Former lightly used Buffalo Bills DT Poona Ford given massive new contract

Defensive Tackle Ford was not effectively used by the Bills defensive staff in 2023, but another team thought highly enough to reward him with a huge new contract in free agency

Dec 23, 2023; Inglewood, California, USA; Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Poona Ford (98) celebrates with defensive end Kingsley Jonathan (59) | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

The Buffalo Bills have struggled along the defensive line for years. Beane has continually sought to uncover free agents that the team can plug in on one year deals, with the hope that they can successfully emerge under HC McDermott and DC Babich's schemes.

Yet, almost all of the defensive line free agents the Bills have have added have not successfully worked out for the team.

After 5 solid years with the Seattle Seahawks, the Bills signed 5'11 312 pound defensive tackle Poona Ford in 2023. Ford was seen as one of the more intriguing arrivals of the Buffalo Bills' 2023 offseason, a late spring pick-up from another consistently strong program in Seattle. The undrafted Texas alum had a reputation as a consistent performer who showed up every Sunday, missing only seven games in his five years and none over the final three in Seattle.

While in Seattle from 2018-2022, Ford started almost every game while contributing between 30-50 tackles a year and 2-3 sacks.

Jan 3, 2021; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Poona Ford (97) against the San Francisco 49ers | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Yet, after sigining with the Bills in 2023, Ford couldn't crack the defensive lineup. He was regularly inactive and played in only 8 games, totaling 1 sack and 9 tackles for the year. That cost the Bills $2,250,000 on a one year deal.

“I don’t know, it’s just been weird for me,” Ford said when asked about his season in Buffalo, per Jay Skurski of The Buffalo News. "This isn’t what I was expecting coming here. I thought I was going to be able to contribute and help this team win.”

In 2024, he left Buffalo as a free agent to sign a one year deal with the Chargers. Ford immediately proved to be back to his old solid self, recording 3 sacks and 39 tackles for the season.

His play in for the Chargers lined him up for significant free agency payday. He was handsomely rewarded.

Nov 10, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Chargers defensive tackle Poona Ford (95) sacks Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis (8) | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

The Rams agreed to sign Ford to a massive three-year deal for just under $30M with $17M guaranteed. His average annual salary is $9.8M per year.

This begs the obvious question for the Bills: why is there success elsewhere for defensive tackles, but not in the Bills scheme?

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