Source: Bills to re-sign defensive end Lawson

Last updated: 2023/04/11 at 4:14 AM

BigP Published April 11, 2023

2:14 PM ET

Alaina GetzenbergESPN

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills are continuing last offseason’s trend of retaining familiar faces, as the team is planning to bring back defensive end Shaq Lawson on a one-year deal, per a league source. Lawson has not yet signed the deal.

Originally drafted by the Bills with the 19th overall pick in 2016 out of Clemson, Lawson spent two seasons away from the team with two different AFC East competitors — the Miami Dolphins (2020) and the New York Jets (2021) — after playing his first four years in Buffalo.

Lawson, 28, re-signed with the Bills last offseason on a veteran minimum deal and appeared in 15 games, starting six. His playing time increased when Von Miller suffered a season-ending right knee injury on Thanksgiving. Two of his 3.5 sacks on the season came in the last four games. He improved on his performance from the previous season with the Jets, finishing with nine quarterback hits vs. five the previous year.

Returning to Buffalo helped Lawson on a personal level as he said at the end of the season that he was able to feel more like himself.

“I was telling [Bills senior defensive assistant/defensive line coach Eric Washington], [returning to Buffalo] got my mental back as a person, because I mean, I was like, that s— was in a dark place, so I ain’t even know where I was going to be at or how the outcome was going to come,” Lawson said in January. “I just remember when one team I was at [in] the past, they told me, ‘Be seen and not heard.’ So, once I had that in my mindset, I feel like I couldn’t have my personality or nothing like that though.”

Adding the veteran to the Bills’ defensive line adds solid depth as Miller continues his nine-month recovery process. The rest of the Bills’ pass rush group largely contains former first- and second-round picks, including Greg Rousseau, Boogie Basham and A.J. Epenesa.

The Bills, with coach Sean McDermott set to call plays for the first time as head coach, have also re-signed defensive tackle Jordan Phillips to a one-year deal. Phillips also made his return to Buffalo last offseason.

The NFL Network was first to report Buffalo re-signing Lawson.