The 30-year-old left tackle is set to seek an extension before his contract expires following the 2024 season. The six-year veteran has been an integral part of the Bills’ offensive line after being selected in the second round of the 2017 NFL draft. He has made the Pro Bowl in each of the last three seasons.
However, given that the Bills had recently released centre Mitch Morse, who still had a year left on his deal, fans and analysts reacted sharply to Dawkins’ post.
Someone wrote, “Why are you walking and looking sad in this tweet… 🫣🤔 please let me stop overthinking s***.” Another fan said, “Seriously, the cryptic nature of this has me on a ledge.” Kevin Siracuse from Built in Buffalo remarked, “This better mean an extension and not a departure…”
According to Bruce Nolan of SB Nation, “After the emotions of this past week, Bills Mafia might need a Dion Dawkins extension to help right the ship.” Ajay Cybulski of the Batavia Daily noted, “Dawkins had his greatest NFL season as a 29-year-old. “Extend that man.”
Last season, Dawkins started every game and had a 73.7 overall rating from Pro Football Focus. Dawkins has a $16.6 million cap charge in 2024, with two blank years totaling more than $8 million. Extending his deal for more years can help bring those figures down while also securing his role in Buffalo.
Without Dawkins Dawkins, the Bills offensive line would look dramatically different in 2024.
With Morse gone, the former Bills team captain who has anchored the offensive line since 2019, having Dawkins around is critical. Last season, the offensive line allowed the fewest sacks (24) in Josh Allen’s career. Buffalo is rearranging its roster after trading Ryan Bates, Morse’s backup during the season.
According to Tim Graham of The Athletic, Buffalo aims to move Connor McGovern to centre while David Edwards competes at left guard.
McGovern was one of the Bills’ most notable free agent additions last offseason. Buffalo signed the 27-year-old to a three-year, $27-million contract. The Bills modified McGovern’s deal at the end of February, freeing up roughly $3.7 million in cap room for 2024.
The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia stated, “In our season-long film evaluation, McGovern was solid but the lowest-graded starter of the bunch. He also has limited experience at centre in the NFL, having played only 100 plays in five seasons. McGovern did play a lot of centre at Penn State, but only at the college level and a long time ago. He might be able to handle the job successfully, but there is a real risk.”
Bills veteran DaQuan Jones appears to be in the dark about his future in Buffalo.
Dawkins is not the only athlete concerned about his future in Buffalo. One of the Bills’ most crucial pending free agents, defensive tackle DaQuan Jones, appears to be unaware of his status.
“World of Twitter!” How are we feeling!? “I’ve been MIA, and I know you’ve missed me,” Jones wrote on March 8. Fans instantly swamped the post with comments, hoping for a declaration that he will re-sign with Buffalo.
“Twitter fam, you know what I know 🤷🏾♂️ so idk what to tell you haha,” Jones wrote in a tweet. The Bills Mafia responded negatively to Jones’ comment. Adam Pensel of Cover 1 wrote, “It is really unusual to me that he appears to have had no interactions with the Bills yet. I wonder what their plans are at DT.”
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