billsfan89

He's 32 older but not ancient, he's coming off a season where he had 5.5 sacks in 14 games in what I imagine was a more limited role and he's known to be an effective edge setter. I am sure there's a team out there similar to the Bills in 2023 who missed out on DE's in the draft and signed Leonard Floyd to get some pass rush pop for a year rental. I am sure there is a team that needs a boost at the DE spot. Not only is Clowney not coming off a bad season in 2024 but he's just a year removed from a 9.5 sack season in 2023. He's gonna get a modest sized one year deal unless there's a medical I am unaware of.

Get R Done... In all seriousness the Bills have a very crowded D-line room and they don't need a mercenary. Bosa is the front line pass rush mercenary Hoecht is on a 3 year deal and is that moveable chess piece, Groot and AJE are there, and they have Jackson drafted fairly high this year and Solomon as a back end prospect. That's 6 DE's and no need for a back end veteran depth. Simply put the Bills have 6 solid DE's there.

Steelers don't tank, even if it seems like they should sometimes. Kind of surprised to see that their drafting in recently has not been very good as usually their drafting is what keeps them afloat even if they are very conservative in free agency.

Problem is the Bills in order to accommodate signing DK would have not only had to have given up a 2nd plus a late pick at minimum would also likely not have been able to sign many if any significant defensive free agents. I get that the Bills wouldn't have signed Palmer but he's only accounting for about 27.5% of what DK is making, probably wouldn't have been able to manage the Bosa or Hoecht signings as an example.

Been talked about to death in the Gabe thread. Many fans (like myself) don't mind kicking the tires on a vet minimum in camp, but he's not likely to be a difference maker as he wasn't capable of being a WR2 when he was here. Some fans just don't think he has anything and isn't even worth a 90 man roster spot. Personally given that I don't think a 90 man roster spot is that valuable why not kick the tires?

Steelers if I had to guess probably had this trade locked in prior to the draft but were either negotiating the fine lines (do you swap a 5th for a 6th or a 6th for a 7th) or simply held off on announcing the trade because both teams wanted to keep it a secret from the other 30 teams during the draft process in case the Steelers wanted to draft a WR and the Cowboys were probably fine with letting teams think they might want to draft one. Probably some level of gamesmenship. Also the cap situation after the draft may have been a bit murky so maybe sort out what you have cap wise and then make the trade official.

DK would have been an amazing addition but cap wise I just don't think that would have been possible or prudent. It also would have cost significant draft capital. I think the Bills plan at WR is going to be to roll with what they have (maybe kick the tires on Gabe in camp too) and then if the offense like in 2024 is a bit sputtering due to lack of talent at WR then make a trade in season where cap numbers are much more manageable due to teams having already paid out bonuses and part of the seasons salary. It's a smart plan to make a few mid-level to lower mid-level acquisitions at WR (Palmer and Moore) who fit what the Bills need and bank on a bounce back from Kincaid who will hopefully be healthy (Samuel might also produce more as he is likely healthier) and continued development from Keon in year two coming off a nice rookie year. Then if that doesn't work 5-6 weeks in you can look at the trade market where teams off to 1-2 win starts after 5-6 weeks will be more willing to sell WR's.

The Steelers franchise since 1972 has only had 7 seasons were they weren't .500 or better. In fact their worst record since 1972 was a 5-11 season in 1988 of their other losing seasons they were 6-7 wins bad but far from tragic. As far as Tomlin he has been .500 or better every season since 2007 when he took over. He has had three 8-8 seasons but never a losing season. I don't think the Steelers will tank ever, but could they be setting themselves up to have a 6-8 win season (by trading away a few key pieces after a slower start or by just not having a viable QB) and be higher up in the top half of the draft? I can see that. A 7 win season gets them in the pick 8-10 range which makes a trade up a lot easier than going from pick 16-20 all the way to the top 5.

I think another underrated aspect of this offense is that all 3 RB's are capable of catching the ball out the back field and even the Full Back Gilliam is a solid pass catcher. Meaning that the Bills unlike a lot of teams always have good pass catchers out of the backfield.

Steelers don't ever seem to tank but if there ever was a point where they have reached an impasse and should somewhat soft reset and not be afraid of a bottom 10 record it would be this season. They have attempted to be somewhat competitive despite not having a QB since Big Ben (and Big Ben's last few years were rough) and while it is admirable they squeak out .500 or better seasons they won't ever get past a 10ish win round one exit team leaning on defense and cobbling together offense. Steelers had a 6-10 record in 2003 and it led to them getting Big Ben in the 2004 draft. Probably would be better for them if they get a top 10 pick in this years draft and have some extra premium picks to trade up.

I think Cole Bishop is gonna give this team really good quality safety play and I think Forrest is also a dark horse to start but I think Cole is gonna make a big impact in year two. My reasoning is that in addition to Cole being a high draft pick who most pundits thought got draft right around where he should have, Cole also got 4 regular season starts and played heavily in two playoff games and I think he generally got better with more snaps. I think his biggest issue his rookie year was getting a feel for his role in the system. The more snaps he gets the more he will get a better feel for the game. With 6 games of experience under his belt and an entire off-season to work on his game and watch his tape I think he's gonna come into year 2 in the McD system and excel into a quality starting safety. Hamlin was decent last year and I like having him back as depth (helps he is a willing and capable ST player) but I think if the Bills defense has aspirations to go from a average to slightly above average defense to pushing to be a top 5 defense in the league again Cole is gonna have to step up and lock down the SS spot. And I think he's gonna do that and play well.

No not at all. Shakir is a top slot WR in the league, Kincaid/Knox are a top 10 TE combo in the league, All 3 RB's catch the ball well out of the backfield ensuring that the Bills always have a pass catcher out the backfield (Ty is one of the best third down backs in the league), Palmer and Samuel are quality veteran complementary WR's, Keon is coming off a solid but uneven rookie season and looks to grow more into a true consistent "WR2", and they brought in Moore as some additional veteran depth at WR who could be a nice complementary piece. The talent at WR/TE/RB is probably above league "average" but how it blends together to complement Josh and a beast of an offensive line is what makes the whole greater than the sum of its parts.

Hollins is/was an ST ace. Both Gabe and Hollins are very good blockers and while I would say Gabe has more receiving ability for the WR5/6 spot the Bills generally like to have someone who plays special teams well. I think if the Bills do sign Gabe his roster spot is going to be harder to justify if he doesn't capably contribute to special teams. It's one of the reason why Hamlin was brought back as he is a solid ST player so that even if he is hopefully displaced as a starting safety the Bills can plug him at ST and then have him as good depth.

This is the complete off-season deadzone. It's well after free agency and enough time after the draft that all analysis on the off-season significant additions has been done. And with Moore signed it is likely the Bills don't make any signings really worth talking about (Gabe is a marginal roster reclamation project if they do resign him and what maybe they sign a vet LB for marginal depth not much is gonna happen signings wise most likely). And it's two months and some change before training camp so the "season previews" that occur in late June early July aren't there. So it is just an over analysis of everything for the next 2ish months.

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Not disagreeing but Mack Hollins got paid like an elite role player by the Pats (and even the Bills paid a slight premium for him in 2024 about 3ish million IRC) so the Bills would comparatively be "kicking the tires" on Gabe on a vet minimum and brining him into camp where he can show what he has left and at worst they cut him and maybe have him on the PS or on "retainer" if injuries hit. Given that teams have 9-10 WR's or more on the 90 man roster in camp having Gabe on one backend spot seems like a decent idea?

If it's a vet minimum training camp/pre-season deal to compete at WR with the idea that he can take the Mack Hollins role then I really don't see why the Bills wouldn't kick the tires so to speak? BUT is he a willing and capable ST player? Hollins was an ST ace and a very good blocker with some limited "pop" as a WR. Gabe is roughly as good a blocker and a better WR but if Gabe can't at least be a capable ST player (doesn't need to be an "ace" just a contributor) then it is hard to see him being able to make the roster just as a WR 4/5 when there's a crowded field there.

You are correct on the Linval Joseph signing in 2023 as Joseph is a big run stuffer. But Jordan Phillips while he's an above average sized DT was not and never has been a run stuffer. They brought back Jordan Phillips because they had some injuries at DT from what I remember.

Welcome back the Jordan Phillips/Shaq Lawson retread cycle begins.

Basically DK (whose very good) and a bunch of other guys. The depth even with Pickens there was rough now you remove your WR2 and it's even more depleted.

Dallas in recent years has kind of been a rather boring team acquisitions wise. Their drafting has been good (I would say a top 10 drafting team in the league not top 5 but still good) and their free agency and trade acquisitions have been prudent to the point where fans don't think they spend enough money. Their issues are Dak is a good QB paid like an elite QB and Jerry Jones insistence on running the team prevents any coach from establishing a culture and creates a huge distraction.

Kind of agree that they are going to pull what they did with Justin Shorter with a rookie or a bubble player.

I think there’s a lot of opportunity for Samuel to be used creatively across the offense. He’s a solid WR3, but if he’s deployed more like a true WR4—lined up all over the field in 3-4 WR sets and even out of the backfield—he can become a real offensive weapon. We saw flashes of this late last season, with some explosive plays here and there. Hopefully he can stay healthy to start the season and carve out a consistent role that makes full use of his skill set.

Very true Bills will still be benefitting from the 2024 roster clean up. However, it is also going to be very dependent on how the 2023 draft picks develop in 2025. If Kinicaid has a big bounce back, Torrence continues to be steady and notches it up a bit, and D. Williams cements himself as a quality starting LB then Bills will be looking at locking those guys up to extensions for 2027 which will impact just how many "mercenaries" the Bills will want and what cap dollars they will want to tie up into deals. That seems to be how McBeane operates.

Samuel is the obvious cut likely will June 1st him so they can operate up to the cap most of the off-season and then have his money hit late for the "inseason" and draft pool dollars to be soaked up when 5-6 million becomes available on June 1st. With Bass something is gonna happen there but it is going to depend on his performance. If he has a good season I can see them extending his deal if he has a bad season he is out on that cap number. Knox I am not so sure about. He's a very solid player but certainly overpaid at his cap number. But he's Josh's boy and still a more than respectable starting caliber TE and will only be 30 in 2026 which isn't that old for a TE (TE's usually decline around 32/33). So I can see Knox esp with his dead cap being fairly high. I also wonder if the Bills are gonna work on extending Connor McGovern. He's only 27 (will turn 28 in November) offensive linemen play fairly well into their early 30's (usually don't decline until age 33ish) so an extension for him for 3-4 years makes sense and I think can adjust the void year which will bring down some dead cap void money. Cap is going to be tight again next year as the extensions for Groot and the three 2022 NFL draft extended players hits. But the Bills also have a lot of players coming off the books along with a lot of dead money Von's 15 million in dead cap as well as the final 5 million of Tre's original contract plus the last void year on Leonard Floyd as well as a few other lingering dead cap charges. But Milano and Bosa's dead caps are gonna step right into that void. That's why if they can reduce Connor McGovern's that would be helpful.