Bills free-agent targets: Pass rushers
Coach Sean McDermott wasn't sending any kind of mixed messages. When talking about areas his Buffalo Bills must improve upon in 2021, he essentially threw down the gauntlet in his season-ending press conference.
"That's a critical area for our football team to improve," McDermott said of the defensive line. "We have to be able to affect the quarterback with a four-man rush. I thought at times we did that. Other times we could have been better just like our entire defense and our entire football team. There's still meat on the bone there.
"I think more than anything what [defensive line] Coach [Eric] Washington was able to do is lay a foundation of techniques and understanding that's the growth we made through the season. When the guys come back, they understand now what's expected in terms of the techniques and the fundamentals that go with playing at a high level at that position."
The best way to get them playing at a higher level will be to have better competition.
The Bills lost just four of 19 games in 2020. Two of them were to the Kansas City Chiefs, who eliminated them in the AFC Championship Game before being beaten themselves by a Tampa Bay Bucs defense that was able to pressure quarterback Patrick Mahomes without sending extra rushers.
McDermott and the rest of the league were taking notes the whole time, likely coming to the conclusion that a disruptive four-man rush is the only way to be able to realistically beat the two-time defending conference champions for years to come.
So ...
Here's a potential shopping list for the Bills, who won't have a lot of money to spend because of their poor salary cap health, but must be able to find ways through the restructuring of contracts and other difficult cost-cutting measures to upgrade their pass rush:
DE J.J. Watt
At the top of almost every team's list, Watt could find the Bills appealing because of how close they are to winning it all and a sales pitch by McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane that he could be the final piece to their puzzle.
Watt will turn 32 next month and has battled injuries that forced him to miss 32 games over a four-season span from 2016 through 2019. And his sack total dwindled to 5.0 while playing a full 16 games in 2020.
On the other hand, his 6-foot-5 frame still helped him deliver game-wrecking things, like returning an interception for a touchdown, batting seven passes, forcing two fumbles, hitting the quarterback 17 times and finishing with 14 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
DE Jadeveon Clowney
Clowney is a bit of an enigma with a troublesome injury history, but there is no denying his complete skill set.
The feeling is that if he ever puts things together, he could resemble Watt in his prime.
The question is whether the Bills will want to throw any kind of serious money at someone who had zero sacks while being limited to eight games because of a lingering knee issue that eventually required season-ending surgery.
Clowney is an incredible athlete, but he's 28, has never had a double-digit sack season and has only played a full 16-game schedule just once in seven attempts.
DE Yannick Ngakoue
Younger, healthier and more productive than Clowney, Ngakoue has 45.5 sacks, 96 quarterback hits and 18 forced fumbles in 78 career games. He will turn 26 next month.
An argument could be made that he should be at the top of the list, ahead of Watt. However, he doesn't play the run nearly as well as Watt or Clowney.
DE Trey Hendrickson
In the fourth and final year of his rookie contract with New Orleans, Hendrickson exploded for career highs of 13.5 sacks, 25 quarterback hits and 12 tackles for losses on a playoff defense.
That sounds like someone the Bills could use.
Hendrickson has incredible tools and, at age 26, may just be approaching his athletic prime.
Keep an eye on him.
Free agency probably is the Bills' best bet to improve their pass rush too, since the 2021 NFL Draft class is widely considered to be lacking elite pass rushers who are able to plug in and play right away.
The Bills don't need a project. They need someone ready to help them win now.
Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro.
