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Defensive end Leonard Floyd had a career-best season with the Buffalo Bills in 2023, then leveraged it to snag a big contract in free agency.
Now, the Bills are addressing their edge rushing group by adding another player coming off a career-best season. The team announced on March 19 that they signed free agent defensive end Casey Toohill to a one-year contract, adding a player who earned some big praise for his athleticism.
Bills Adding Depth at Defensive Line
The former Stanford Cardinals standout joined the NFL in 2020 as a seventh-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Eagles, then joined the Washington Commanders after being waived later that season.
Toohill had a minor role through his first three seasons in Washington, but had a career-best season in 2023 with five sacks and seven quarterback hits while playing 495 defensive snaps (45%). As Ryan Talbot of Syracuse.com noted, Toohill took on a bigger role last season after the Commanders shipped out Pro Bowl edge rusher Chase Young.
“Toohill saw the field quite a bit down the stretch of the season,” Talbot wrote. “After the Commanders traded away Chase Young on November 1st, Toohill played 66 percent of the snaps or more over the next seven weeks. The edge rusher had four of his sacks come on limited reps pre-Young trade, but he gained valuable playing time late in the year.”
Talbot added that Toohill has “athleticism off the charts,” which helped earn him quite a bit of buzz coming out of college.
“Entering the draft, Toohill tested off the charts in athleticism,” Talbot wrote. “He scored highly in terms of his Relative Athletic Score and his athleticism grade among EDGE rushers was first among pass-rushers at the combine.”
The Bills had a hole to fill at defensive end after Floyd left to join the San Francisco 49ers on a two-year contract worth $20 million. Floyd tied a career-high with 10.5 sacks in 2023, adding 19 quarterback hits, a pass defended and a forced fumble.
Bills Bring Back Another Standout Edge Rusher
While the Bills were not able to keep Floyd after his strong season, the team did re-sign defensive end A.J. Epenesa after a breakout season of his own. Epenesa tied his career high with 6.5 sacks with 10 quarterback hits and became a disruptive force for opposing quarterbacks, defending eight passes and making two interceptions — one of which he returned for a touchdown.
Epenesa said the team’s success was a big reason why he wanted to return.
“There’s a lot of success out there to be had, and it’s hard to leave such a great organization,” Epenesa said. “They do a lot of things right up there in Buffalo and having a great quarterback like 17, it’s hard to leave. And there’s just a lot of great people around there that I’ve got a lot of good connections with. So, I’m really looking forward to being back.”
Epenesa added that he’s eager to return even better for 2024.
“I want to earn a starting spot on the defensive line and continue progressing my game with stats, whether that be more sacks, more snaps and just overall production,” Epenesa said. “So, I’m ready for more, and I’m looking forward to taking on more responsibilities.”
