miller looks to bolster a Bills defense that ranked No. 1 overall in the NFL in 2021 — the D’s third time ranking in the top five under HC Sean McDermott. But the Bills have had trouble rushing the passer, as Buffalo has not ranked top 10 in the league in sacks since 2016.
Enter Miller, the Denver Broncos’ all-time sack leader who totaled 9.5 with Denver and the Los Angeles Rams last season. Miller has had eight or more sacks on nine occasions in his career, and he’s gone for double-digit sacks in seven different seasons.
The NFL’s active sack leader with 115.5 career regular season sacks, the eight-time Pro Bowler, and three-time first-team All-Pro also is tied for 31st all-time in sacks in NFL history.
When you consider his postseason career, the Super Bowl 50 MVP is also tied for 11th all-time on that particular list at 10.5.
A six-year deal for a player who’s turning 33 soon is a bit out of the norm, but Miller is one of the all-time greats as a player and leader. Plus, the deal is essentially for three years worth $52.5 million and nearly that amount guaranteed, with some outs after that third season.
The Texas A&M product will bring a valued presence to the Buffalo Bills front seven, one the team has lacked in recent years. Especially in production as well — no Buffalo Bills player has recorded more than 10 sacks in a season since Lorenzo Alexander’s 12.5 in 2016.
Buffalo Bills also add TE OJ Howard
As for Howard and his one-year deal, the Buffalo Bills added a solid compliment to TE Dawson Knox after a breakout 2021 campaign. The former Crimson Tide TE will allow the Bills to play in more 12 personnel sets after only using it on 8% of their offensive snaps in 2021, the lowest mark in the NFL. Now that he leaves behind Tampa Bay — who had one of the most crowded TE rooms with Rob Gronkowski and Cameron Brate — Howard has a chance to make more plays.
Howard’s promise showed early, as he compiled 997 receiving yards, 16.6 yards per catch, and 11 touchdowns in his first two seasons as a Buccaneer. He had another solid campaign in 2019 as well, but his 2020 season was cut short before the Super Bowl, as he missed the team’s final 16 games (including the playoffs) due to a torn Achilles.
Despite that setback, Howard recovered and played all 17 games for Tampa in 2021.
At 6-foot-5, 251-pounds, and running a 4.51 in the 40-yard dash, Howard combined with Knox could present matchup nightmares for defenses, especially if they’re on the field together. The question now is how healthy will he be? No one should anticipate him approaching his career-high 782 snaps from the ’19 season, especially playing next to a budding star like Knox. But his status as a blocker could be key and could help Knox move to more of a slot receiver role.
Just for context, Knox played in the slot on 187 snaps (21.5% rate) in ’21, but adding Howard could raise that number.
Regardless, the rich keep getting richer, as Buffalo keeps adding pieces to a team built around dual-threat star Josh Allen. How much does having a franchise QB affect your team? It seemed to be a major reason why a future Hall of Famer in Miller decided to come to Western New York.