Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports that the Bills made attempts to trade DT Marcell Dareus before the start of the season, but couldn’t find a deal.
According to La Canfora, Dareus was on the trading block prior to roster cuts but there was “muted” interest in him.
During the preseason, Dareus arrived late to their game against the Ravens and was sent home.
La Canfora says that Dareus has “worn out his welcome in Buffalo” with suspensions and lackluster play. However, he’s viewed as an un-tradeable commodity by other teams, considering the money he’s owed and the off-the-field issues he’s had in the past.
Even so, the Bills are reportedly open to trading him if possible before the deadline.
Unless Dareus is able to turn things around over the remainder of the season, La Canfora believes the Bills will move on from him next year and designate him as a post-June 1 release, which will spread his cap hit over two seasons.
According to OverTheCap.com, releasing Dareus after June 1 next year will free up just $2,534,804 of available cap space while creating $13,750,000 in dead money.
Dareus, 27, is a former first-round pick of the Bills back in 2011. He signed a massive seven-year, $103.2 million contract that included $60 million guaranteed with the Bills back in 2015.
Dareus stands to make base salaries of $9.75 million (2017), $9.92 million (2018), $8.33 million (2019), $12.35 million (2020) and $1.24 million (2021) over the remainder of the contract.
In 2017, Dareus has appeared in four games for the Bills and recorded three tackles and a sack. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 36 interior defender out of 121 qualifying players.
We’ll have more regarding Dareus’ future with the Bills as the news is available.
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