Magox

There is no solid objective argument that anyone can make that the majority of resources that should be allotted to improve the team should be on offense over defense. You are correct! And it's not as if the offense stagnates in the playoffs, they still keep up with right around their regular season pace of scoring points.

I'm not opposed to that, just that the pickings are slim.

I'm sure the Bills are kicking the tires on Reddick. There are some options out there, Khalil Mack, Joey Bosa, Za'Darius Smith (who had 9 sacks and very good pressure metrics), Chase Young, Reddick, Josh Sweat (someone is going to overpay bigly for him). There are other value potential guys available such as - Malcolm Koonce who missed basically all of last year, young guy who had 8 sacks in 2023. Maybe Azeez Olujari who is young and promising. They aren't splash signings but they are guys who could end up being decent. I know everyone wants blue chippers, we have to deal with reality here and look at what is available and make a play for the best players to fit all our needs, which from my perspective there are 5 big holes to fill Safety, CB, DT, DE and WR.

I would love to get an upper echelon player as well but they aren't easy to obtain. Hendrickson is one and Holland who is coming off a down year is another one. With that said, not sure if the Bengals will trade him to a team like the Bills who could end up facing each other. He's one of the premier pass rushers and even at age 30 he is going to have a strong market for his services. The Bills game against the Chiefs the past two years could have gone either way, they were right there so its not as if a major overhaul is needed. The talent they had the past couple years, just a couple better executed plays and the Bills are in the Super Bowl. While I'd like to get a game changer, the odds of landing one at this stage are pretty slim. I do think they Bills will make a serious attempt at Hendrickson and possibly Javon Holland. But the FA class looks weak this year which most likely means that there will be a higher overpay than normal for FA's in the first few days. I wouldn't be surprised that Sweat could end up getting a deal around $25M AAV or that Holland ends up getting $20M+ AAV. I do think the Bills could overpay if they truly believe that Holland would help the team a lot, which I think he could so it will be interesting to see what he ends up signing for. Personally, I'd love for the to go for DJ Reed, but I haven't heard any buzz for him at all and have been hearing he could go to the Giants. I think at WR the Bills will go for either Lockett or Palmer and then use one of their first 3 draft picks on a WR.

This doesn't include the Josh Allen deal which should provide significant savings, if it had been an extension then I think we could have said that it would have saved about $11M in cap savings but since its a brand new deal, not exactly sure since there is no reference point to compare to. This truly was something new and innovative. If I had to take a guess it would probably save somewhere between $8 - $20M in cap savings. I think we are probably somewhere around $15 - $25M under the cap. Other things they could do. Extend Cook: Would provide around $3.4m in cap savings Extend Benford: Would provide around $1.8M in cap savings Restructure Dion Dawkins: would provide around $9.8M in cap savings Cut Daquan Jones: Would provide about $1.8 in cap savings Restructure Ed Oliver: Would provide around $8.7M in cap savings Extend Conner McGovern: Would provide $4.2M in cap savings Cut Trubisky: Would provide $2.5M in cap savings Pay cut for Dawson Knox: Could be between $2-$3M in cap savings This is around another $30M on top of the approximately $20M they are under now. Not saying they will do all these things but these would be reasonable moves that I believe could fit in to their long term goals.

Ughh. Wanted DJ Jones. Still other good options but he was a high end one at a position of extreme need

I do believe they will make a bid for Hendrickson and even other trade opportunities that we hadn’t talked about but the odds of getting a Hendrickson are low. Odds are they fill out the rest of the needs at safety, CB, DT, DE and WR with better replacements in most of those positions than what we had in 2024. I think they will try to get one of the better Edge rushers available such as Bosa, Mack, Sweat (which someone will overpay big time for him), Za’Darius. But I believe most of the signings will be potential value signings that have chances to become good players.

Rousseau contract details out: $8M in cap savings for 2025 There is 1 voided year which seems to be the Bills M.O For 2025 his cap hit will be 2.1% of the total cap For 2026 his cap hit will be 3.85% of the total cap For 2027 his cap hit will be 6.9% of the cap. HOWEVER The base salary is at $16.4M which will very likely be converted to a bonus spreading it out to the remaining 2 active years and a voided year which would lower the cap hit by $12M making it at around 3.5% of the total cap. Great deal, isn’t cost prohibitive and leaves tons of flexibility to add more players to the roster. Right in line with what was predicted.

This could be an interesting trade opportunity

lol

The running back market has been depressed over the past 5 years and that deflationary cycle is now being broke. So it’s hard to break out of that thinking that RB’s are a dime a dozen and to pay over $10M is crazy. Thats not the case any longer, teams are running it more and the cap is exploding, contracts for RB’s are going up. Cook is a playmaker and our 2nd best offensive skilled player on the team. They are going to sign him min, they’re just negotiating. Cook rightfully believes he should be around $15M and the Bills are trying to get him for less. It’s taking a little time, I imagine a similar argument is going on with Benford as well.

It is. If you chase the bigger names you’ll have to overpay. The Bills have 5 holes on the team to plug this offseason, CB, Safety, DE, DT and WR. I’m hoping we address all those needs substantively over the next few months.

It’s been near universal praise from analysts and people I respect. Go onto X and it’s everywhere aside from some grumbling fans. I know the frustration from some that they want a high end talent at the WR spot and I would love it as well. Who wouldn’t want a great boundary weapon for Josh? Im not against getting one, but based on the fact that the Bills had one of the most efficient, high scoring teams that gave up record low sacks/turnovers ever in the history of the NFL. It’s clear as day that the bigger needs overall are on defense. It makes more sense to spend more on defense than offense. They are making lots of moves right before FA begins that is freeing up lots of money. They are going to spend. May not be like how some want but the commitment to winning by spending will be there.

Burrow must be looking at the Bills and thinking why don’t the Bengals do the same.

lol

You’re blaming that Pittsburgh made the trade for DK instead of Buffalo is because the Rousseau signing. Do you not see how absurd that sounds? The Rousseau signing is not going to take up much of the cap for at least the next three years. The Bills are at least $20M under the cap and there are quite a few more non crazy things they can do to free up another $25M. They aren’t getting all these deals done right before FA for nothing, this isn’t coincidental. They are freeing up money to spend.

Teams like Dallas and Cincinnati that wait till the end pay the higher contracts.

Such a hysterical take lol

This is the point that I’ve been making. He’s not a top 10 WR, not even the best on his team but he is elite at go and post routes which is exactly what the Bills need most out of a WR. The price is high for that limited skill set. Teams can just go two high and essentially he becomes very limited but when teams go man to man with 0 or 1 blitzes then he could be the ultimate pressure valve and make teams pay.

At first blush of it had been an extension it would have been around $11M savings but since this is a whole new deal it could actually be significantly more.

He’s taking the Tom Brady route and allowing his team flexibility to get the players they need. I was expecting a $60-$65M deal. This is a serious team friendly deal. Should be about $11M in cap savings and I believe we are at about $20M under the cap. So far every single deal has been a team friendly deal with maybe the exception of Bernard! Beane has done a great job so far with extending our players. Now he just needs to close the deal and get a couple high quality players via FA/trade

This is setting up to a very expensive overpay FA period over the first few days. They should prioritize with one of the best CB’s and a big DT like DJ Jones. Will have to pay a premium but they need to fill those roles.

Where did the other thread go? lol

He had a good season but I wouldn’t consider it to be better stats. He had 25% more carries than Cook with only about 120 more total yards and his epa was lower, had almost half a yard per carry lower, 10 less TD’s and he fumbled the ball 5 times and lost it 3 times vs Cook fumbling it once with none lost. Cook had the better season. With that said, Aaron Jones is still producing, just surprised he got paid as high as he did considering the tread. From my perspective if you are Cook’s agent it strengthens his negotiating hand. I hope we can get him to extend for $12m AAV but I think it will be higher than that

He is going into his 9th season, very rare to get a big contract at that age. The closest comp we have is Derrick Henry who is regarded as a much better RB signed his deal one year ago when he was 30 for $8M AAV. RB rates are definitely on the rise, this is now the 2nd RB that reflects that. If Jones at age 30 entering into season 9 is $10M AAV then Cook who is age 25 going into his 4th season is going to be valued considerably higher. I’m just surprised they offered him a deal that high