PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- Kyle Williams and the Buffalo Bills are holding talks to negotiate a potential contract extension for the steady defensive lineman, who's coming off his best season.
"Yeah, they're talking right now," Williams told The Associated Press on Wednesday afternoon.
Williams added after the team's Wednesday night practice that discussions aren't that far along, but he didn't have any further details because his agent is handling talks.
Bills general manager Buddy Nix declined comment in citing the team's policy of not discussing contract talks.
Williams has been a starter since his rookie season in 2006, when the Bills drafted him in the fifth round out of LSU. His current contract runs through the end of the 2012 season. And it already has been extended once, in 2008, when he signed a deal that was worth $14.4 million.
Though comparatively undersized among NFL defensive tackles, the 6-foot-1, 300-pound Williams has been the Bills' most consistent and reliable defensive player. He has missed just two career games, during the 2009 season, because of a knee injury.
Williams is coming off a solid season in which he had a career-high and team-leading 5.5 sacks to go with a career-high 77 total tackles. That was good enough for Williams to receive his first Pro Bowl appearance despite playing on one of the NFL's worst defenses. He was selected as a first alternate and then added to the AFC team to replace injured Oakland Raiders lineman Richard Seymour.
Overall, Williams has 13.5 sacks in 78 career games.
Williams will have help this season, playing alongside first-round pick Marcell Dareus on a revamped defense that also features pass-rushing specialist Shawne Merriman at linebacker.
"This is where I want to be," Williams said. "I feel like we've got a chance, and we're moving in the right direction. We've got some good players here, and I want to see what I've started here through."
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
