Buffalo can’t forget about Crowell

By Connor Byrne  |   Friday, May 30, 2008  |  Comments( 25 )

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Lost amid all the springtime talk about the contractual situations of Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Jason Peters and wide receiver Lee Evans is the fact that starting strongside linebacker Angelo Crowell only has one year left on his own deal.

While Crowell isn't a Pro Bowl-caliber O-line bookend like Peters -- who has three years remaining on his contract but held out of organized team activities because of a low salary -- or a gamebreaking force like Evans -- also a free agent-to-be next winter -- the bottom line is that the 26-year-old is an important piece of Buffalo's defense.

Although underappreciated around the National Football League, anyone who's watched Crowell on a regular basis since he entered the pros knows how dependable he usually is. Last season, playing behind an ineffective defensive line and alongside a pair of fill-in LBs fit for reserve roles, the 2003 third-round pick amassed 126 tackles, four passes defensed, two sacks, an interception and a forced fumble.

During his 65-game NFL career, the 6-foot-1, 243-pounder has racked up 346 tackles, seven sacks and five interceptions. Clearly, then, Crowell is a playmaking linebacker; that fact has manifested itself since he first had an opportunity to start (2005).

And with his contract year beginning in September, it's almost a certainty that Crowell, one of the leaders of the Bills' defense, will have a big 2008.

Buffalo's vastly improved linebacking situation (with middle man Paul Posluszny returning from injury and veteran Kawika Mitchell having been brought in from the Super Bowl-winning Giants), not to mention its acquisition of three-time All-Pro defensive tackle Marcus Stroud, ought to make Crowell an even better player this year, which will in turn lead to more productive stats and a larger payday next offseason. With Stroud presumably eating up blockers and Posluszny and Mitchell faring much better than predecessors John DiGiorgio, Coy Wire Keith Ellison did in '07, it's not crazy to say Crowell -- with so much pressure suddenly off his shoulders -- could have a season worthy of Pro Bowl honors.

The Bills are in a position where they're trying to build their 2-year-old Tampa 2 defensive scheme into something special. In order to accomplish that feat, Crowell is a player who ought to be in the franchise's fold for the next number of years.

And rather than wait until the early stages of next offseason to attempt to sign Crowell, it makes sense to get a new contract signed, sealed and delivered immediately for the University of Virginia alumnus.

Better safe than sorry, as they say.

*E-mail: cbyrne@realfootball365.com.
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CommentsComments: 25  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
bflobob8		03:40 PM
05/30/2008
Sign him now and save in the long run. He has gotten better every year on bad teams and seems like the Bills kind of player. If...
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No.2
04:42 PM
05/30/2008
bbob8, ...the MaJic 8Ball says. . . Check the previous article on Lynch. It has Steve and me complaining about no posted article...
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No.3
ba bye		04:59 PM
05/30/2008
You guys, as long as I have known Conner, he always submits his columns early. Something in Hugo's organization is "not perfect."...
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