PHOENIX -- Keeping their top-flight defensive line together is a priority for the Buffalo Bills, but doing so won’t be easy.

Even with Jerry Hughes now locked up on a five-year, $45 million deal, the team must now make an even bigger commitment to Marcell Dareus in order to keep him in town past this season.

The Buffalo Bills will pay Marcell Dareus a guaranteed $8 million salary this season before he is set to hit the open market next spring. AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack

On Tuesday, I asked general manager Doug Whaley if the Miami Dolphins’ six-year, $114 million deal with defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh has him concerned about the market for Dareus, and Whaley’s response was hardly subtle.

Whaley bent over, let out an exaggerated cough as if he had just swallowed Suh’s deal whole and then turned back to me.

"Phew. Yes, it does," Whaley said. "It does. It definitely does. Hopefully we don’t have to go to that level."

Another reporter asked how the Bills could handle another $20 million per season deal on top of their contract with Mario Williams, who will count approximately $20 million against the Bills’ cap next season.

"I know ... it’s scary," Whaley said.

Dareus isn’t yet on the level of Suh, one of the best players in the NFL, but at 25, Dareus is three years younger than Suh and has improved in each of the past two seasons.

The Bills will pay Dareus a guaranteed $8 million salary this season before he is set to hit the open market next spring.

A more palatable benchmark for the Bills could be the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ deal with Gerald McCoy, which averages $14 million over seven seasons.

Part of the Bills’ decision-making with Dareus will be factoring in his behavior off the field. Dareus was arrested twice last offseason and has an ongoing case in Hamburg, New York, for street racing charges stemming from the second arrest.

"I think the maturity we saw this year has us feeling that unless he has a relapse soon, that we’re pretty comfortable that he’s taking that step for him as a professional -- to be more professional -- he’s taking those steps," Whaley said. "We’re feeling pretty confident."