Brandon Beane and his staff have some tough decisions to make in the next couple days regarding the Bills' defensive line. The team currently has six out of their 11 defensive linemen scheduled to be free agents when the new league year starts later this month. Two of the players with the most NFL experience on the team Jerry Hughes and Mario Addison are a part of those six. At the combine, Beane discussed what the future holds for the two veteran pass rushers.
"… We would definitely be open to bringing either one or both of those guys back," Beane said Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine. "They both can play. As I said earlier, I think some guys will want to see where their value is. It's got to be a fit, whether it's Jerry or Mario or any of the other guys. It's got to be a fit for them and a fit for us for how we see their value and what the market says about their value."
Hughes has been a member of the Bills since 2013 and ranks fourth (53.0) in the Bills' all-time sack leaders. Addison joined the Bills in 2020 and has racked up 12 sacks in two seasons with Buffalo and has led the team in sacks both of those years.
Beane stopped by the Around the NFL Podcast with Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler and Gregg Rosenthal and discussed many topics surrounding the Bills including the status of Hughes and Addison.
"I talked to Jerry and Mario this past week, called them both," Beane shared on the podcast. "Major respect for those guys and we're gonna stay in touch through the process. They are two, I think both of them are like, 'Oh, let's see what free agency is, let's get our value.' They're both great players. They both will continue to play I feel for one, two or three more years, and they both can play. So, we'd love to definitely work something out, but we'll just see how it goes. I still got some moves to make to get our cap in order before then. So, kind of first things first."
