Buffalo Bills re-sign DT DaQuan Jones & DE A.J. Epenesa to multi-year deals

Orchard Park, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills made two important moves on the first two days of the NFL’s legal free agent tampering period by adding two important pieces on their defensive line back to the mix.

The Bills re-signed defensive end A.J. Epenesa to a two-year deal worth a reported $12 million ($10.6 million guaranteed) on Monday and then DaQuan Jones announced his new two-year, $16.5 million ($10.5 million guaranteed) deal in the early hours on Tuesday morning.

Addressing the defensive tackle position was a priority in free agency for Bills general manager Brandon Beane with only one tackle who played significant time last year under contract: Ed Oliver.

Jones was a menace for the Bills through the first month of the season last year before suffering a torn pectoral muscle that cost him most of the regular season. He returned for the stretch run but wasn’t playing at 100%.

Beane said after the season ended that bringing back Jones was something the Bills would love to do.

“DaQuan is a good player, first and foremost, a longtime starter in this league,” he said. “Beyond that, he’s a leader and he’s well respected. He makes others around him better.”

Epenesa’s market was a bit of an unknown headed into free agency. The former Bills second-round pick posted 6.5 sacks in each of the last two seasons and would only need one team to step up and hand him a lucrative deal.

Shaq Lawson left the Bills for the Miami Dolphins in 2020 for a three-year, $30 million deal. Epenesa lands an average annual salary of $6 million and the 25-year-old can come back to the negotiating table in 2026 to try to sign a bigger deal if the numbers go up.

Epenesa has loads of opportunity within Buffalo’s defense with the departure of Leonard Floyd, who led the Bills in sacks in 2023. Floyd signed a two-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers. Floyd played 577 defensive snaps (53.8%) to just 387 (36.1%) for Epenesa. With Floyd now out of the picture, Epenesa seems in line for a dramatic uptick in playing time. Greg Rousseau played the most snaps of any Bills edge rusher last season and the Bills hope Von Miller will bounce back from a disappointing 2023 season.

The Bills have several defensive line pieces who hit the market this week. Defensive tackles Jordan Phillips, Tim Settle, and Linval Joseph all played big roles for Buffalo a year ago. Defensive end Shaq Lawson is also a free agent.

Buffalo addressed its defensive line and secured some help at the safety position on Monday after releasing veteran All-Pro Jordan Poyer last week. The Bills re-signed safety Cam Lewis to a two-year deal worth $4 million. The former University at Buffalo product will compete for one of the vacant safety positions left empty by Poyer and Micah Hyde, who is a free agent and considering retirement. The Bills re-signed Taylor Rapp last week and he’s expected to start for Buffalo next season.