Buffalo Bills Past and Present Psyched by Addition of Von Miller
Just when the grief over not getting Chandler Jones was starting to peak, along came Von Miller out of nowhere to calm the bulk of the Bills Mafia down. The veteran edge rusher announced he would be joining the Bills, shocking the NFL community and keeping a frustrated fan base from panicking.
Nobody, we mean nobody, had connected the Bills with Miller, who has 115.5 career sacks.
Until it happened, setting off a chain reaction among current and former Bills.
Like former linebacker Darryl Talley.
And former wide receiver Andre Reed.
Talley and Reed were on the 1990s teams that went to four straight Super Bowls.
You can bet some current Bills are starting to think they can do the same thing, only win some or all of them as well.
Like wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie, who avoided free agency at the 11th hours by signing a two-year contract to remain with the Bills two days earlier.
Perhaps nobody appreciates the value of a good perimeter pass rusher as much as defensive tackle Ed Oliver, who figures he'll be getting to the quarterback more himself now with Miller drawing extra attention on the outside.
Ed Oliver's Instagram.
Linebacker Tyrel Dodson went to Texas A&M too many years after Miller arrived to ever get to play on the same team with him.
Until now.
Miller could be the one missing piece the Bills need to get over the top.
Lord knows they desperately have been trying to get better at getting to the quarterback.
They have expended enormous draft capital over the previous two seasons to acquire Gregory Rousseau, Carlos Basham and A.J. Epenesa, made a run at J.J. Watt when he was a free agent last year and were believed to be courting Jones until he signed with the Las Vegas Raiders on Wednesday.
Miller is the biggest free-agent splash signing general manager Brandon Beane has made since arriving in Orchard Park in 2017.
When taking into account Miller's age — he'll turn 33 this month — and recent injury history, it can be argued that Beane overpaid with a six-year contract worth $120 million that includes $45 million fully guaranteed at signing and a $51.4 million injury guarantee. But from a practical standpoint, it makes all the sense in the world, considering it resembles the aggressive template used by the last two Super Bowl winners, Los Angeles and Tampa Bay, who pushed all their chips to the middle of the table to acquire all the players they thought they needed to win right away.
The Bills certainly are in win-now mode, and Wednesday's action underscored that fact.
Plus, they're not done reshaping the roster.
Not by a longshot.
In fact, it wouldn't be surprising if they followed this up by going after another pass rusher on the first or second day of the NFL Draft next month.
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. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.
