Mario Williams could be staying in Buffalo, if he can thrash out a deal with the Bills’ front office.

Despite Williams’ complaints over Buffalo’s defensive scheming last season, and apparent rifts with teammates who claim he failed to put the effort in during the 2015 campaign, the four-time Pro Bowl defensive end is open to the idea of remaining with Rex Ryan’s defence, and is even willing to take a pay cut to make it happen.

Talking to Josina Anderson of ESPN, the former Houston Texan made it clear that he doesn’t necessarily see his future away from Ralph Wilson Stadium,

“Yes, most definitely. I love my team. I love my teammates,” said the 31-year-old pass-rusher.

“Everything has been fine. It’s just a matter of if there can be a better understanding of being able to do what we do, at least meet halfway. That’s all, meet halfway.”

If Mario is to stay in Buffalo, a pay cut is inevitable, and the reasons for this are simple. The Bills are in tough shape when it comes to the salary cap, and cutting Williams would open up a massive $12.9 million in cap space. This option surely looks attractive right now, despite the veteran’s obvious talent.

This is no secret to Williams.

“Obviously, there’s two great players on the other side of the ball that need to be back,” referring to soon-to-be unrestricted free agent linemen, Cordy Glenn and Richie Incognito.

“I’m not an accountant either. I don’t even know how you can go about making it where it makes at least some type of sense. That’s not what I do, so that’s why I don’t even worry about it.”

Buffalo Head Coach Rex Ryan has weighed in on this situation, whilst speaking at the annual Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

Twitter: Rex Ryan says he would welcome Mario Williams back but he isn’t sure how realistic that is (@JasonLaCanfora)

With the free agency period fast approaching, we will soon reach an outcome on Mario Williams’ future but, for now, it could go either way