Archives for March 12, 2016

'Buffalo used the lowest restricted free-agent tender on Hogan, which gave them the right to match any contract offer he received, but did not provide any draft-pick compensation after they chose not to because he entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent.'

'The Bills can not trade their compensatory picks – a rule change approved in December will allow teams to do that beginning in 2017 – but it does give them more flexibility with their own selections.'

'Hogan seems like a perfect fit in the New England offense as he can step in for Brandon LaFell, who is now a free agent, and play alongside Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola, and tight end Rob Gronkowski.'

'Without much salary cap space to work with, general manager Doug Whaley and the Bills will need all of the draft picks than can get to find contributors come late April.'

'Jones, a 6-foot-5-inch, 250-pound, might have the strongest arm in the entire draft. He captured the college football world's attention with a dazzling run at the end of the 2014 season but ended up getting benched in 2015. While he struggles with his short accuracy and needs to be more consistent in his decision making, Jones has flashed the ability to be a franchise quarterback at the next level.'

'In three seasons with the Bills, Hogan has 87 catches for 959 yards and six touchdowns. He also played a big role on special teams.'

'According spotrac.com, the Bills are $4,498.614 under the $155.27 million salary cap limit. The big fish that fall in the first week of free agency were not going to come to Buffalo.'

'Hogan's departure would further deplete the Bills' depth at receiver behind starters Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods.'

'The Bills are tight against the salary cap. Keeping Hogan would have meant adjusting other existing contracts to clear the space to retain Hogan, whose first-year cap number with the Patriots would be $5.5 million.'

'The exact formula for awarding picks has never been revealed, but the Bills most likely were awarded their selections for their losses of safety Da’Norris Searcy to Tennessee and running back CJ Spiller to New Orleans after they had a net loss of free agents gained vs. free agents lost in 2015. '

'With a $5.5 million cap hit for the upcoming season, the Bills would have been left with under $1 million in current cap space — making their ability to match the offer sheet highly unlikely.'

'The two additional picks now gives the Bills eight selections in the 2016 NFL Draft. They now own one pick in the first, second, third, and fifth rounds, while they have two selections in both the fourth and sixth rounds. The Bills are without a selection in the seventh round because of the Matt Cassel trade with the Minnesota Vikings.'

'The NFL gave the Bills fourth and sixth-round compensatory picks based on the free agent players who signed elsewhere in 2015. Those two extra picks are the 139th and 218th overall selections in the 2016 draft.'