An athletic, bendy edge player looks to add a killer instinct to Buffalo’s pass rush
The Buffalo Bills use a heavy rotation along their defensive front. Whereas many teams keep their top three or four linemen on the field for the vast majority of snaps, with the Bills, those snaps are more evenly distributed throughout the top four players at both defensive end and defensive tackle, respectively. It’s not uncommon for Buffalo to go eight-or-nine deep into their rotation on any given Sunday.
Granted, as the season wears on, head coach Sean McDermott will lighten that rotation and rely more heavily on the group of players he deems to be most effective. However, for much of the season, Buffalo’s fourth defensive end can expect to see right around 25% of the snaps on defense, with that total inching upward towards 33% quite easily.
In today’s installment of our “91 players in 91 days” series, we discuss one of Buffalo’s new additions along the defensive line — a rookie edge rusher with massive potential.
Name: Javon Solomon
Number: 56
Position: EDGE
Height/Weight: 6’1”, 247 pounds
Age: 23 (24 on 1/17/2024)
Experience/Draft: R; selected by the Bills in the fifth round (No. 168 overall) of the 2024 NFL Draft
College: Troy
Acquired: Fifth-round draft choice
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Solomon’s four-year rookie deal is worth a total of $4,274,276 with $254,276 guaranteed. If he’s released this summer, that guarantee will be all Buffalo carries on its 2024 salary cap in the form of a dead-cap charge. If he makes the 53-man roster, Solomon’s cap hit will be $858,569.
2023 Recap: Solomon was a dominant force up front for the Trojans. He racked up 16 sacks, which led the NCAA FBS division, and also had 18 tackles for loss, which tied him for sixth in the nation. Solomon also notched career-highs in tackles (56), forced fumbles (3), and fumble recoveries (2). He finished his collegiate career with 49.5 tackles for loss and 33 sacks.
Positional outlook: Solomon joins a host of returning players along the defensive edge. A.J. Epenesa, Greg Rousseau, and Von Miller sit atop the depth chart, and Kingsley Jonathan and Kameron Cline return from last year’s squad, as well. Rondell Bothroyd, Dawuane Smoot, Casey Toohill, and David Ugwoegbu are the new additions who round out the depth chart.
2024 Offseason: Solomon is healthy and has participated in all offseason team activities to this point.
2024 Season outlook: Buffalo is in an interesting place up front, as the team lost a pair of effective players from last season in Leonard Floyd and Shaq Lawson. They also return three players who took plenty of snaps for them in 2023, and the one that has the best career resume — and carries the biggest cap hit — is the one who was the least effective by a mile last year.
Assuming that Epenesa, Rousseau, and Miller are all locks for the roster, that leaves Solomon battling the other players for a DE4 or DE5 spot on the final roster. Smoot fits the Shaq Lawson role perfectly, and his contract suggests that he’s a player Buffalo expects to contribute this year, so I feel comfortable putting him on the roster, as well.
If it were me, I’d keep Solomon this year and use him sparingly at first on defense. Putting him in for 10 snaps a game in obvious passing downs will help him to acclimate to the pro game while also giving the team the chance to maximize what he does well. If Miller’s pass-rush acumen can rub off on the youngster, then the Bills may have a future gem on their hands.
Solomon is certainly undersized compared to the longer, bulkier edges Buffalo often deploys, but you just can’t teach the kind of burst and bend he possesses. I don’t think the Bills want to risk him being poached by another team, so trying to sneak him on the practice squad isn’t a risk I’d take.
If it were me, I’d make sure Solomon ends up on the final roster, and I’m fairly certain that he will. He has the potential to be a plus-pass rusher, and with Buffalo’s rotational system up front, this is a good landing spot for him to hone his skills.