Were the Buffalo Bills really attempting to land DT Arik Armstead?

For a few moments, social media was abuzz with rumors of Armstead’s interest in the Bills

Shortly after the NFL new league year began and the 2024 edition of free agency was officially underway, an interesting tweet caught hold of Bills Mafia, all of whom were looking for more signs of life from a fairly quiet Buffalo Bills front office.

When out of left field came a tweet by Matt Barrows, who covers the San Francisco 49ers for The Athletic. Barrows reported that the 49ers had released defensive tackle Arik Armstead, and that all eyes should be kept on Armstead landing with the Bills.

Come again?

It made little sense. After all, One Bills Drive had just re-signed defensive tackle DaQuan Jones on a two-year free-agent deal, and just last offseason had signed defensive tackle Ed Oliver to a new long-term contract.

Why would general manager Brandon Beane have sought to add Armstead to the mix, and how in the world would that have even be possible? Buffalo’s cap situation, while in compliance, remains noticeably thin.

Certainly Armstead is a talented football player, and his presence should serve to improve an already formidable interior defensive line for the Bills. But would Brandon Beane really allocate that many significant resources to the position(s), when only two players are likely to start at a time?

It seems that a bit of the idea sending Armstead to Buffalo came from the fact that his wife, Melinda Armstead, went to the University of Buffalo — and that she’s a practicing Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist with practices in both Sacramento, CA and at Erie Community Medical Center (ECMC) in Buffalo, NY.

Illustrated here in tweet form by Cover 1’s Thomas DeLaus, his wasn’t the only digital anecdote to bring up Armstead’s wife when trying to predict where Armstead would land next.

Okay, sure. But… wait: Again, what available money would Beane have to pull off this signing? What sort of additional cap gymnastics and player management would have been required?

Never say never, until the possible is proven impossible. That — with regard to Arik Armstead wearing a Bills uniform — impossibility likely entered the picture with a report shared by National NFL Insider Ian Rapoport. Suddenly, the Jacksonville Jaguars appeared as a “dark horse” to land Armstead’s services, with a deal imminent per sources shared with Rapoport.

Wait, hold those horses! For the following, just minutes after Rapoport broke the big news — a now-deleted tweet by The Athletic Senior NFL Insider Dianna Russini stated:

Bills Mafia collectively held its breath. Could this be — was Armstead really signing on with Buffalo?

Well, it turns out, that Armstead indeed was not signing a deal to play for the Buffalo Bills. Russini would follow up that tweet with another now-deleted tweet, stating the following apology:

As it turned out, Russini’s anonymous source who had a line on the Buffalo angle, meant that Armstead was a “done deal” to sign with the Jaguars, and that he was not headed for the Bills.

Just over an hour later, ESPN Senior NFL Insider Adam Schefter reported that the Jaguars were to sign Armstead to “a three-year, $51 million deal,” late in the afternoon on Thursday. Thus ending the brief moment of confused excitement by Bills fans everywhere.

So, what’s the takeaway here?

While One Bills Drive didn’t land Arik Armstead, it does appear as though they had real interest in trying to get something done with the talented defensive tackle. That alone is interesting.

Certainly, they need additional players at the position if they aspire to continue heavily rotating throughout games. But is Armstead the sort of player you want to lure with big money only to use as part of a rotation? If no, is DaQuan Jones — who, as half of a tandem with Ed Oliver, put the league on notice prior to his injury in Week 5 last season — suddenly relegated to mere depth?

If nothing else, this is an interesting story to consider the “What if…” of landing Armstead. Should we expect significant additions still to come at defensive tackle?

We’ll find out in the days, weeks, and months just what Brandon Beane, head coach Sean McDermott, new defensive coordinator Bobby Babich, and new defensive line coach Marcus West have in mind for the 2023 season.