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After spending the last two seasons with the Buffalo Bills, Mario Addison has found a new home.
The 34-year-old defensive end has reportedly signed a two-year deal with the Houston Texans, bringing some veteran leadership to a rebuilding defensive line. The Bills made significant upgrades to the defense this offseason while allowing Addison and another veteran defensive end, Jerry Hughes, to head to free agency.
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Addison’s New Home
Addison joined the Bills in 2020 and had a total of 12 sacks through two seasons. As Anthony Wood of SI.com’s Fan Nation noted, he now has a chance to play a bigger role with a Houston team that has brought in some younger help at defensive line, drafting Thomas Booker in the fifth round and signing six other undrafted free agent linemen.
“Having Addison available to step in at a moment’s notice, or even start off the bat, takes the pressure off of the young additions,” Wood wrote. “This should allow them to develop behind the scenes and not be rushed in – a common theme among Caserio’s first rookie class last year as well. ”
Bills general manager Brandon Beane said that the team was interested in bringing back Addison as well as Hughes, but only if it worked out cap-wise.
“My conversation with them is we’ll have to … we’re still working,” Beane said via the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. “What’s our cap situation going to be? What are all the positions we’ve got to answer?”
“We would definitely be open to bringing either one or both of those guys back,” Beane added. “They both can play. I think some guys will want to see where their value is. It’s got to be a fit, whether it’s Jerry or Mario or any of the other guys, it’s got to be a fit for them and a fit for us for how we see their value and what the market says about their value.”
Bills Upgrade Defense
The Bills have made other changes to their defense this offseason, most notably the signing of All-Pro edge rusher Von Miller. The Bills also brought in a pair of defensive tackles, Tim Settle from the Washington Commanders and DaQuan Jones from the Carolina Panthers. The Bills lost some other veterans from last year as well, releasing lineman Star Lotulelei after a two-year stretch where he missed significant time, opting out of the 2020 season due to fears of COVID-19 and missing another seven games in 2021 for injuries, COVID-19, and personal reasons.
The Bills also used their top draft pick to improve the secondary. After losing cornerback Levi Wallace in free agency — in addition to the ACL tear that could keep Tre’Davious White out of the start of the upcoming season — the Bills traded up to the No. 23 overall pick to take Florida cornerback Kaiir Elam.
Beane said after the draft that it was worth moving up to snag Elam.
“We had a good grade on Kaiir and we were down to one player in the first round on our board,” Beane told reporters after the pick. “At that point it just made sense.”
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