Bills will release DE Mario Williams, franchise OT Cordy Glenn
The Buffalo Bills are set to make a slew of moves prior to Tuesday’s deadline.
The biggest news comes with the impending release of defensive end Mario Williams and the franchise tag being placed on left tackle Cordy Glenn, according to multiple media reports.
In addition, the team has restructured the contract of tight end Charles Clay and released running back Anthony “Boobie” Dixon, offensive guard Kraig Urbik and tight end MarQueis Gray.
[NFL free agency starts March 9. Here are Shutdown Corner’s free-agency rankings for offensive players and for defensive players and specialists.]
In dong so, the Bills should have more than $23 million in salary-cap space. But don’t assume they’ll be able to go hog-wild in free agency now. What this does is allow the team to have room for a one-year tender for Glenn (set for $13.7 million), short of a long-term extension, and with the rookie draft class to pay for the Bills remain somewhat tight against the cap.
Could this mean that the Bills are still unable to afford free-agent offensive guard Richie Incognito, who is coming off a good season? That’s going to be an interesting story to follow, with him having been out of the league for a year prior to signing with the Bills for the 2015 season.
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Williams’ release is not stunning. Although head coach Rex Ryan said at the NFL scouting combine that he loved Williams the player, and Williams also said he was hoping for a way to make things work with the team, it wasn’t meant to be. A less-than-ideal positional fit was one concern, but a bigger one was Williams’ salary. Dumping it allowed the Bills to clear nearly $13 million of cap space.
Williams’ career in Buffalo got off to a strong start, with 38 sacks in his first 48 games there, but he fell off to five sacks in 15 contests, with zero fumbles forced and no passes deflected. He often was asked to play out of position under Ryan, dropping into coverage more frequently and not being asked to rush the passer, which has been his forte. That said, he’s still only 31 and the recent success of some 30-plus-year-old pass rushers should allow him to land a job somewhere, and fairly quickly.
The Bills could use some depth on their defensive line now, as heralded as it remains, with Williams gone. But securing Glenn was necessary, as the Bills have tough annual matchups with young edge players Chandler Jones, Olivier Vernon and Leonard Williams. The Bills still hope to secure Glenn for the long haul, and this series of moves likely will help allow them to do that in time.
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm
