Alaina GetzenbergMar 8, 2025, 05:10 PM

Alaina Getzenberg covers the Buffalo Bills for ESPN. She joined ESPN in 2021. Alaina was previously a beat reporter for the Charlotte Observer and has also worked for CBS Sports and the Dallas Morning News. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley.

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BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Bills continued a trend of agreeing to extensions with their own draft picks, signing defensive end Greg Rousseau to a four-year extension Saturday.

The $80 million extension includes $54 million guaranteed, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

A 2021 first-round draft pick by the Bills, Rousseau was set to play on his fifth-year option. Instead, the deal keeps him with the team through 2029.

"My heart's been here ... since 2021 and I didn't really want to go anywhere else," Rousseau said in a news conference on Saturday. "So, I mean, we have a lot of great guys on our team, our defense, our D-line. We're real tight. I'm just excited to get back to dudes like Ed [Oliver], DaQuan Jones, AJ [Epenesa]. I mean, it's a blessing to be around guys like that. It's not like that everywhere. So, I was just ready to get back."

Rousseau, who turns 25 on April 5, joins wide receiver Khalil Shakir and linebacker Terrel Bernard as Bills draft picks to agree to extensions with the team through 2029 in the past two weeks. The pass rusher said that contract talks started before the 2024 season and then were picked back up after the season ended.

In his four seasons with the Bills, Rousseau has 25 sacks, 15 passes defensed and 66 quarterback hits. He recorded 53 pressures last season, fourth most in the NFL. He is one of seven players last season with a 25% run stop win rate and a 15% pass rush win rate (minimum 400 pass rushes).

"I thought Greg did a nice job, had some good games for us, still showed some ascension," general manager Brandon Beane said at the NFL combine. "I don't think he's necessarily peaked out or anything. I think Greg needs to continue to take another step. We would like to see Greg be a double-digit sack player, and you need, you got to get that quarterback down. I know he would want that too, but I thought Greg was really one of our most consistent D-linemen all year and look forward to him going into Year 5. Hopefully, even taking another step for us."

Since joining the team in 2021, Rousseau leads the Bills in quarterback hits, sacks and batted passes (11). He is coming off tying a career high in sacks (8) and had a career high in quarterback hits (24).

The Bills also signed long snapper Reid Ferguson, who turns 31 on March 24, to a four-year extension on Saturday. The longest-tenured Bill -- he's played regular season games for the team since 2017 -- was set to become a free agent.

Other Bills eligible for extensions include running back James Cook and cornerback Christian Benford. The Bills are working to get under the salary cap by the start of the league year Wednesday.

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