Bills Trading DT Marcell Dareus To Jaguars For 2018 6th-Rd Pick

Update:

Bills GM Brandon Beane mentioned during a conference call Friday night that the Jaguars reached out to the Bills on Friday with a trade offer involving DT Marcell Dareus and the Bills decided it was a good move for them, per Mike Rodak.

According to Beane, Dareus being sent home from their preseason game was “very disappointing but it wasn’t a breaking point,” per Joe Buscaglia.

“I give Marcell [Dareus] a lot of credit,” Beane said, per Rodak. “I thought he made huge strides as of late. But we thought this was a good move for us going forward. But it is also a fresh start for him.”

Beane added that they weren’t calling teams about trading Dareus and it was Jacksonville who reached out to them.

Beane did, however, admit that Dareus is a guy they would have talked about after the season about how he fit with their team moving forward, per Buscaglia.

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Adam Schefter of ESPN is reporting that the Bills are trading DT Marcell Dareus to the Jaguars.

• According to Schefter, the Bills receive a conditional 2018 sixth-round pick in return for Dareus that can become a fifth-round pick based on his performance.

Dareus is reunited with his former HC Doug Marrone, who spent some time with him a few years ago before voiding his contract with Buffalo. He also gives the Bills a much-needed run-stopper in the middle of their defense.

Last week, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported that the Bills made attempts to trade Dareus before the start of the season, but couldn’t find a deal as there was “muted” interest in him.

During the preseason, Dareus arrived late to their game against the Ravens and was sent home. There was also talk that he had worn out his welcome in Buffalo and could be on the trading block so this doesn’t come as a huge surprise.

The Bills will get a late-round pick and some future cap room as part of this deal.

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.

According to Mike Rodak, the Bills will save $5.73 million in 2017 cap space and another $2.375 million in 2018.

In 2017, Dareus has appeared in five games for the Bills and recorded eight tackles and a sack. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 37 interior defender out of 122 qualifying players.