Bills Star Defensive Tackle Out indefinitely

The Buffalo Bills will be without their star defensive tackle Ed Oliver for what could be the rest of the season. Oliver left the game yesterday against the Carolina Panthers in the second quarter and was seen grabbing his left arm in pain.

Bills’ Defensive Line Can’t Catch A Break

It has been a tough season for Oliver, to say the least. He missed the first four games of the season with an ankle injury, and now could miss the rest of the 2025 season, after suffering a bicep injury in the Bills’ 40-9 win over the Panthers. The good news for the Bills is that they do have a good amount of depth at the defensive tackle position. 

Deone Walker has looked great through Buffalo’s first seven games, and he will now be the top defensive tackle on their entire roster. Walker was drafted by the Bills in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft and has proven to be an integral part of their defense. Walker is disruptive in both the run and pass defense, and will try to fill the gap that Oliver will leave along the defensive line. 

Along with Walker, Buffalo was able to get another DT back yesterday against the Carolina Panthers in Larry Ogunjobi. The Bills signed Ogunjobi to a one-year deal in the offseason, and they’ll need him to step up as they deal with other injuries.

Are Moves Coming?

Buffalo may look externally to find another defensive tackle. They only have two defensive tackles who are currently healthy on the 53-man roster. During pre-game warmups in their Week 6 matchup with the Atlanta Falcons, DaQuan Jones suffered a calf injury and has not returned to practice since. His status for next week’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs remains unknown. 

Rookie Defensive Tackle T.J. Sanders is another one of their injured lineman on defense, as he was placed on injured reserve a little over two weeks ago with a knee injury. The good news is that his injury isn’t expected to be season-ending. Head Coach Sean McDermott didn’t give a specific timetable for his return, but said he feels better about Sanders’ potential return.

“Don’t know on either of them, really,” McDermott said. “(I) feel a little bit better about T.J. (Sanders). Damar (Hamlin) is up in the air at this point.”

The two healthy candidates that the Bills will look to add to their roster are Jordan Phillips and Zion Logue. The issue with these two players is that they are out of practice-squad call-ups. This means that they would have to clear waivers if Buffalo wanted to elevate them from the practice squad in a future game.