billsfan89

I am not sure this is preventing Shaq from coming into camp to compete for that back end of the rotation DE spot. Seems like this guy is more of a marginal DL addition.

Smart signing low risk high reward. But I am not too worried about it he’s a bit injury prone and never had a true breakthrough

I still wouldn't mind taking a WR at pick 28 or 60. I kind of look at Samuel as replacing Gabe (I think Samuel is a better fit but for a conservative estimate I will assume similar production) and while I think a top 6 passing target options for Josh being Diggs, Kincaid, Shakir, Samuel, Knox, and Cook is solid but I still think they may need more juice at WR both short and long term. It's not as pressing a short term need and they are no longer in a position where they have to take a WR fairly high up. I mainly see the need as adding some more pop and depth short term but also having a quality player there to hopefully take over for Diggs as he inevetiably declines. But certainly having more flexiblity in the draft is a positive.

I like the move, not a huge move but a positive consistent outside WR who is fairly young (will be 28 this upcoming season) and signed to a nice deal. Stats wise he's not that dissimilar from Gabe Davis factoring in that while Gabe had more yards and TD's the past two seasons Samuel was not having Josh Allen throwing to him. Samuel also has a much higher catch percentage with 68% and 69% catch percentages compared to Gabe's rather bad 51% and 55% catch percentages. It doesn't mean that I still don't think that the Bills shouldn't draft a WR up high as they have to think about adding both depth and someone to down the line take over for Diggs whose suddenly entering his age 31 season and WR's usually hit the wall around age 32/33. BUT this does at the very least give the Bills some flexibility in terms of where they can go with picks 28 and 60. They can trade down to pick up extra picks in this and the 2025 draft if a trade-down presents its self. They can overload the WR position and just take one at pick 28 or they can address another need (maybe take the best center in the draft and just build a wall on the O-line or take a defensive player). It can kind of look like a lateral move replacing Gabe with a player who puts up similar numbers (but given that Samuel is significantly cheaper a lateral move is still a positive move) but I like the fit better with Samuel being a more sure handed reciever. Drops can kill an offense and having a player with a much better catch percentage on similar volume makes a positive impact and opens up the draft board.

I too would rather go after a younger safety (maybe not Simmons who is 30) to fill that hole on the back end rather than go after Armstead. I think that McD has not proven he can find unheralded safety talent and plug them in for good production. McD has had the combo of Po and Hyde since 2017. Since McD got here he’s only had one year when he had to plug in for either long term and that was 2022 when Hyde was out for the year. That year they ended up going with Hamlin who was not that great (certainly not bad but played like a decent backup safety). Really the only unheralded guy McD has found at safety has been Po who was signed in 2017, Hyde was a fairly big FA acquisition. At corner McD has proven he can find players all over the draft and free agency. Dane Jackson and Benford were 6th rounders who played well, Levi Wallace looked competent as a UDFA and T Johnson one of the better slot corners in the league was a 4th round pick. So while I think McD is great in the secondary overall I still don’t like the idea of having to spend a higher draft choice to play next to Rapp or going with Rapp and a mid round pick there. I much rather would find a younger safety in the 26-27 age range that is more proven to anchor one spot for the next few years and then draft a safety in the mid rounds to compete with Rapp.

I don’t hate the idea of adding Armstead he’s a good player older but not too old to where you can’t see him having one more good season left. Don’t think the Bills have the cap to make it work without doing another rob Peter to pay Paul situation. They likely would have to do another void year pushing money out situation similar to Floyd. Not too thrilled about doing that but it’s a win now league and you can’t always be so conservative. The Bills have been bottom 10 in dead cap every year since 2020 and despite the big charges they are taking this year they still only are around 12th highest in dead cap. So if they can make it work without pushing too much dead cap off into the future why not?

Smart signing, keeps RB depth solid. Probably will add a RB in round 6 or 7 for depth and special teams and add a cheap vet power back in late stage free agency to round out the backfield. A solid complement to Cook retained.

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.