Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘However, the one problem the Bills are facing is the salary cap because at present, they have no room to sign Watt. The Bills are already going to have to cut several players and will probably restructure other contracts just to give them the ability to re-sign some of their own free agents, most prominently offensive linemen Daryl Williams and Jon Feliciano, and linebacker Matt Milano.’

‘The fifth-year option applies only to first-round draft picks and it allows teams the ability to lock up a player, albeit at a big price, for an extra season beyond the standard four-year rookie contract all draft choices sign. The decision on that must happen following the player’s third season which, for Allen and Edmunds, is upon us. The deadline is May 3.’

‘To spend a first-round pick on a running back when they already have two young players, both of whom carry reasonably high investments as third-round picks, doesn’t seem prudent, especially when the Bills have more pressing needs to fill with their first choice.’

‘The 2020 season provided a stark reminder of how deficient the Bills are at the tight end position. The Bills’ defense gave up 963 yards worth of completions to opposing tight ends, the second-most in the league.’

‘It’s not necessarily about sacks but more so, applying pressure on the passer and getting him to either move off his desired spot in the pocket or force him to throw the ball before a play has fully developed, both of which often lead to a successful outcome for the defense.’

‘This is where the spotlight glares on the offensive line as it had an alarmingly difficult time holding up at the point of attack. When you couple that with backs like Singletary and Moss who lack big-play ability, it’s a problem.’

‘There’s nothing wrong with spending big on playmakers for Josh Allen, but Brown is no longer worth a $9.5 million salary cap hit that is sixth-highest on the team, especially when the Bills have a replacement ready to step into his role in Gabriel Davis.’

‘“I proved that (the Bills) didn’t make a mistake by drafting me going back a few years ago,” he said when asked to summarize the giant leap he took from 2019 to 2020.’

‘And then there’s Ed Oliver. The former No. 9 overall pick does some good things that don’t always get noticed, but he also doesn’t get noticed very much and that’s not good. He has not been a difference-maker in any way, and while his pass rush improved this season, his play against the run is still sub-standard.’

‘Instead, what we got was a run game that was mostly dysfunctional from start to finish. Now, it’s tough to complain about an offense that scored 501 points, and coordinator Brian Daboll made the decision to move away from the run and turn the offense into one of the most pass happy in the league, but the Bills’ inability to run effectively was problematic and McDermott admitted it, saying, “I can tell you right now, we’ve got to run the football better.”’

‘“I still think we have to be very honest with where we’re at – we’re still not a Super Bowl team,” he said candidly during an hour-long season-ending Zoom call with reporters. “There’s one team happy at the end of the year. We made a great step last year in ’19 from ’18 and another step this year. We still have to go further. The goal here is to win that thing. Until we get in that game to compete for it, we can’t win it. So it wasn’t good enough this year.”’

‘“It’s probably premature to get into it too deep right now but generally speaking, we’ve got to improve,” McDermott said Tuesday during a 45-minute season-ending Zoom call with reporters. “I’ve got to improve, our teams’ got to improve, our staff has to improve. Here’s what I know from experience: If you sit here and say, ‘All we need to do is do this much more to make it to the Super Bowl’ you’re wrong. You’ve got to start over.”’

‘But take a step back and consider this: Last August when the team first convened in Orchard Park for training camp, a team that hadn’t won a playoff game or an AFC East title in a quarter of a century, and Josh Allen was still a great unknown in terms of being the franchise quarterback, did anyone really dare to believe that in late January 2021, the Bills would be playing for the opportunity to advance to Super Bowl 55?’

‘The nine-year veteran was on pace to register his first 1,000-yard season but suffered what was disclosed as a knee injury on Monday Night Football in Week 16 against the New England Patriots. He missed the regular season finale against the Miami Dolphins.’

‘The Patriots are old news now, there’s a new standard being set by the Kansas City Chiefs, and if the Bills hope to do anything special in, oh, maybe the next decade or so, it’s Patrick Mahomes who will be the Empire State Building-sized obstacle they’ll have to clear, and that’s not going to be easy.’