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Marcell Dareus signs six-year, $100 million extension with Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills have locked up their best young player for the long haul, agreeing to terms with Marcell Dareus on a six-year, $100 million contract extension with $60 million guaranteed.

By Brian Galliford
Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

Marcell Dareus is now the highest-paid player in Buffalo Bills history - surpassing teammate Mario Williams - having just agreed to a six-year, $100 million contract extension, first reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter. The deal also includes $60 million guaranteed.

The deal was initially reported as six years and $108 million, but it's actually a six-year, $100 million deal that adds onto the final year of Dareus' rookie deal. That one year will pay him $8.06 million, and then the new contract will kick in, making the contract a seven-year accord worth $108 million in total.

Dareus was vocal less than a month ago about the lack of progress being made in contract talks, but evidently the relationship was not so bad that the two sides couldn't close the gap quickly. The Bills have hit their goal of re-signing their best player by the start of the 2015 regular season. Dareus will begin earning his new contract when he returns to the field in Week 2, following his one-game suspension this week.

The aforementioned Williams signed a six-year, $96 million deal with $50 million guaranteed with the Bills in 2012. Dareus' deal now eclipses his as the richest in team history, though it falls just short of the free agent deal Miami gave to Ndamukong Suh this past spring. The Bills also gave Kyle Williams a one-year, $10.5 million contract extension earlier this offseason, and re-signed pass rusher Jerry Hughes to a five-year, $45 million deal with $22 million guaranteed in March, as well.

Long story short: Buffalo's ultra-productive defensive line are now seriously rich dudes across the board, and they're going to be playing together as a quartet for quite a while. And, in Dareus, the Bills have locked up the centerpiece of their defense for seven more years.

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