Jerry Hughes, Buffalo Bills agree on five-year, $45 million deal

Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News is reporting that the Buffalo Bills and free agent pass rusher Jerry Hughes have agreed on a new five-year contract that will keep him in Buffalo through the end of the 2019 season.

The #Bills and Jerry Hughes have agreed to terms on a 5 -year contract, according to an NFL source.

— Vic Carucci (@viccarucci) March 9, 2015

At the time of the publishing of this article, financial details are scant, but ESPN's Adam Schefter says that the deal is worth more than $45 million in total, and NFL.com's Ian Rapoport says that the deal includes $20 million guaranteed. As more details emerge, we'll update this post.

Bills GM Doug Whaley had been saying since the 2015 NFL Combine in Indianapolis, nearly three weeks ago, that he was optimistic that a deal with Hughes would get done - and although progress was slow throughout the weekend, it was also steady, and the deal came in well before free agency is scheduled to officially begin tomorrow afternoon.

Hughes, who will turn 27 in August, is entering his sixth NFL season. Four of those were spent in Indianapolis, where he toiled behind stars; after the Bills acquired him via trade in 2013, Hughes' career took off, and he has recorded back-to-back 10-sack seasons playing on Buffalo's elite defensive line. Now, Hughes is paid like a peer on that star-studded line, and expectations will necessarily rise, particularly playing for a coach like Rex Ryan.

6 other teams were interested in signing Jerry Hughes, but he made it clear during negotiations he wanted to stay w #Bills.

— Vic Carucci (@viccarucci) March 9, 2015