Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR 550) – The Buffalo Bills are scheduled to wrap up OTAs on Thursday. Mandatory minicamp begins on Tuesday, and then the staff and players are off to vacation or do what they please until training camp starts in late July.
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Defensive tackle Ed Oliver signed a new contract extension on Monday, giving him some long-term security in Buffalo. While Oliver has been an inconsistent performer, he says the contract he signed is going to be a bargain for the Bills.
"I don’t feel no pressure. I feel like I’m going to outplay the contract," said Oliver when speaking with the media on Tuesday. "I just want to shut everybody up who said I was overpaid, just sit back and watch.”
Bills general manager Brandon Beane loves that kind of attitude from his fifth-year defensive tackle.
"He’s just wired that way. He naturally has a chip," said Beane while speaking with the media on Tuesday. "I think he is aware that some people question whether he earned that or whether he was worth that, but we don’t. We think his best football’s ahead of him. Just because you leave plays out there, doesn’t mean you’re down on him. It just means there’s more meat on the bone, and Ed wants to prove it. He still looks at himself as a young guy, and he wants to get back to the table and see if he can get paid even more."
Oliver knows he get criticized, and he said it’s unfounded.
"It is what it is, and they must not watch me, because I know when I step out on the field, I’m a dominant player," Oliver said.
Oliver did have some good games last season, but he also has others that weren't as good.
"Last year was compiled with injuries and me not feeling my best, but last year showed me I can play football in the NFL no matter what’s going on," Oliver said. "Whether it’s a bum ankle, the pec, the calf muscle, it was just certain things were going on and I didn’t feel my best. In the middle of the year, I had a baby, but I stayed the course. And when everything got loud and hectic, I didn’t pay attention to none of it."
It wasn’t just injuries, though, as Oliver felt other things hurt him and his team last season.
"It was a hard year," he said. "A lot of different variations in the building, outside the building, like what happened down in Cincinnati. I just think mentally, when the season was over, I was literally exhausted. But it proved to myself that I’ll be alright."
Oliver wasn’t looking to leave the team, because he likes being a member of the Bills.
"I feel comfortable here. I love it here," Oliver said. "I wouldn’t want to be nowhere else, especially when it comes down to the fan base and stepping into that arena on Sundays. I wouldn’t want any other fan base besides ours."
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Oliver even notices how great the fan base is on the way to every home game.
"When you’re driving down Big Tree and the people know your cars as you pass by and they go, 'Let’s go Ed!', it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before," he said.
Beane sounded on Tuesday like there was no question in his mind the Bills were going to try to get something done with Oliver to bring him back. Beane says Oliver has been good, and there’s still more to come from the 25-year-old.
"I’ve seen growth in Ed in more ways than what you see on the field," he said. "I think there are more plays out on the field that Ed could make, and Ed and I have talked about that. And the more he plays, the more experience he gets understanding what teams are trying to do to him, reading his keys. Those are the types of things that can take him another step. But I think his best football is ahead of him, or obviously we wouldn’t have done this move."
The Bills don't have a lot of depth at defensive tackle, which may have made it more of a priority to get Oliver extended.
