Defensive end Mike Danna joined the Bills last month on a one-year, $1.2 million deal on May 11.
The veteran edge rusher brings depth and experience to Buffalo after six years in Kansas City, which included four AFC Championships and two Super Bowl victories.
Bills GM Brandon Beane saw something in his game film that made him a signing candidate.
“We sometimes look, and we say, ‘How does the team do when this player’s on the field?'” Beane said at OTAs per the Democrat & Chronicle. “Sometimes a guy’s racking up tackles but the team actually stinks when he’s out there.”
In Kansas City, that wasn’t the case. Steve Spagnuolo’s rush group was statistically better with Danna on the field, even when the sack column stayed quiet.
New Buffalo coordinator Jim Leonhard’s hybrid 3-4 defense has defensive ends lining up as stand-up outside linebackers. It’s a room that includes Greg Rousseau, Bradley Chubb, Michael Hoecht, rookie TJ Parker, and now Danna. He can drop his hand in the dirt and play a 5-technique in odd fronts, kick inside on passing downs, and take a snap at the 3-technique next to Ed Oliver when Buffalo wants to get a sub package on the field without subbing.
Leonhard saw this firsthand in the AFC West during his two years as Denver’s defensive passing game coordinator.
“You saw the versatility, and he always found a way to make a play,” Leonhard said to the media. “They have some superstars on that defense, you were always looking for those names and then, all of a sudden, his always popped up in critical moments.”
The 28-year-old Danna was brought to Buffalo to offer versatility so the position rotation can stay clean on early downs, and Hoecht can be deployed as the run-fit hybrid Leonhard actually wants him to be, and so the defensive line on third-and-7 in January doesn’t look like it did in the club’s recent postseason runs.
The franchise’s roster-construction philosophy under Beane since 2022 has been about beating teams in January, and Danna experience across on the opposing sideline a number of those games brings inisights along with him.
Including how the Chiefs were trying to defend Josh Allen.
“Chasing Josh Allen, it takes all 11 guys, maybe 12 sometimes,” Danna said. “It’s definitely gonna be cool and great to have him on the other side of the ball and him scoring touchdowns for us instead of trying to tackle him.
The Chiefs cut Danna in late February to clear $8.9 million in cap space. He waited several months for the right team to call, and that team turned out to be the Bills.
“It’s just kind of waiting on the right opportunity and not trying to jump on the first available team,” he added. “It’s hard for players because it gets anxious, you’re in a gray area.”
Buffalo has now spent their last two drafts and free agencies reinforcing a front seven that to help the team get over the hump in January. On what is essentially a $1.2 million one-year prove-it deal, Danna is the type of player the 2024 and 2025 Bills didn’t have on the field for the snaps that ended their season.
Danna knows what it takes to be on the other side of that outcome. He and the Bills are hoping he can help change that for them as well.
This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: What specific experience does new DE Mike Danna bring to Bills?
Reporting by David Benjamin De Cristofaro, Bills Wire / Bills Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
