Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘For the second year in a row, Buffalo’s AFC East rival, the Miami Dolphins, finished No. 1 and the Arizona Cardinals ranked last.’

‘“We got that finalized today,” general manage Brandon Beane confirmed when he spoke with reporters at the scouting combine. “I would say the last day or two, you felt like it was trending in the right direction and we’re excited to keep Khalil here for an additional four years beyond the one year he had remaining.”’

‘“To me there’s always been an injury risk with that play and I’ve expressed that opinion for the last couple of years or so when it really started to come into play the way it’s been used, especially a year ago,” McDermott said when he met with reporters at the NFL scouting combine. “I just feel like player safety, and the health and safety of our players, has to be at the top of our game, which it is.”’

‘The numbers showed that during the 2024 regular season, there were 332 more kickoff returns than 2023 when only 21.8% of kickoffs were returned, easily the lowest mark in league history. In 2024, kickoffs were returned 32.8% of the time which certainly isn’t great, but it is undoubtedly better.’

‘“We’ll look at everything,” Beane said. “I believe we have some good players and pieces and it’s how do we add around those guys to complement who they are and what they do already as we look into the free agency period and the draft as well.”’

‘The biggest cap savings derived from a release would be edge rusher Von Miller. Cutting him pre-June 1 creates $8.3 million in 2025 space, though it comes with an ugly $15.4 million dead cap hit. Releasing him post-June 1 frees up $17.4 million, but that money would not be available until then. And while that would lessen the dead cap to $6.3 million in 2025, it would add $9 million of dead cap to the 2026 ledger which is not ideal.’

‘The Bills are in this predicament partially because of the whiff they had at the top of the 2022 draft when general manager Brandon Beane chose Kaiir Elam No. 23 overall in the first round, a player who always seemed like a poor fit given his struggles playing zone defense in college at Florida.’

‘Here are some of the players that have been mocked to the Bills, the reason why the mock drafter made the pick, and then my thoughts, though I’ll warn you ahead of time, understanding that when picking at No. 30 it’s tough to find the ideal player, I’m not too keen on the majority of these choices.’

‘According to estimates by the sports contract website Spotrac.com, the Bills are around $12 million over the projected salary cap and among the levers Beane will have to pull to get cap compliant is releasing some veteran players, and Edwards seems to be a likely target.’

‘Offensive tackle Spencer Brown, punter Sam Martin, offensive tackle Ryan Van Demark, tight end Dalton Kincaid and offensive tackle Tommy Doyle posed with Trump at Trump International Golf Club Palm Beach in Florida.’

‘Sorry, but the Bills cannot, and should not, do something so crazy, especially when they’re already on the hook for seven players with an eight-figure cap hit for 2025 before Beane and his money men start reworking existing contracts just to get cap compliant and then to open some space to sign outside free agents.’

‘Going into 2025, Milano and Terrel Bernard are the likely starters while Dorian Williams will be the primary backup for Milano. Behind them, it’s slim pickings with 2022 seventh-round pick Baylon Spector, 2024 fifth-round pick Edefuan Ulofoshio, and 2024 undrafted free agent Joe Andreessen.’

‘However, Allen was right on the money regarding his season assessment of his connection with Kincaid. It was not good, both players share the blame in their lack of chemistry, and it’s something that has to be fixed for the 2025 season.’

‘In 20 games counting the postseason, Bass missed 10 kicks – five field goals and five extra points, meaning 20 lost points, and that’s certainly not ideal. However, not one of his misfires had any impact in Buffalo’s five losses. In fact, he missed only two kicks in losses, a field goal against the Ravens in a game the Bills lost by 25, and an extra point in the meaningless season finale against the Patriots.’

‘Tabor has a wealth of experience in this role and that is exactly what the Bills need. When he was with the Browns, he had a player win at least one AFC special teams player of the week award in six consecutive seasons and in 2012, when kicker Phil Dawson and return man Joshua Cribbs were selected to the Pro Bowl, it was just the second time in history that two players from the same team in one season.’