Shaq Lawson will have shoulder surgery on Tuesday

Shaq Lawson will reportedly undergo preemptive shoulder surgery that will sideline the Buffalo Bills’ first round NFL draft pick four to six months.

On Monday afternoon, the Buffalo Bills released a statement about the health of their first round pick, former Clemson Tigers defensive end Shaq Lawson. While it was widely speculated, it has now been confirmed the Bills’ 2016 first round pick will go under the knife for shoulder surgery on Tuesday.

This means Lawson’s rookie year will not be as impactful as head coach Rex Ryan would have been hoping for when the Bills took him No. 19 overall in the 2016 NFL Draft. Lawson will now likely be out until at the earliest mid-September, and possibly even as late as mid-November.

So Lawson will miss a large chunk of his rookie campaign, and Buffalo should not feel the least bit good about this devastating news. It’s not as brutal as the Jacksonville Jaguar’s No. 3 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, defensive end Dante Fowler, Jr., who tore his ACL during the Jaguars first day of minicamp, but not having Lawson ready to contribute in Week 1 will hurt the Bills very much on the defensive line.

Keep in mind that Lawson was drafted by Buffalo to reduce the burden left by former highest-paid player defensive end Mario Williams leaving in 2016 NFL free agency. Buffalo will still probably have a strong defense regardless of how much Lawson does play in 2016, but the Bills still hold the longest active NFL Playoffs drought in the NFL, going on 17 years.

Fortunately for the Bills, the organization still has plenty of time to rectify their loss on the defensive line during training camp. Ryan is a good enough tactician on that side of the ball to at least tread water until Lawson is able to return at some point in 2016.

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