BillsFanForever19

Yeah, I have to imagine they'd definitely prefer to move him somewhere else than a Division Rival. But their options are very slim. Could be a Bledsoe to Buffalo situation where when it comes to the most return, they don't have much of a choice. The Giants and Patriots are the only real places still needing a Starter off the top of my head and they both pick in the Top 6.

Yeah, that's because he's on a 1 year, 10 million dollar contract. You're not getting much for a guy who you're getting 1 year out of and taking 10m off someone else's book for.

Good ones, yes. You can get good ones for rotation in the 2-3m range. But someone like DJ Reader who is going to command big time starting money and demand a starting role with the team he signs to, delegating and paying Daquan Jones what we're paying him to be rotational? Not gonna happen.

Justin Jefferson Trade Rumors Source: Fan Fiction

Solid move to get Bryce Young some help. The Panthers cupboard was essentially empty beyond aging Adam Thielen, with DJ Chark being a FA.

Yeah, but you're not paying Samuel or especially Boyd the price tag they'll command to replace Sherfield or Harty - guys we paid 1.7m minimum to Sherfield and slightly above that for Harty. Harty barely got any snaps as WR4/5. Stars like Boyd aren't going to accept a diminished role like that.

People look at the moves we made and think that meant we were going to be active early in FA. The truth is we had to make those moves just to be able to get under the cap and make moves to fill the starting holes we had on Defense so that we could Draft a WR in Round 1 and fill some of the 20+ bodies that we were moving on from. Things like only getting 16.5 instead of 24 out of Josh's restructure and just getting 2.5 on a Douglas restructure instead of an extension hampered us more and neutralized Von's unexpected move. Other things like an Oliver restructure or a Taron Johnson extension also haven't been done. So we're effectively nowhere right now until we do. We were never going to be major players in the first couple days of FA. As you said, patience is key right now. We were always going to play things much like we did last year. Trying to get the best of what's left after the spending spree - on good prices.

He got what he wanted last year. Probably significantly less than what he was getting here.

I'm referring to the possible idea that we're the "Dark Horse" team. And considering the latest update has been that he's debating between Jacksonville and New England, I'm assuming that's where the money is - even if we are the "Dark Horse" team.

My guess is they're being patient there. The WR market has been pretty slow, as teams are looking at this year's Draft crop and are hesitant to pull the trigger on big price tags when they can find someone in the Draft that represents equal or greater talent. I don't see us paying for someone that's going to cost starting WR money. You don't pay that unless you're planning on them starting and they probably aren't going to come here unless that's guaranteed. I don't think we want to do that as the plan is for that to be our 1st Round pick. We're probably looking at guys like Josh Reynolds, DJ Chark, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, K.J. Osborn, Van Jefferson, or Mecole Hardman. Guys that will come at an Outside WR3 price tag that you feel comfortable starting if the Rookie takes a little while to get his feet under him. He's probably waiting for that market to play itself out a little bit as to get a good price on someone like that.

Oh for sure! That's a thought I had after they signed Davis and especially if they sign Ridley. I think we all had Jacksonville penciled in at WR at 17. That's effectively not a thought anymore, which is huge for us.

I think Josh Reynolds probably is the most likely acquisition. It's probably not going to be someone who's at a big time price tag like Hollywood or Ridley, effectively locking them in at WR2 for the price point we'd be paying. It's going to be someone who's a True Outside guy at a price point of WR3, but has the experience and play worthy of being WR2 in the event that our Round 1 WR takes a little bit of time to catch on. I think Reynolds fits that perfectly. In the Cover 1 video I posted above, they said they're all in at looking at Tier 1 being Hollywood (probably too expensive, but maybe), Darnell Mooney (off the board now), and Josh Reynolds. After them, they'd pivot to DJ Chark, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, K.J. Osborn, or Quez Watkins. And after them, Van Jefferson or Donovan Peoples-Jones. My guess is probably Reynolds or someone from this list. OBJ (if his market is dry) or Mecole Hardman could be Wild Cards as well. Then a WR in Round 1 and another in the mid rounds.

Ah, gotcha. Yeah, I'd expect them he's probably already agreed to come back - it just won't be done until after today. That is if our offer is even with Jacksonville's - which i'd be surprised if it were.

He prefers to return to Jacksonville? Damn. That would be a lot of money the past couple of seasons going to Ridley, Kirk, and Davis. I'd have figured he'd want to go somewhere less crowded. Though if the options for top pay are Jacksonville and New England - can't say I blame him. I will say that when it comes to the unknown, unnamed "dark horse" team - that very well could be us. That's what we were described as in the Von Miller sweepstakes. Beane keeps things so close to the vest that the media doesn't know what we're doing until we do it. That said, with the latest on Ridley being he's debating between the Jags and the Pats since - my guess is if we were the "dark horse" team, it wasn't the top paying option. It's clear that the WR class in the Draft is complicating Free Agent WR's. Most teams, us included, are hesitant to pay the price tags on these top guys when you can just Draft a guy who could likely be even better for a fraction of the price.

The problem with Tyler Boyd and Curtis Samuel, is both are slots. Neither do anything to replace the hole we have on the boundary and you can't put them, Shakir, and Kincaid on the field at the same time in standard sets. You can in 4 WR sets with Kincaid on the line with his hand in the dirt, which isn't where he's best (and takes Knox off the field) - but that isn't a frequent occurrence. For guys split out Wide right now, we have just Stefon Diggs on the Outside and then Kincaid and Shakir in the slot. Adding another Slot, especially a high paid one like Boyd, simply moves Kincaid or Shakir to 3rd Slot option - when you mainly only have one on the field to begin with. Cover 1 did a good job breaking down our WR position and what we should be looking at in FA last night. Boyd wasn't even talked about bc of the price point and his role on the team. Starts at 18:55. Specific talk on Curtis Samuel's fit at 22:34:

Someone's going to pay more for Reader than Jones or Roach and to start. He's one of the very top FA's remaining on the board. If we were signing Reader, we wouldn't have paid Jones what we did. I'm guessing we were looking at Roach for rotational depth and when the price point hit 4m per, we were out. 2-3 is about the price tag we're probably looking at for the roles we're filling.

Kind of have to be. We've got our Starters in Oliver and Daquan, but literally nothing else. Don't know if Roach was something we were looking at before we signed Jones to start or as for depth. We'll def get at least 2-3 more guys there between FA and the Draft. Though it won't be anyone sexy.

Yes, we needed someone to replace Tyrel Dodson. We have Milano and Bernard as our starters and Williams and Spector behind them - but nothing else, as Dodson, Matakevitch, and Klein are all FA's

The most obvious move of the Offseason. I'm surprised it wasn't one of the first moves announced. They had a trade in place for him Midseason that got nixed at the last second by TEN's owner. They made it to the AFC Championship, free reign to mold the running game around him, cap to sign him, and wouldn't have to give up a pick this time.

Higgins and Pittman came off the market weeks ago. Evans a number of days ago. I'm simply talking about the WR market at the start of FA. Davis is the only major one to come off the board. Calvin Ridley was considered on almost any list as more valuable than Gabe Davis and more expensive. Many had Hollywood Brown above Davis as well. Mooney will definitely be paid more than you'd think. Tyler Boyd, Curtis Samuel, OBJ, DJ Chark, Josh Reynolds, MVS, Mecole Hardman - a number of them are going to get paid decently as well. Don't think just because there wasn't much movement in the market today that everyone is just going to be signing 2nd and 3rd tier contracts now.

I wouldn't call Day 2 of the legal tampering period, "The Second Wave of Free Agency". Especially when it comes to WR. Outside of Gabe Davis, there wasn't any big WR deals signed today. That market is still largely untouched.

That's fair. I don't necessarily agree with Joe B. that he could start for us. I'd prefer another vet or a Top Prospect on Day 2 opposite Rapp. But I do think Lewis was re-signed as a Safety. And along with Rapp and Hamlin (at least for the time being) - I do think Starting Safety opposite Rapp is the only Safety hole we *currently* have.

My guess is we'll see Dane Jackson return as Outside CB4 and Ty Johnson return as RB3. Maybe there's a fun move like a vet RB2 or a mid tier Outside WR3 with the potential to Start in the event that our Round 1 WR doesn't have his sea legs under him at the next level immediately. But I tend to agree he's probably laying low. Waiting for teams to spend their money and then fill some holes with the best of what's left, at decent prices.

The weapon opposite Diggs will come in the Draft. Would you rather us have spent Round 1 on a Defensive Lineman? I'm sure you wouldn't have liked that either. Like it or not, these positions needed to be filled one way or the other.

Yes, because he was essentially Safety 4 last season, playing being Hyde, Poyer, Rapp, and in place of Hamlin. While I doubt he'll Start, he probably will be Safety 3 this season. Just because he only took 144 snaps doesn't mean they don't feel he's in line for a promotion from that role this season. Saying you don't think Lewis can be Safety 3 based on his usage last season is like saying you don't think Rapp can start because he only took 421 snaps as a Safety last season compared to Poyer's 987.