ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — The Buffalo Bills on Saturday signed edge rusher Greg Rousseau to a four-year contract extension that’s worth up to $80 million in the team's latest move to lock up its young core.
The Bills announced the signing, and a person with knowledge of the contact revealed its value to The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because the Bills did not provide that figure.
Also, long snapper Reid Ferguson is staying in Buffalo after signing a four-year contract before he was eligible to become a free agent next week. The 30-year-old Ferguson is the longest-active tenured player on the Bills roster in having spent his entire eight-year NFL career with the team.
The 24-year-old Rousseau was selected by Buffalo 30th overall in the 2021 draft out of the University of Miami. He was entering this season playing on the fifth-year option of his rookie contract, and is now under contract through 2029.
At 6-foot-6 and 266 pounds, he earned the nickname “Groot” after the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie character because of Rousseau’s size and long arms in providing him a knack to shed blockers and bat down passes.
Rousseau finished last season with a team-leading eight sacks, three coming in Buffalo’s season opener, 16 tackles for a loss and forced three fumbles. Overall, he’s totaled 25 sacks, 46 tackles for a loss and forced six fumbles over 62 games — all of them starts.
He was considered a raw project entering the draft because he played only one full college season.
Rousseau’s freshman year was cut short when he broke his right ankle two games into the 2018 season. After leading the ACC with 15 1/2 sacks in 2019, he then missed his entire junior year after opting out because of COVID-19 reasons.
Rousseau becomes Buffalo’s third player to sign a four-year contract extension this offseason, joining third-year linebacker Terrel Bernard and third-year receiver Khalil Shakir.
The signings come with the five-time defending AFC East champions projected to have plenty of salary cap space in 2026. The team, however, will be limited under the cap entering the league’s new year, which opens Wednesday.
Buffalo was projected to be about $8.5 million over the cap after cutting punter Sam Martin on Thursday. The constraints could limit Buffalo’s ability to re-sign several pending unrestricted free agents, including starting cornerback Rasul Douglas and starting safety Damar Hamlin.
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John Wawrow, The Associated Press
