BREAKOUT: Should Buffalo Bills Extend Dorian Williams NOW? How Will Jim Leonhard UNLEASH His Talent?

0:00Dorian Williams is entering the last year of his rookie contract. Should the bills go ahead and give him an extension, we'll discuss that for you right now on Lockdown Bills. You are Lockdown Bills, your daily Buffalo Bills podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. What's up, bills Mafia? It's Joe Marino, host of Lockdown Bills. That's Jerry Astraski, 102 games starter for the Buffalo Bills. And we'd like to welcome you in and thank you for tuning in to this episode of Lockdown Bills. Lockdown Bills is a proud part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Now the number one sports podcast network. Well folks, welcome in yesterday. We talked all about the idea of extending Osiris Torrance now after his third season ahead of his fourth season, the last one of his rookie contract. And there's a similar conversation to have about Dorian Williams,

1:03which we're going to have right now. Of course, the opportunity exists to create a little cap space by extending Dorian Williams. And this is a fascinating conversation because Dorian Williams has a lot to prove. And he just might do it in this gym Leonard defense, in which case it would be really smart for the bills to go ahead and extend him right now. Jerry, welcome in. I'm excited to talk Dorian Williams with you here today. Yeah, well, I've been watching Dorian Williams for a long, long time. He's played at Tulane University, a team that was in the American football conference plays against Tulsa every year. So I've got to see Dorian play quite a bit, saw him live in person and Tulsa, really, really good football player. And I think if you look at all his attributes and what he does so, so well, you know, he's at downhill linebacker. He's going to make plays. He gets the season ball. He goes gets the ball. He's not, he can't put a lot on him. He's not a guy that's going to go through a lot of thought processes and have 19 different responsibilities, play a ton of coverage. He is an apex predator when it comes to middle

2:04linebackers. He is going to go find the ball and get guys on the ground. And we've seen that in his tackling numbers in this bill's defense. I really like the guy. I think he's going to shine in this new defense. Probably the one player of all the guys on our defensive roster that I'm really, really excited about the sea in this defense is Dorian Williams. Yeah, I'm, I'm very intrigued as well. Of course, a third round pick of the bills back in 2023. He's young. He turns 25 in June. It's a young man. Of course, he played his college ball at Tulane. And he's probably played a little bit more than people think he has. This past season 16 games, nine starts in 2024, 17 games and 11 starts. Jerry, he led the bills and tackles in 2024. I don't think people realize that. And then, of course, his rookie season, 17 games, two starts and had to play a lot more than maybe the bills intended based on the never ending injuries that the bills have on defense, especially at linebacker. So he's had a chance to play a decent amount throughout the years, but never really in

3:07one spot, right? It's been this past year, he was used a lot on the rush packages. And of course, whenever there were injuries as a true stack linebacker, you've seen him have to play the mic, which didn't really go well in his rookie season. Then he got to play more as a weak side linebacker in year two. And then he's kind of struggled in coverage. And so they had the dime package that they created to kind of overcome that. And so he's, he's done a lot of different things, which makes it difficult to settle into one spot. But one thing I've heard you say a lot about this Jim Leonard defense and our expectations is that things do simplify a bit. And how do you think that applies specifically to Dorian Williams and what he's going to mean for this defense in 2026? I think we need to put too much thought process on a player, especially on defense. They lose their instincts, right? They're a lot of defensive guys have great instincts as far as how to play the game, where to find the football. We talk about Dion Walker that way. He's got instincts to find the ball. That's what he does. I think Dorian

4:09Williams has those same instincts. But when you put a ton of responsibility on a guy like that and the brain has to process so much, you lose those instincts. I just never thought as good and in the flashes of good that Dorian Williams showed in this, you know, this Sean, this Sean McDermott type defense that we've had, I just never felt that he was a comfortable fit in what we were doing, especially in the passing game. Just not a guy that's going to really carry a lot of receivers down field. That's not what he does. So that's why I look at this defense. And I'm like, when you talk about instinctual football, this is, this is it. And I think you'll see a lot of that of Dorian Williams, a guy that at Tulane ran more of a hybrid front. He wasn't a four three guy. He ran on the kind of a hybrid front. So he understands that kind of stuff as well. Obviously was a big part of the third down packages throughout the last year. So I do. I really think this is going to be a big, a big season for him because those instincts are going to be able

5:11to shine through. We're not going to be worried about him thinking about Mr. Simons and all those kinds of things because he got so much going on in his head. Yeah, that's spy mirror role that he would fill occasionally on long and late downs was certainly very valuable. And when I think about Dorian Williams, I think fast physical, right? He's he's he's certainly the most physical player on the defense. I would say over the last few years and he can run, right? He's got some explosiveness to him. It's just can you find the optimal role to let him do that? And I'm hopeful that that can happen with Jim Leonard. And when it comes to growth areas, I think it's more about just getting wrapped and getting in a spot to unleash his full ability. And I think that's really what it is. I'm not sure it's that Dorian Williams has a ton of limitations. He hasn't met a super comfortable player and coverage. But I feel like those coverage responsibilities are going to be very different under Jim Leonard. And so you get this guy playing forward. I think he got a heck of a player. I agree 100% and I'm excited to see it. And you know, if you looked

6:17at Jim Leonard's defense, especially when it was constant, I went back and looked at some of it. His linebackers are more bigger, kind of physical guys, right? The guy that doesn't really fit the role would be a Tarell Bernard. But we all know that Tarell Bernard, if he can get back to that form that he had a few years ago, is able to shoot gaps and get downhill and make splash plays. Which this might end up helping him as well. But when you look at kind of a Jim Leonard prototypical inside linebacker, Dorian Williams kind of fits that role more than anybody else. Also a core special teamer, Dorian Williams, and depending on the role defensively, that could change. But he was fifth on the team and special team snaps and played nearly half the snaps defensively. So he's found ways to provide a lot of value to the bills. I am curious to see if that becomes in more of a defined role here under Jim Leonard. We got a lot more to cover here. And in the next segment, we're going to focus in on the practical nature of a contract

7:19extension, which I think is a little tricky when you consider it not only from the bills angle, but the Dorian Williams angle, especially as we're considering it to be a right now type situation ahead of 2026. So we'll we'll break that all down for you. Next folks, be sure to stick with us. It's tax time, but for a lot of us, the old way of doing taxes is a lot trying to book an appointment. That's not the most convenient sitting in a waiting room with a stack of papers, emailing back and forth and wondering if they really get your situation. But this year, you're getting a major upgrade into it. TurboTax now has in person locations nationwide. You can meet face to face with a real tax expert and your documents get uploaded straight to your TurboTax app on the spot. And just like that, you're done. Your TurboTax expert works to get you every dollar you deserve while you get real time notifications as you go about your day. It's the relief of walking in and meeting a real person and walking out knowing your taxes are being handled right. So head to TurboTax.com slash local to find a store near you and book your

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10:32because just like we discussed with Osiris Torrance, there is the proven performance escalator. And because Dorian Williams was a third round pick that's played a lot of snaps for the bills, he gets a bump in year four of his rookie contract. And so because of that, the opportunity to extend him is now a cap savings opportunity where regardless of where the numbers come in, the bills would get $2 million in 2026 cap space by extending Dorian Williams. And so the tricky part for me, Jerry, is what do you pay this guy? First of all, I guess the question you have to ask yourself is what role do you expect him to play this year? Right. And then I guess you go from there. Is it a high volume role? You know, what is it? Because obviously that's going to dictate what the terms of this deal would be. I mean, personally, I think you got to see what happens. I mean, we haven't seen a, I mean, we've seen a lot of flip out of Dorian Williams. We don't know what's going to happen in this defense. Well, I think he's going to fit very, very well. If he goes ahead and starts and has a good season, would you consider him a mid-tier starter? I mean,

11:35those guys are going to make five and a half to $12 million. I mean, elite guys are going from like 12 to 21 million. I mean, is this, is this Fred Warner? Or is this, uh, is this, uh, or is this Bobby, uh, Bobby, uh, O'Coreque, O'Coreque, or whatever, Harry Pranowski's last name, who's making $10 million, or Franklin, who's making $10 million. I mean, I don't know. We don't know what the answer is to that. But I think the fact of the matter is, I think if you get them between that $5 and $12 million range after this season, you feel pretty good about yourself, right? Things kind of clear up. Maybe too, if you wait, does that Terrell Bernard deal clear up to where that kind of moves on, and you can maybe reallocate money towards Dorian, but I just, again, what happens with what, I think you have to look at this by tears, right? Where's your priorities? And, you know, I don't know what Venus priorities are, but my end,

12:36if you're not, if you're not signing the governed, you're trying to sign Torrance. If you don't sign Torrance, then maybe you finally get the Williams, right? Um, so I think there's a little bit of a pecking order as far as that goes, but yeah, that's, if he starts and plays, well, you're probably looking between five and a half to 12 million bucks for the guy. I think you're, you're in the right ballpark. I think of some comparable situations. Maybe, um, Derek Barnes with the, with the Detroit Lions has a very important third linebacker. He gets eight million a season. Um, Jalani Tavai with the England's 5.3 million a season. Not that they're one for one skill sets, but like third linebacker with a role. And I think that's what makes it tricky for Dorian Williams. Based on how this season goes, he could have a huge role and make a ton of plays and be handsomely paid. You know, would he want to take that bet now? Would he want to take the, the burden hand now, which would probably be less than if you went out and had a huge year.

13:43But it, so that's where I think it becomes challenging. The benefit is that you would get some cap relief. And then you would stay committed to a player that potentially has a bigger role in your defense. It's just settling on the, on the dollar here is challenging. Malik Harrison's another like very important, uh, situational linebacker that gets paid 5 million a season from the Pittsburgh sealer. So right now he's probably five to eight. But if he goes out and plays the majority of snaps and, and makes plays, you know, he's, he's, he's, now he's a Frankie Louvoo type player. That's a $11, $12,000,000 a year player. So that's what makes it tricky. But even so at 11, 12, I mean, this is a situation where I think the bills have the hammer in this one. I think the Osiris Torrance situation, they don't. I mean, it's, you're hopefully catching a guy that maybe has some fields about being a buffalo. You work something out that helps both sides. But with the Williams, with the Williams negotiation, the bills have all the juice in this one. I really believe that. Um, if, but, you know, obviously if Williams plays well, then it changes

14:45things up. But even if he does, I think you're still looking at that same kind of price range. I don't think you're going out and getting the lead money. Like we talked about earlier, like the Fred Warners and, and, and those types of Rokwan, Rokwan Smiths. I mean, I don't see that. No, I don't either. But, um, I think his role will determine a lot of this. I think I'm expecting more out of him. Right. And the bills have three stackbackers under contract right now in Bernard, Andrew Sin and him. Right. That's it. And I'm sure they're going to make some investments. But I'm sure Dorian Williams will be in mind based on what they're projecting this year and into the future. And I'm, I'm pretty intrigued by the possibilities that exist with Dorian Williams. But again, too, this is, you, you, you resign your own because you can help yourself cap wise, right? This is part of the program. This is what you are in the world of 2026 NFL cat management. You draft guys, they play, you hopefully resign your own and you can roll down the road

15:48and be able to manage a cap. Um, so hopefully this is something that gets done. I just, like you though, I'm just kind of hung up on really if you went into negotiate with them right now, like, what is the number? I mean, it's probably just a one year, right? Like you would add a year with some projection to it. So that way, it's not a contract year for him. And you're, you're, you're looking at a little bit longer, especially because he does, you know, you've got to turn 25 June. I think it was June or July. You know, he's not, he's not a player that's getting towards that. Well, I only got one more shot to get a big payday. You know, he could get a nice little bump in 2027 and then hit the market entering his age 26 season with, you know, a whole lot more proven. And maybe the pills wanting to keep him around and then you do an extension again. So it's an interesting situation. We'll see how it plays out. Hopefully you enjoyed this conversation. Jerry and I are giving you these bonus episodes daily. And so if there's any topics that you'd like us to dive into, leave us a comment in the YouTube channel and say, Hey, this would be a great

16:51topic and we'd love to, you know, open up some of these episodes to more of what you want to hear us discuss. So if you have any ideas, drop them right here in the YouTube comments. All right, folks, that is going to do it for us here today. Thanks for being here. As always, I kindly ask that you share, subscribe, rate and review. Have a great rest of your day and go bills. Much love, folks. Go bills.