5) London Fletcher- 5-years, 17.5 million
The Bills had just gone through a 3-13 2001 season and hadn’t been active in FA for 3 years because they were in salary cap jail from their 90s run. Luckily the smoke had cleared and they had cap space. They had so many holes entering FA, specifically on a defense that was ranked 29th. They went out and got London Fletcher who had been to 2 SBs and was a tackling machine. I was excited for the signing because the Bills hadn’t signed anyone in years via FA. Plus, it took away the stung of the Bills letting Sam Cowart goto the JetS. It was a trade off they won since Cowart wasn’t the same player after blowing out his ACL. For the next 5 years, Fletcher didn’t miss a game and lead the team in tackles. There was some chatter that his tackles were meaningless because they happened 5 yards down the field, but he did have 7 fumble recoveries, 5 forced fumbles and 5 INTs during his 5 seasons here. He was also touted as being a locker room leader during his stay here and the defense had some of their best years in 2003 and 2004.
4) Bryce Paup- 3-year, 7.6 million
When the Bills signed Paup during the ’95 offseason, the team was in obvious transition as they had just missed the playoffs for the first time since 1987. Outside of Bruce Smith, the Bills couldn’t get much more production from their front 7. The Bills had just 25 sacks in 1994 and finished 22nd in total defense. At the time, Paup had come off a 7.5 sack season and I wasn’t sure how much he would help the Bills. There was also the story on how Paup felt like a fish out of water when he got to training camp and guys like Bruce Smith and Cornelius Bennett were wearing Talley’s old #56 jersey in protest for the Bills not re-signing him. Talk about big shoes to fill. Well, Paup did just that.
In his first season here, he had 17.5 sacks which was the 2nd most a player had for the Bills in a season. He was instrumental in Wade Phillips’ defense where Bruce and Paup rushed on the outside like Ware/Miller did for the Broncos this season. The Bills defense finished with 48 sacks and ’95 was the last year the Bills won the division and a playoff game. In the two seasons that followed, Paup wasn’t able to get the same production as injuries slowed him down and his sack total dipped to 6 and 9.5 sacks. Still, his first season here was one of the best by a defensive player in team history.
3) Takeo Spikes- 6 years, 32-million
The Bills decided to make a run after Spikes when they traded Peerless Price to Atlanta. The reason being was they didn’t wanna have too much money tied up to their skilled position players (Moulds was the other WR on the roster who was getting paid a ton). The Bills also needed help on a defense that was dreadful in 2002. Spikes was going to be their meal ticket to get their defense on the right track. Ironically, Spikes was a restricted FA who wanted to get the hell out of Cinncy and let it be known to them that he wasn’t coming back even if they matched the Bills offer. The Bengals were just a tire fire in terms of not getting to the playoffs for over a decade. The team had just 19 wins during Spikes 5 seasons there (1998-2002).
Spikes picked the Bills and told the famous story how during the season finale against the Bengals, Bills fans behind the Bengals bench were motioning to Spikes about coming here. Some even had Bills jerseys with Spikes name on the back of it duct-taped.
The dude was a monster for the Bills during his first two seasons here. He made it to the pro bowl both seasons and the Bills defense finished in the top 3. Unfortunately Spikes blew out his ACL against Atlanta in 2005. I was at McFaddens for this game and almost vomited when I saw him down and out on the field. He came back for one more season here, but the damage was done as he wasn’t really the same. Subsequently the Bills traded him to the Eagles for a low round pick. Sadly, the Bengals ended up making the playoffs 2 seasons after Spikes decided to bounce from there. Spikes would never play in a playoff game as his career ended after the 2012 season. 🙁
2) Ted Washington- 3-year, 3 million
The Bills had decided to let go of Jeff Wright who did a decent job at NT while not exactly being a BIG dude. Well, the change of course brought in a big dude in Mt. Washington. Washington wasn’t exactly a huge fixture with SF/Denver, as he started some here and there. However, Wade Phillips coached him in Denver and the master of the 3-4 defense always wanted a huge fat guy up front as his NT. I kind of felt this was more of a depth move when it happened. I was wrong. The dude was probably the best 3-4 NT the Bills have ever had. Washington played for the Bills from 1995-2000 and made the pro bowl 3 times. He was a big reason why the Bills ranked in the top 6 in yards per rush in 5 of his 6 seasons here. Additionally, the Bills defense was ranked in the top 12 in team defense three different times. It is amazing how cheap they got him in 1995. Total bang for the buck signing. Washington did eventually get paid by the Bills after the 1997 season and he went on to have a hell of a career.
1) Mario Williams- 6-years, 100-million
I know some might be bitter towards Mario because of the season he had and the fact he just got cut, but when you look at the numbers, he did exactly what he was paid to do. He ranked 4th in sacks from 2012-2014 in the NFL and 5th in sacks in team history. The defense went from being ranked near the bottom at 30th and 28th in 2010 and 2011 and climbed to 20th, 4th and 15th from 2013-2015. His 3 years of double digit sacks are the 3rd most a Bills player has ever had. His 4.5 sacks against Carolina in the 2013 are the most a Bills player has ever had in a game and it just so happened to be against Cam Newton. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, the Bills defense for the most part did their jobs in 2013 and 2014, but the QB play on this team sucked. It wasn’t Mario’s fault that we couldnt do better than EJ/Kyle Orton.
Honorable mention: Chris Spielman, Doug Flutie, Sam Adams, and Lawyer Milloy
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