LV-Bills, I will agree that Shaffer would have been an upgrade and he fit the profile that the front office appears to be following. I don't know why they didn't go after him. None of us know, maybe McNally said that Gandy is better? Bentley was way to pricey. Signing him takes dollars away from 2 or 3 other needs, and we have many needs. Shelton is talented and lazy and unreliable ... we had that, it was called Mike Williams. I'll pass on him, just like Dennis Green and Crennel did.
Your right, Royal and Davis are not impact players but they could and should improve the team in their roles. We need a TE that is a proven blocker, we don't have one and our short yardage offense sucks because of it. That missing role cost us games last year. We need depth at WR. Josh Reed is gone and Parrish showed very little. Davis has more upside than either of them.
Triplett is a good signing. Add Pickett and we are better at DT than last season.
I do not want to pay big dollars for old offensive lineman like Fabini and Runyon. There is little in the tank here but maybe we sign one of them if the price is right? I understand that signing Wells is unlikely, but that doesn't make the interview a bad idea. He is another player with upsied, that has starting experience ... he is worth 6th rounder with ease.
The front office is NOT making the same mistakes as 10 years ago. They are not making the same mistakes as 5 years ago. The approach is dfferent. The Donahoe "big show" is gone. Levy will be methodical, deliberate, and will work to a plan. The Bills will probably not improve enough to make the playoffs, it will take two years to turn this roster into a playoff contender.