billsfan89

I don’t understand this idea that the Bills spending prime draft resources on the offense like they did last year is not addressing offensive needs? The Bills brining back AJE and D Jones on two year deals at a modest rate is bad because hypothetically they could use that money on offense? I would much rather consistently spend the top draft picks on offense and try to cobble together a defense with back end draft picks and moderate free agency dollars.

Solid deal not a complete steal or anything but they are paying D Jones appropriately and now with the resigning of Jones and AJE the defensive line looks solid. Likely I suspect the Bills will round out the defensive line rotation by resigning Shaq Lawson to a one year cheap deal and then sign 1 or 2 of the vet DT’s (J Phillips, Settle and or Ford). Then I think the Bills add a pair of draft picks to the mix. I am thinking the starting lineup looks like the following Von-D Jones-Oliver-Groot The the rotation behind them will look like. At DE - AJE, Shaq Lawson, Kingsley Jonathan and a draft pick. At DT - Jordan Phillips, Poona Ford or Tim Settle and a draft pick. Basically running back the same defensive line rotation as last season but swapping out Floyd and one of the vet DT’s with draft picks and hopefully a better version on Von.

I don’t know how anyone can hate this deal, he’s paid like a high end situational pass rusher and is young and can exceed the value of his deal. The Bills DE rotation without AJE was Groot and Von. Now adding back AJE the Bills can resign Shaq and draft a developmental player in the draft to round out the rotation. I like the deal, hoping they can bring back D Jones and a couple of the older back end rotation players (Shaq at DE and then anyone of the following Poona Ford, Tim Settle or Jordan Phillips). That should then put them in a good position to just add 2 defensive linemen in the draft somewhere in rounds 2-5 to pad out the rotation and get younger. People kind of forget his rookie year was the off Covid year where there was pretty much no offseason and then he was also asked to play 20ish pounds lighter so his transition into the NFL was always going to be tough. After a rocky first two years he came on in year three and then improved again in year four. Getting him for two more seasons at a very reasonable rate is a positive move especially considering his room to continue to grow

I would think the Bills will likely bring in a lower level vet or two similar to Sherfield last year while also drafting a WR in round 1 and another in the mid rounds. I do think it is possible the Bills work the mid range market at WR if it comes to them Mooney from Chicago could be an interesting addition on a two year mid range deal while also still adding a WR early in the draft

Unless they feel that Bowers has the ability to play as an outside WR consistently then I would strongly have to think they would pass and more likely trade down to a team looking to snag him. I love the idea of adding an elite talent but you also have to have it make sense for your roster.

Reworking the two only “bad” contracts on the roster (Knox and Von) is a huge victory hopefully they can get Diggs to slightly rework his deal as well

Bates was Ok that was my feeling and the feeling of the majority on here from what I remember. I think most fans going into last years draft really wanted a RT as opposed to a guard in the first two rounds as Brown was coming off a super shaky season. But when they drafted Torrence it made Bates a pure depth player which was a fantastic luxury to have.

Your window is open as long as you draft well and have a top tier QB. Right now the Bills have both.

Depending on what happens with Diggs contract and how they approach the smaller moves they make cap wise (Knox, Johnson and Dawkins extensions or restructures) the Bills after restructuring Josh’s deal will be somewhere in the range of 25-45 million below the cap. If they can push that number above 30 million they should have some money to play with to go after a “mid-level” safety while signing at least some of the Bills remaining internal free agents . If they can go close to or above 40 million in space they should be able to afford 2 or more “mid-level” additions while signing some internal free agents. A lot of how the Bills approach free agency is going to be determined by these next few cap moves assuming (safely) that they restructure Josh. Will they actually have some money to spend or is it going to be just a small amount they have to play with which will mostly be for some remaining internal free agents?

I don’t doubt Von came for money but I also think he is going to play hard to get as much of his incentives as he can. About half if not more of his salary in this upcoming seasons are incentives that are attainable. So I think your assessment of Von in 2024 is not accurate he’s going to give it all he has.

The Bills were saddled with a bad contract and Von had little other options they met in the middle. A good compromise for both honestly.

Von was great in 2022 until the somewhat freak injury. And even though he was worthless in 2023 on field he was a big reason why Floyd who was the teams best edge rusher signed on a team friendly deal. The fact that Von reworked his deal is a big positive in my opinion. Hopefully a year further removed from injury he it is at least possible that he can be a contributor this upcoming season. It was definitely a “win now” move but at least Von is willing to be flexible on his deal.

WR’s usually hit the wall around 32/33 there are exceptions but many WR’s last prime years are around those ages. So I think Diggs at age 31 is looking at 2-3 “prime” years left. The Bills right now currently do not have an out realistically with Diggs into 2026 where even then they would take a dead cap hit of 13 million. The last year of Diggs deal in 2027 carries a small dead cap hit of just a few million. If the Bills restructure they pretty much eliminate any chance of Diggs having an out in 2026 and probably make the dead cap in 2027 higher. I really hope they can do something with that deal that frees up some space short term but preserves the ability to get out of the contract in 2026 somehow.

Probably could get a good or at least capable returner in round 6 honestly

Bills upgraded at backup QB it all adds up!

Gotta have about 10 million in room for rookies and a few million in season funds for injury. If the Bills want to be able to be players in free agency even at a lower level they have to probably have to go into free agency with 35-40 million in space or at least 30 million in space. There is no doubt they are restructuring Josh but then I am not sure where they can find additional funds. Extending Dawkins seems likely he’s 29 and coming off a great season and at a position that ages well that should free up anywhere from 5-8 million in additional cap space. They can also restructure Knox for 3 million in space and I think Taron Johnson’s deal can be extended to free up a few million. If they do all 3 moves (Restructure Knox and extend Dawkins and Johnson) after restructuring Josh they should have anywhere between 30-35 million in space which should give them about 15-20 million to play with. The only other move is the restructure or rework Diggs deal. A restructure would free up 13 million in space which would catapult the Bills cap space deep into the 40’s but also make Diggs contract harder to get out of in the future and given that he will be 31 this upcoming season and is coming off a slow end to his season the Bills may want to have an out sooner than later. But if they can get Diggs to do what Von did somehow and get him to free up some 8-10 million in space it would make a huge difference to how they can approach free agency

My hope is that the Bills can have a similar free agency to last off-season where they resign a good chunk of their own free agents and can add a mid-level Connor McGovern type addition and make some smaller depth additions at or close to the minimum. I think given Von’s deal now is less burdensome and they cut a lot of fat on the roster and still have some additional room to work with I like the chances for the Bills to go into the draft with few glaring holes like they did last year.

I would strongly stay away from Adams as his injury history is lengthy. Quandre Diggs is 31 so I don't like the age factor but he has been remarkably durable so if the Bills are taking either give me Diggs. But I think if the Bills are dipping into the safety market they probably want to go with a younger player.

Josh's 24 million restructure is an easy one. They can cut Harty and have a few other restructures and extensions they can do. The key is can they get to 30-40ish million in space to where they can resign some of their own free agents and maybe add a mid-level Connor McGovern style piece? McBeane manages the roster well. The Bills are usually pretty low in dead cap and they don't carry many "Bad" contracts (the only outright bad contracts they have are Von and Knox and even Knox is not that terrible as while he is overpaid he does play a role well).

Very possible but given the lack of talent at offensive line in the league it is always a struggle for me to want to give up offensive line depth esp a versatile player like Bates for a mid round pick. I think it’s likely the Bills assured Bates that after the season they would trade him and Chicago came coming. But it is possible that it happened the other way around.

The NFL comp pick formula is very dumb in my opinion but the Bills at the very least got the third for Edmonds

I am always about building the offensive line and I would have all things being equal kept Bates for depth. Bates versatility is what makes him so valuable to me. I would rather have Bates as the 6th oline player than a 5th round pick. BUT I have to think that this is a move that was likely put into place last season. I think the Bills front office and coaches probably told Bates when he got displaced by Torrence that after this season if he accepted the benching and acted professionally the Bills would trade him to a place where he could get a chance to start. So from that standpoint I get the move if that’s the case. The return is fair and I can see a team jumping on exchanging an expensive back up for a mid round pick

I don’t hate the move IF they know they can bring Edwards back on the cheap to keep the guard depth good. I think they love Alec Anderson from all reports so I think they see Anderson as the backup center. Or they may draft a center in the mid round and let him cook and develop for a year behind Mitch? But if they can at least bring Edwards back that alleviates the depth lost with the trade.

Extend he put in his best season since 2019 and he’s shown a better commitment to conditioning. I am all about not ***** around with the offensive line. Keep the starting 5 intact get a good heir apparent for Mitch in place, bring back Edwards and keep developing depth.

Probably about the same maybe slightly worse. I think Floyd and Gabe are gone AJE is also 50/50. If the Bills can resign AJE to a reasonable deal and sign D Jones and some (but not all) of the vets and depth players along with maybe adding a “Connor McGovern” style mid level addition I think the Bills will go into the draft being able to improve the talent level of the team. Just have to hope they can manage the cap well and make smart decisions.