During their sessions with members of the media Wednesday and Thursday at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane addressed the futures of defensive stalwart Kyle Williams.
Beane gave the most direct answer on WGR 550 Thursday morning, saying that the last time he talked to Williams, the veteran was planning on playing again. He also noted he hasn’t spoken with Williams since Eric Wood’s news conference January 29th.
The general manager also mentioned that Williams’ agent and the team would have to come to an agreement on the financial impact of a new deal once the agent found the fair market price for Williams, which could be as soon as this weekend at the Combine.
The takeaway from both McDermott and Beane is that the lines of communication are open.
“Well you know how I feel about Kyle, what he’s meant to our community in Buffalo over the years and what he’s meant to our football team,” McDermott said Wednesday. “He meant a lot to me this past season in the way of connecting my message to the locker room at different points throughout the year. So the leadership part of that was big for us. These things will work themselves out over time. I think the fit is important and the fit is there, obviously. It’s got to be right, obviously for Kyle and his family, and our situation as well. Brandon has been in touch and we’ll see how that situation works itself out.”
"It's got to be right for Kyle and his family and our situation as well."
— Jon Scott (@JonScottTV) February 28, 2018
Sean McDermott says Brandon Beane's been in contact with Kyle Williams, but no decision has been made yet on his future. #Bills #NFLCombine pic.twitter.com/9o2D1bPeHP
Williams, the heart and soul of the Buffalo Bills defense, has given his all to the Bills for the duration of his 12-year NFL career since being drafted in the fifth round out of LSU in the 2006 draft. But Williams’ status for 2018 is up in the air, as the co-captain and defensive tackle is an unrestricted free agent.
“We’ve been in communication with him and his agent. Hopefully we’ll get something done sooner rather than later. But it takes two. He’s got to do his due diligence. We do as well,” said Beane Wednesday of the team’s interest in retaining Williams, adding that Buffalo wants him back if Williams wants to keep playing. “At some point there would be a we-need-to-know. I’m sure they’re feeling the same thing on their end.”
Williams, who turns 35 in June, is coming off a season where he was in on 41 combined tackles to go with three sacks, two passes defended, one fumble recovery, and one thunderous one-yard rushing touchdown. Williams played 68.23 percent of Buffalo’s snaps at defensive tackle.