Mario Williams To the Buffalo Bills Is About More Than On Field Talent

Yesterday when the Buffalo Bills signed Mario Williams to the richest contract for a defensive player in the history of the N.F.L. at 6 years 96 million dollars with $50 million guaranteed. They were paying for more than the on field talent of Williams. A player who has 53 career sacks in 6 seasons. A player who hasn’t had a 10 sack season since 2008. Williams is 6’6 283 pounds, and a ferocious pass rusher, but he’s not the best pass rusher in the league. He’s a very good defensive end, but probably not the best defensive end in the league. And he is definitely not worth 6 years and 93 million dollars to every team, but to the Bills and their fans he’s worth every penny.

Mairo Williams is a big time talent on the field, but more importantly he’s a signal of hope off of it. The signing of Mario Williams means that this frugal franchise who is known for pinching pennies and being dormant in free agency has just snagged the biggest prize in free agency (outside of Peyton Manning at QB, but they already have a decent quarterback and no one truly knows if he can still play). When was the last time that happened?

On the field too it makes a lot of sense. Now that the Bills have added Williams to their defensive line they have put the league on notice that they are trying and they are someone to pay attention to on the field. The addition of Williams on the line with the emerging Marcel Dareus and the All-pro caliber Kyle Williams (especially in 2010, he was injured in 2011) has given the Bills a chance to have one of the best front fours in all of football. Right now the the fourth member of this defensive line is going to be either Chris Kelsay and/or Shawne Merriman. Merriman has ability but can’t stay healthy. Kelsay doesn’t have ability, but he hustles all the time and is always on the field. But will it even matter? Dareus, Williams, and Williams are all players that could force double teams, but that is not going to be possible to do on any play so one of these massive men should be one on one with an offensive linemen and that will cause a lot of problems. The addition of Williams and by extension the improvement of the defensive line will make all three levels of the defense better.

This is a terrific move for the Bills even though in six years we’re likely to look back on the move and say well he didn’t prove to be the best defensive linemen in football-it won’t matter. He has given fans and this franchise hope. He’s given them the talent to immediately compete for the playoffs. They’ve taken the job of finding and developing a pass rusher away from the Bills-something they have struggled mightily to do, and allows them to focus their attention anywhere they want in the draft.

Sure this team still has work to do find a LT (do they bring back Bell?), find a SAM linebacker, hope Kelvin Sheppard is the answer at MLB, improve the depth in their secondary, and find another wide receiver, but this team with the signing of Williams is markedly better than they were three days ago. And the fans excitement and confidence in the front office’s competence is the highest it’s been in years. You can’t put a price on that.

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