billsfan89

It's a bit wreck-less and a bit of calculated aggression. Let's look at each substantial move they made in the off-season so far. Jerry Hughes resigns- Nothing careless about this move. The contract price and cap hit were modest compared to what he could have gotten elsewhere. He has had results in our system and is young. LeSean McCoy trade and extension- Aggressive but not careless. The team traded Kiko a young talented LB who is coming off of a second serious knee injury for a running back about to be 27. On the surface it seems dumb to give cheap young talent away for an expensive running back. But Kiko has huge injury concerns, the defense played fine without him, and if McCoy gives you two great years at RB it jolts the offense and with the defense the team needs a spark on offense. Charles Clay- Aggressive and somewhat careless. Clay for sure fills a need with a talented player who fits the system that the new OC wants implemented. But we overpaid to get him. Granted the team would likely be able to restructure his deal to free up cap space next season. But still they overpaid for a player, but if he turns out to be the right player it might be worth the cost. Percy Harvin- Aggressive and somewhat careless. Harvin fills the need for another playmaker along the offense. But his steep price, injury history, and locker room cancer possibility all make it a highly risky and bad signing. Jerome Felton- Smart. Ground and pound needs a good full back, only knock is that he isn't a premium position but it was a fairly modest contract. Matt Cassel- Smart. There weren't many great QB options out there. The Bills got for a small price a Kyle Orton style low level starter high level backup type QB. Resigning Wynn and Easley- Smart. Keeping depth along the D-line and our special teams ace for a more than fair price was smart. Tyrod Taylor- smart but inconsequential. Project QB will probably take over the third string spot I can't see him being the starter barring injury. Maybe his impact is doing some sort of Wildcat thing. Overall I would say that the Clay and Harvin deals were overpays and a bit careless, The Kiko trade was a bit of both. Every other move was very smart and calculated.

The Bills did pick up Gilmore's 2016 option so they won't have to extend him next off-season. The Bills also have Bradham in to work out an extension. So assuming they get Bradham done they will have Dareus and Glenn to work on and the Bills can franchise one of the those players. Between Glenn and Dareus it's clear that they would choose Dareus. My hope is that after they get Bradham done they work on Dareus over the summer. By getting those two done they can basically use this season to gauge Glenn's worth and have the franchise or transition tag to retain him. As far as cap space there appears to be a decent amount next season for the team even with 3 substantial extensions. With the cap going up, some dead money coming off, some cuts to possible players like Chris Williams, Lawson, and McKelvin (If he under preforms although I think he has a good season considering how well he played under Pettine and how well he did before his injury last season), and the team can restructure Mario's and Clay's contracts. Between all 4 factors that all makes for enough space to keep our players and be some what active in free agency next season. Only issue is will the team have a viable QB option this time next year? They do have their first round pick so they could always go the rookie route but they likely won't have the ability to sign a big QB contract without letting Dareus and Glenn walk.

Kiko, the defense was really good without Kiko and while it would have been nice to have him back he was more of a luxery. Woods was a pretty big part of the offense last season and has improved from his rookie to his second year. Without Woods the team would be one injury to Harvin away from having no real second receiving option.

Good, with Dareus, Bradham, and Glenn also due up pushing off Gilmore's free agency off for another year is a good thing. A steep price kinda but the cap is going up and up so it's not unreasonable esp given the value of CB's in Rex's system. Hopefully they get Bradham to a modest extension in the off-season and they work on Dareus later in the summer (Worst comes to worse you franchise Dareus). Glenn is the X-Factor, his contact value is going to depend on how well he plays this season. It would be nice with Gilmore's option picked up if they took care of Bradham and Dareus and had the franchise tag to use on Glenn if he plays lights out.

Here is how I see the O-line LT- Glenn LG- Rookie 2nd rounder C- Wood RG- InCognito/Williams RT- Henderson/CK Urbik, Richardson, and the loser of the Henderson/CK battle round out the bench. Loser of the InCognito and Williams battle gets cut

I really liked the Cyrus pick. I was shocked at how slow and powerless he looked in pre-season and when they put him in at guard. Hopefully him working on his conditioning and footwork in the off-season helps with those mobility issues. Not everyone develops instantly, it wasn't long ago Aaron Williams was hated and thought of as a lost talent.

Whaley has second round pick that he can invest at the guard position to try and help the O-line. They were in on a lot of O-line this year, they just couldn't seal the deal. Hopefully Evans or another good veteran O-line is made available to address the O-line before the draft. InCognito and the new staff working with Cyrus and the young guys along should be enough to improve the line.

4.3 million would be enough to sign Spikes and possibly Dwan Landry depending on how much each go for. Use the remaining money to sure up the depth of the defense and then go after a Guard in round 2 and a tight end in round 3. Use the rest of the draft to build depth.

Fitz is a bit more turnover prone I think Cassel is a much better fit for a team that wants more of a game manager. Fitz might be a slightly better playmaker but I think he is a bit more wreckless and that leads to turnovers. For a team with a defense projected to be very good you need a QB that cuts down on the turnovers.

No the Bills can't win 11 games without at the very least a capable O-line. If their O-line is below average or horrible it won't be a playoff season for the Bills. I do think the team will draft a guard in round 2 but even as it stands now I think the O-line will be way better than it was last season (Not that it would be hard to do). In 2011-2012 the O-line play was actually pretty decent and good at times. Wood developed into one of the better centers in the league, Glenn was really good his first year, Levitre was a good guard, Urbik developed into a solid starter, and even Pears played passable. 2013 Levitre leaves and they don't do a good job replacing him and Wood, Glenn, and Urbik all regressed while Pears aged out. I think Marrone was a huge reason for the regression. The overall regression of the unit and the individuals is on Marrone. With InCognito and a new coaching staff (As well as the experience gained by Henderson and Cyrus) alone the offensive line should improve.

I would trade a late rounder for him and maybe a low level player that Chip likes (Like Goodwin or some other marginal player with potential). I wouldn't deal the 3rd rounder for him but any other pick plus a late rounder next year or player seems like it would be a good price. Only issue is, Mathis wants a pay increase, that's why the Eagles want to trade him. That's why I don't see it happening, the team is going to draft O-line round 2.

This trade reminds me of the Watkins trade for me personally. My gut reaction was that it was dumb. After thinking about it I have mixed feelings about it. I really liked Kiko but he was more a 4-3 MLB and his injury concerns were legit. McCoy is a dynamic talent but its not in vogue to pay RB's a lot of money and we are tied to him for 2 season at the age of 27. Overall the trade makes sense if you look at the Bills QB situation and the need for talent on the offense. The Bills weren't going to get a great QB without a 1st rounder. Kiko wasn't the best fit for the defense and he had injury concerns. So the Bills decided to upgrade the talent around the QB position. A very very good RB who is still in his prime was a good way to start the rebuild of the offense. Hopefully Clay, Harvin, and InCognito add to the mix as well as the team drafts a good guard.

With Dareus, Glimore, and Glenn on the last year of their deals it would be smart to sign him to a modest deal and get one less player to extend.

Good QB's don't become free agents.

Lets say they used the second rounder and this years third to trade up for Watikins (Which isn't unreasonable or far-fetched) and since Cyrus didn't have much of an impact its likely the team still would have finished 9-7. I think they go RT round 1 guard round 2. Roman had a lot of success with a power running O-line which featured multiple first rounders and high draft picks. I think he wouldn't mind doing that again.

Only issue with Taylor is how much of a chance is he really going to get (EJ and Cassel are going to command more snaps)? Also the raw tools might be there but he hasn't really seen much live action. I think they are looking at Taylor as a fallback option if the season goes to ****. If the Bills goes 3-7, they can just throw Taylor out there and see what he has for the last 5-6 games.

I am very interested to see how much the team loads up along the offensive line in the draft. Ground and pound and you have a suspect left guard and a developing RT. If Roman wants this scheme to be successful he knows he needs another piece along the O-line.

I don't think Tyrod will get enough reps to showcase his ability and develop. Unless Tyrod just goes off completely in his limited reps I think he is slated as the third string QB. Cassel reminds me of Kyle Orton (In terms of their value to their teams), Cassel is a high level backup low level starter QB. EJ is a semi-reclamation project, former high draft pick, good character, but somewhat flawed/underdeveloped. I think EJ wins the job. He will get more of an opportunity than Tyrod and I think he has an ability to develop his game under the current system better than the known quantity of Cassel

Weird to think that Schwartz is being so selective. You think coming off of his great year with the Bills and a solid past esp coordinating the Titans that Schwartz would have a good selection of jobs to pick from.

True you do have to feed your top talents but there are going to some games where they command too much attention and other players get to take advantage. Granted they shouldn't feed the ball to Hogan over Watkins and other players but if in one or two games Hogan gets open he is going to get the ball.

I think Rex learned his lesson with Hard Knocks. It really didn't make him look that good and it gave him headaches with the media. I think having players like InCognito and Harvin also make it less likely for the team to do it.

Cassel reminds me of Kyle Orton. They are different players but I think in terms of their value to the team they are similar stop gap high end backups low end starter type players.

I don't think you are using him as a decoy for Hogan but just throwing to whoever is open. If Hogan is getting one on one matchups and getting open you throw to him. If its Woods, Harvin, or Clay you throw to them. Granted if you are designing plays for a receiver or Clay Hogan is way down on the list.

Vince Wilfork is a great addition for the Texans and if Clowney can get healthy and play up to or near his potential (Also Whitney Mercilus isn't bad and could improve) they could rival the Bills. JJ Watt, Wilfork, Mercilus and Clowney could be a real nasty D-line. However outside of Watt and Wilfork that's a lot of potential and not much proven. Also Wilfork runs a risk of decline. Rams D-line could be really good too. Not sure Miami even with Suh rivals ours.

Its all in context. If teams double and triple cover Sammy or gear zones towards him and players like Harvin, Hogan, Woods, and Clay are carving teams up then Sammy has done his job and why throw to a guy constantly double covered? But if Sammy is getting single covered at times and he isn't targeted properly then its valid.