When Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane expressed his admiration for Gregory Rousseau during the NFL Scouting Combine, he wasn’t joking. The Bills signed the former Miami Hurricanes star to a four-year, $80 million extension on Saturday morning, making Beane a very wealthy man. Over the term of the contract, he will be assured of earning at least $54 million. General manager Brandon Beane stated, “I thought Greg did a nice job, had some good games for us, still showed some ascension,” while standing on the podium in Indianapolis. He hasn’t necessarily peaked out, in my opinion. Greg needs to keep moving forward, in my opinion.
“We would like to see Greg be a double-digit sack player, and you need, you got to get that quarterback down,” Beane said. “I know he would want that too, but I thought Greg was really one of our most consistent D-linemen all year and look forward to him going into Year 5. Hopefully, even taking another step for us.” The Bills have sent a major message here as they have made it their point to re-sign their former draft picks to big extensions. Rousseau is no different. Eide receiver Khalil Shakir and linebacker Terrel Bernard are two more Bills draft picks to agree to extensions with the team through 2029 over the past 10 days.
Both cornerback Christian Benford and running back James Cook are requesting extensions, so the Bills still need to negotiate with them. Cook is beginning to show his abilities, but the Bills must first make room under the salary cap. Cook just finished a stellar season in which he scored 16 touchdowns and ran for 1,009 yards. Look for Cook to fetch a high price given the funds allocated to free agent running backs like Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry. Barkley recently inked an extension, making him the first running back to earn $20 million annually.
