As the Buffalo Bills prepare for the 2025 NFL season, we’ll take a look at the most important contributors on their roster. They have a ton of cornerstone players who will be returning for another shot at bringing a Lombardi Trophy to Buffalo, and they’ll have help from some new additions as well.
Leading up to the season, we will be counting down the top 30 most important players on the roster. We’ll recap their 2024 season, look ahead to what they’ll offer in 2025, and tackle the most pressing questions surrounding them this coming year.
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Next up on the countdown is Ed Oliver.
Background
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Position: Defensive tackle
Age at start of season: 27
Experience: Seventh year
2025 cap hit: $11,240,000
2024 recap
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In 2023, Ed Oliver had a career season, setting career highs in sacks (9.5), tackles (51), and tackles for loss (14). But, in 2024, he seemingly took a step back in terms of production. Perhaps it had something to do with a hamstring injury that occurred in Week 4 which forced him to miss the next two games. On the season, he recorded 29 tackles (a career-low), five tackles for loss (tied a career-low), and three sacks.
2025 outlook
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Oliver is looking to regain his 2023 form in 2025. He’s a leader at his position alongside DaQuan Jones, with some younger players and newcomers behind them on the depth chart. Rookies T.J. Sanders and Deone Walker join the mix along with veteran Larry Ogunjobi and second-year player DeWayne Carter. Oliver will once again be relied upon to be a difference maker in the middle and keep producing after signing a $68 million deal ahead of 2023. With some fresh legs and new bodies joining him on the defensive line, there’s already buzz that they’re getting after Josh Allen and the offense in training camp. With more talent around him, Oliver may be primed for a bounce-back season.
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Biggest question: What will his snap count look like?
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Oliver has had an up-and-down career, but he has had flashes of brilliance. He’s done his best work when relied upon to play a majority of the snaps. In 2023, during his 9.5-sack season, he played a career-high 72% of the defensive snaps. All other years he has hovered around 60% of snaps. With Sean McDermott’s tendency to rotate his defensive lineman throughout the game, and with the Bills having more depth on the line than usual this coming year, it will be interesting to see how much Oliver is on the field. There’s a fine line between keeping players fresh and letting them get into a rhythm.
30 Most Important Bills of 2025
Check back as we continue to countdown on our list of the 30 most important Bills ahead of the 2025 season.
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No. 30 DT T.J. Sanders, No. 29 LB Dorian Williams, No. 28 DT Larry Ogunjobi, No. 27 Alec Anderson, No. 26 DE A.J. Epenesa, No. 25 DT DaQuan Jones, No. 24 TE Dawson Knox, No. 23 WR Elijah Moore, No. 22 WR Joshua Palmer, No. 21 S Cole Bishop, No. 20 K Tyler Bass, No. 19 WR Keon Coleman, No. 18 G David Edwards, No. 17 DE Joey Bosa, No. 16 G O’Cyrus Torrence, No. 15 CB Max Hairston, No. 14 TE Dalton Kincaid, No. 13 LB Matt Milano.
This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: 30 most important Buffalo Bills players of 2025: No. 12 Ed Oliver