Amid Bills roster overhaul, defensive end Greg Rousseau 'excited' for 2024 season
Change has been the theme of the offseason at One Bills Drive.
Some of the biggest names in Buffalo’s recent run of success – Stefon Diggs, Jordan Poyer, Micah Hyde, Mitch Morse, Tre White – will have new addresses when the 2024 campaign kicks off.
During an appearance at Hornell Sports Night Saturday in support of the Special Olympics, defensive end Greg Rousseau said he has been “staying low key” amid the changes, spending time with family and “trying to get into the best shape possible” this offseason.
Rousseau believes the Bills still have the talent to stay atop the AFC East and make another postseason run.
“I feel like we’re bringing back a lot of great players – Matt Milano, Ed Oliver, Josh (Allen), the O-line, James Cook. You can’t go wrong with that,” said Rousseau. “I know I’m excited.”
Rousseau has been a mainstay on the defensive line since being selected in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft. The former Miami Hurricane has compiled 17 sacks while starting 46 games over his first three seasons.
The D-line is one position group where Buffalo expects continuity in the starting lineup in 2024. The Bills brought back both AJ Epenesa and Daquan Jones in free agency, and expect to get a full season from Von Miller.
“Those are my guys,” Rousseau said. “I came in a year after AJ did and Daquan got there the year after I did. It’s great to have dudes like that back out there. They’re great players but they’re also great people, too.”
Rousseau, still just 24, is entering a pivotal season. Most analysts expect the Bills to pick up the fifth-year option on his rookie contract ahead of the May 2 deadline. A strong 2024 would likely set him up for a lucrative long-term extension.
Still, Rousseau’s offseason focus remains on team goals.
“I kind of just go one day at a time and put my best foot forward,” he said. “We’re going to try to win as many games as possible. I go into every year trying to go to the Super Bowl and win it. That’s still our No. 1 goal.”
Ryan Leaf: Bills will be a new team in 2024
Rousseau was joined at Sports Night by Ryan Leaf, the No. 2 pick in the 1998 NFL draft. Leaf is now a keynote speaker who highlights addiction recovery. He is also a football analyst appearing on Sirius XM and Westwood One.
Leaf is a big fan of Bills quarterback Josh Allen. Leaf covered Buffalo’s Wild Card win over Pittsburgh in January, a game in which Allen went 21-of-30 for three touchdowns passing, plus a memorable 52-yard touchdown run in a 31-17 home win.
“I don’t know if I’ve seen a better performance from a quarterback than in that game, in the cold, the way he used his eyes and manipulated the defense,” Leaf said. “I thought for sure they were going to find a way to beat the Chiefs the next weekend. This was a year where no one expected it and all of a sudden it was there.”
Leaf thinks Buffalo’s recent trade of Diggs to Houston may be a case of addition by subtraction.
“I think (Allen) did his best to manage the situation in the wide receiver room and I think it couldn’t have been a better thing than the Bills to ship Stef to Houston,” Leaf said. “Now they can look at the draft. I think Curtis Samuel is going to be a big part of it, but they do need a wide receiver 1.
“It will be a new team, a reinvention, but the anchor of it all is not going anywhere. He is going to be the reason that Buffalo ultimately wins a championship. It’s going to be because of Josh Allen.”
This article originally appeared on The Evening Tribune: Bills defensive end Greg Rousseau talks offseason work, 2024 goals
