The Buffalo Bills have revamped their defensive line this offseason and the future of Jerry Hughes, who is currently a free agent, is in doubt.
Hughes, 33, was a first-round pick of the Indianapolis Colts in 2010. Prior to the 2013 season, he was traded to the Bills.
Post-Kyle Williams’ retirement, Hughes became the longest tenured member of the team, having never missed a game in that time, either. He only was a healthy scratch once in a season finale after the playoffs were locked up.
But in recent months, Buffalo signed Von Miller to join a slew of young prospects on the edge such as Greg Rousseau, Boogie Basham and AJ Epenesa. Shaq Lawson returns as well.
Is there room for Hughes?
That seems unlikely, but you never know. Maybe the Bills and Hughes work something out in the coming weeks, but if they don’t, keep the Cleveland Browns in mind.
According to Cleveland.com, the Browns have some degree of interest in adding Hughes.
The Browns have former top-overall pick Myles Garrett on the edge. Cleveland had another No.1 selection in Jadeveon Clowney across from Garrett in 2021.
Clowney, like Hughes, is still a free agent. The idea for Cleveland might be Clowney out and Hughes in.
Despite having just 6.5 sacks over the past two seasons, Hughes has 51 pressures in that same span. His most profitable time in the NFL was with the Bills when Mario Williams lined up across from him on the D-line.
In back-to-back years in that situation, Hughes had double-digit sack totals.
An idea could be to have Hughes do the same thing again with Miller–but as of now, that hasn’t come about in Buffalo and his tenure with the team is in serious jeopardy. Time will tell.
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