Florida Bills Fanatic

As I recall he was injured early and tried to play through it. It is tough to give him a decent evaluation because Carolina was such a dumpster fire overall. We'll just have to wait and see how he looks in preseason.

He was a pretty good player in college. His career is a good example of what happens to a good player that gets drafted into a bad situation with the wrong coaching staff. He is a very similar player to Samuel and I think he only makes the team as a returner. I also remember people talking about him potentially becoming a third down back when he came to the league. I was surprised by this signing, so I'm hoping that Beane was doing more than just throwing crap at the wall to get something to stick. Hopefully, they have a plan.

This is a sneaky good signing. If he can stay healthy, he will improve the team's depth at a minimum. He may very well send #3 back to free agency. I'm surprised Washington didn't try to keep him.

With the DT and DE free agent signings, I think Beane will probably be looking at CB in the first round. If he brings in a veteran corner that could be a starter, he'll be in full best player available draft mode and won't feel like he has to reach for any player. This will be a great position for the Bills to be in. Without having a number of glaring holes, Beane will be able to use his numerous draft picks to move around to get players that he wants. It really is a great position to be in and it shows how skillful the player personnel operation of the Bills is. They've come a long way from the time of Buddy Nix.....lol.

Camp meat...nothing more, nothing less

I believe that you are correct. I can't help thinking that the Bills may value a young player on their roster more than the fan base does. I recall this being the case when Taron Johnson ascended to the starting lineup. Is it possible that we are overlooking somebody like Ingram? It's hard to tell since we don't see as much of them as the coaching staff does.

I always find it interesting to watch some of the more poorly run teams as they wildly spend money on players. Even with the crazy money being spent, there are some decent players still out there. The smart GM's wait for the game of musical chairs to approach an end and then make some nice value signings. As others have pointed out, there are still some talented guys (maybe a guy like Leonard Floyd) in positions of need for the Bills. I hope Beane pulls the trigger on some value to further improve the roster. These late FA signings may allow Beane to be more selective with his first three picks.

Thanks for doing this analysis. It helps to see things presented in this manner. Hoecht should probably be considered as more of a DE than a DT. His most recent playing weight is under 270. I still expect Beane to add a DE, DT, CB, and Safety in the early draft selections.

This signing tells me a lot about how the Bills view the depth of the group of receivers in the draft this year. With defensive players likely being targets with early picks, they don't see a WR contributor late on day two or early on day three. I know people are concerned about Palmer's 40 time. I'm more interested in his top end speed. I have not seen that number available anywhere. The fact that he separates on deeper routes suggests that he has a good top end. Many good deep threat wide receivers are long striders with a high top end speed. I hope this is the case with Palmer.

I agree with you. I have watched enough of the Carolina games to conclude that this is a significant overpay. We should not be using Carolina as a measuring stick for determining smart potential future actions for the Bills. The Panthers remain a poorly run team.

Most people recognize that the Bills need to get a CB, Safety, DT, DE, and a WR. With 4 picks in the first 106 picks, Beane should be able to effectively fill some holes. I prefer to see him get an experienced free agent CB and Safety without breaking the bank. As others have pointed out there are some good secondary options available that will improve the roster. Beane should be in a much better position going into the draft than he was a year ago. We'll know a lot more in a couple of weeks.

Seems like he is hunting two types of rings at this point. Both are worth having IMHO. I hope he gets them.

KC had to do something with Rice and Worthy both looking at suspensions. We'll see if Brown can manage to play a full season. I have my doubts.

He's had a nice career and is a high character guy. I'm a hard pass on him for the Bills but I believe someone will sign him.

Go back and look at where guys like Cook have gone in prior drafts. Bad o-line play and bad offensive coaches have doomed runners with equivalent skills. How good do think Cook would be with a bad o-line? Etienne in Jacksonville is a good recent example.

My point was that there is no need to pay Cook $15M when players with equivalent skills are not rare. He is not great in pass protection, average as a receiver, and above average (not elite) as a runner. He is also not the biggest guy that will stand up to the physical pounding of being a three down back. I can't see paying high dollars to a guy that spends half of the offensive snaps on the sideline.

There are James Cook equivalents in the draft almost every year. There are no equivalents for Barkley currently in the league nor in the draft this year. Paying Barkley money to lesser players is a fools errand. As much as I like James Cook, the Bills should either sign him to a reasonable contract or tag him for 2026 and draft his replacement.

If people are waiting for the Bills to select a WR in the first round, I'm afraid that they will be disappointed. The defense is in major need of talent. With holes at DT, DE, CB, and Safety; the first three picks will likely be used there. If Beane can fill a couple of these holes with a FA, then a day two value pick for a WR may happen.

Played well in stretches but overall was poor in coverage. Most of his tackles were well off the line of scrimmage. Too often, he is slow to get to the point of attack.

You are probably correct but I believe there is little chance that Beane spends the money necessary to make a big splash. He will use the limited cap dollars to extend key contributors on expiring contracts ( Shakir is the first of these) and get value FA's to fill holes. With three draft picks in the first 60, he should be able to land some impact contributors.

Unless he is cut and can be signed as a cheap FA, I am a hard pass. He is not the inside force that he used to be. There are a bunch of really good d-tackles in this draft. I think the FA activity for the Bills will be conservative and may be focused on corner, safety, and DE.

Great choices! I would add finally breaking the losing streak against the Fins. It would be even more impressive to be the first fan to have washed his hands after first peeing in the sink.

I think many people have accurately identified the pressing needs of the Bills and have accurately identified that the defense needs the most work. The source and the sequence of filling those needs should be driven by who/how many are available, the level of talent that they have, the cost of obtaining them, how they fit the playing scheme, and the overall value to the team. This year is a little different than prior years because the Bills will be looking for help at a greater number of positions. With the draft deeper at DT and DE, I will be surprised if Beane does much with free agents at these positions. I'm guessing the free agent effort will be focused on CB and Safety (assuming Hamlin and Douglas are gone). With a number of good Bills players looking for a second contract, I'm not expecting Beane to spend crazy FA money and put himself in a cap bind. As much as I would like to see Beane get a big time pass rusher, I don't expect it to happen. As it relates to the offense, obtaining a speedy outside receiver is probably on Beane's shopping list. He may go with a FA because this draft is not especially deep in WR talent and the good ones may be selected earlier than the Bills want to pick one. If a good one drops down the board, I won't be shocked if Beane makes a move to select him. Overall, Beane's free agent activity will give us a pretty good roadmap for the draft.

Reading all of these posts is quite the trip down memory lane (in a bad way). I would like to mention Curtis Brown. He had some pitiful plays at critical times. He almost turned it into an art form. How he hung around the league was always a mystery to me.

Seems like a move the Cowgirls would make. He's not the kind of player that would add to the Bills' receiver group. His recent injury history and contract will probably be a concern for most teams.