Bills star defensive end Dareus agrees to six-year, $100M extension
It was only 19 days ago when Marcell Dareus sat at his locker after a preseason game against the Cleveland Browns and proclaimed the Buffalo Bills weren't showing him enough love.
Er, money.
"They're making it hard," Dareus said, via the Buffalo News. "And it's just really making me unhappy. I feel like they don't really want me here."
Thursday morning, the Bills showed Dareus 100 million times how much they want him.
The team and Dareus agreed to a six-year contract extension that's worth up to $100 million and includes $60 million in guarantees, a source confirmed to FOX Sports following an initial report from ESPN. Dareus, who already had $8 million on the books for this year, is now under contract with Buffalo for seven seasons.
Dareus' deal, negotiated by his agent Todd France, rivals the one the Bills gave Mario Williams in 2012, despite the fact Dareus has had some off-field issues and will not play in Sunday's game against the Indianapolis Colts because of a violation of the league's substance-abuse policy.
Often, a player's guarantees will void in the case of a suspension, but a source said there is language in Dareus' contract that protects his guarantees from voiding based on this year's suspension.
For Dareus, getting $60 million in guarantees is a big win, considering the team could have used the franchise tag to retain him for about half that figure over the next two seasons. It's a sign of faith the third overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft will continue to provide a big push on the line up front while staying in line off the field.
