NFL free agency: Star Lotulelei will sign with Buffalo Bills
By Matt Conner
The Kansas City Chiefs and other interested teams have lost out on the chance to employ Star Lotulelei now that he’s reportedly signed with the Bills.
Star Lotulelei has found himself a new home on the free agent market, and the Buffalo Bills have won the chance to sign him despite several other interested parties, per reports.
Per Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Bills have inked Lotulelei to a new five-year contract that will become official once the new league year begins on Wednesday and free agency officially opens.
The signing will help the Bills along the defensive front which suffered greatly after they traded Marcell Dareus to the Jacksonville Jaguars last season. Lotulelei will now provide an anchor for the next few years for a defense being remade in general manager Brandon Beane’s image. It’s a unit that’s suffered plenty of losses in the last year, including Reggie Ragland to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaking of the Chiefs, they were reportedly among the interested parties for Lotulelei, the former Carolina Panthers defensive lineman who would have helped fill a significant hole along the line in K.C. Bennie Logan is now a free agent, as is Jarvis Jenkins, and there has been zero buzz concerning either player returning to this point. It was already a thin position and, as of now, the Chiefs have Allen Bailey and Chris Jones as the sole contributors to rely upon up front.
Lotulelei has been a reliable anchor along the trenches for the Panthers, starting all 16 games the last two seasons. Last year he had 1.5 sacks and 25 total tackles for Carolina.