Continue for updates.
Bills, Hughes Reportedly Agree to Terms
Monday, March 9
"Confirming Bills DE Jerry Hughes has agreed on a 5-yr deal to return to Buffalo. Adding, the guaranteed portion is a little over $22M," reported ESPN's Josina Anderson. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com previously reported the deal was worth "at least $45M."
Yesterday, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports reported Buffalo was intent to get a deal done as Hughes was receiving interest from Jacksonville and the Giants. Robinson previously reported March 7 that teams seem to be in a "bidding situation" in their pursuit of Hughes, which is why it was important for the team to secure a deal with Hughes quickly.
Chris Brown of BuffaloBills.com first reported on Feb. 19 that the team was "working hard to hammer out a deal in Indianapolis."
At the time, general manager Doug Whaley spoke on the negotiation process:
We’ve sent a proposal over to his representatives. His representatives have sent a counterproposal. I just got off the phone with Jim Overdorf, who talked with their representatives at length last night. There’s an open line of communication. I haven’t met with J.O. yet to see how close we are or if we’re close at all. I’ll meet with him soon.
When asked about what Hughes is likely to command, Whaley added:
We can afford to invest in that defensive line because we don’t have a large part of our salary cap eaten up by a marquee quarterback. So that affords us the ability to be able to try to keep a Jerry Hughes and pay him what he’s worth. The way we have to play we’re going to have to have a strong defense and get after the quarterback and run the ball.
On Feb. 11, Hughes spoke on SiriusXM NFL Radio (h/t Rotoworld) and discussed his future in Buffalo, revealing his first choice is to re-sign with the Bills.
"Absolutely, just because they gave me the opportunity," Hughes said. "The group of guys we had, to be so close, you definitely want to come back and take another shot at it."
