By Justin DiLoro / Billswire.usatoday.com
Bills defensive end Shaq Lawson only has a few days left on his first NFL contract, his rookie deal he signed with Buffalo.
The former first-round pick of the team in 2016 will hit the open market on March 18. A few days prior, Lawson can start talking to interested team, legally at least.
Lawson did not say specifically that he was referencing free agency, but connecting the dots, Lawson appears to be talking about that time period in this tweet:
“It’s about to get real in couple weeks.”
Lawson, 25, had the fifth-year option on his rookie contract declined by the Bills last offseason. He’s the final Doug Whaley draft pick remaining on the Bills roster. Whaley is the Bills’ former general manager.
The Bills’ current GM, Brandon Beane, previously has mentioned that certain free agents on his roster, such as Lawson, could go test the market and come back.
“That happens a lot,” Beane said in January. “It doesn’t mean if they go all the way to March and we haven’t got him signed that we won’t get it done. Sometimes guys truly have to get a feel for what their market is before they want to make a decision.”
The Bills have near $83 million in salary cap space, the fourth-most in the NFL, heading into free agency.