Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills are running a new defense this season. I’ve written that sentence so much this offseason that I feel like a broken record, and as much as we’d like to assume that we know what will happen with that defense, we can’t know for sure until real games start. With nearly all of Buffalo’s defensive personnel having been drafted to play in former head coach Sean McDermott’s scheme, there are plenty of questions about whether the players on the roster fit what new defensive boss Jim Leonhard wants to do.
In today’s edition of “91 players in 91 days,” we discuss one particular edge rusher who might benefit tremendously from the scheme change.
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Name: Javon Solomon
Number: 56
Position: OLB
Height/Weight: 6’1″, 246 pounds
Age: 25 (26 on 1/17/2027)
Experience/Draft: 3; selected by Buffalo in the fifth round (No. 168 overall) of the 2024 NFL Draft
College: Troy
Acquired: Fifth-round draft choice
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Solomon enters the third year of his four-year rookie contract, a pact which totals $4,274,276 overall. For the 2026 season, Solomon’s cap hit is $1,138,569 if he makes the 53-man roster. Buffalo will carry a dead-cap hit of $127,138 if he’s released.
2025 Recap: Solomon once again worked in as a pass-rush specialist on defense, but it was his work on special teams that made him especially valuable to the club. He was one of Buffalo’s core special teams players, appearing on 278 snaps in that phase of the game, equal to 64% of the total snaps. Only Joe Andreessen, Reggie Gilliam, and Sam Franklin did more on special teams than Solomon did.
On defense, he only played more than 17 snaps in three contests, all of which featured lopsided results. He hit that threshold in both games against the New York Jets, as well as Buffalo’s 30-13 loss to the Miami Dolphins.
Solomon totaled 17 tackles, two quarterback hits, one takcle for loss, and one sack on the season. In the playoffs, he played just one defensive snap, totaling two special teams tackles on his 38 special teams snaps.
Positional outlook: Solomon is one of eight edge rusher/outside linebacker types on the current roster. Michael Hoecht, T.J. Parker, Greg Rousseau, Bradley Chubb, Cade Denhoff, Mike Danna, and Andre Jones Jr. are the others.
2026 Offseason: Solomon is healthy and participated in OTAs before the Bills broke for their pre-camp recovery time.
2026 Season outlook: Of all the edge players who played in Sean McDermott’s defense over the last few seasons, Solomon is the one who remains with the team that I think is best suited for new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard’s scheme. Whereas McDermott prioritized bigger, longer edge rushers who could control the point of attack with their length, Solomon is a bendy, twitchy athlete who thrives in attack-and-chase scenarios. It’s why he’s been so good on special teams, and it’s why I think he’ll be better in a system that gives him space to operate off the edge.
NFL.com‘s...
