One of Buffalo's anchors on the defensive line is here to stay. Defensive end Greg Rousseau signed a four-year contract extension that keeps him in Buffalo through the 2029 season.
The extension comes just over a month after Rousseau finished one of his most productive seasons. Rousseau led Buffalo's pass rushers with 8.0 sacks last year, which tied a career high set in 2022. The defensive end had career highs in several statistical categories in 2024 – 24 quarterback hits, 16 tackles for loss, 36 solo tackles and three forced fumbles.
Rousseau said he feels honored to call Buffalo home for another four years.
"Just a blessing from God, and couldn't be any happier just to be back here in Buffalo," Rousseau said on Saturday. "It's been a special place ever since they picked me in 2021. Beane, the trust that he's put in me, and also to trust me with this second contract and reward me with this, it just means world to me. I'm just ready to go out there and just keep on putting it all on the line for my teammates, try to win as many as possible, be the best player I can be and get to that next level."
When asked why he didn't want to test the market, Rousseau said Buffalo was the only place he wanted to be.
"My heart's been here since 2021, and I didn't really want to go anywhere else," Rousseau explained. "We have a lot of great guys on our team, on our defense, on our defensive line, we're real tight. Just excited to get back to dudes like Ed (Oliver), DQ (DaQuan Jones), A.J. (Epenesa). I mean, it's a blessing to be around guys like that. It's not like that everywhere, so I was just ready to get back."
Rousseau had multiple standout games last season as he recorded six quarterback hits against Tennessee in Week 7, which was the highest in a single game in the NFL over the last two seasons. The DE was also named AFC Defensive Player of the Week after registering a career-high three sacks in Buffalo's season opener against Arizona.
The fifth-year player believes there's still lots of room to grow in his game.
"With every single year I feel I've gotten better and the game has slowed down just a little bit," Rousseau shared. "So I'm just gonna keep on trying to get better day in and day out, year in and year out, and see how far I can take it...I know I'm not where I want to be yet, but I'm excited to try to reach that pinnacle and mountain top of what I can become as a player in the future."
In his four seasons as a Bill, Rousseau has started and played in 62 games. He has racked up 25 sacks, 66 quarterback hits, 47 tackles for loss, 182 tackles, 15 passes defensed, six forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
The defensive end is looking forward to taking on a bigger leadership role in 2025.
"(I'm) five years in now coming up on this next season, so definitely going to try to step up more vocally," Rousseau said. "I was already leading a little bit. But you can always lead a little bit more, especially as a younger player. So, I'm excited for that, and I'm going to embrace it head on."
The Miami product was drafted by the Bills in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Since being drafted, Rousseau leads the team with 25 career sacks.
