Free Agents We Should Be Looking At

[wagne591]

These are free agents I think the Bills would go after in the open market. The Bills and their front office doesn't over spend on anyone (not even their own) and they seem to find players who have to prove something or if they don't they can go find another job. The Bills are also an organization that most players want to come play for. So here are my thoughts on some free agents we should be looking for and not the high priced guys that you would get into a bidding war with. My list is in no particular order.

 

Jadeveon Clowney (DE) Sportrac has his value at 6.5M a year. We could sign him to a 1 year prove it deal like we did with Jordan Philips after we got him from Miami. Clowney would replace Murphy who would cost a little more then Murph but is 2 years younger and has a lot more talent he just needs a kick in the butt and with our Defensive Coaching staff they just might be able to do it. 

 

Ndamukong Suh (DT) Sportrac has his value at 6.8M a year. I would cut Jefferson and Butler and sign this guy for a couple years. I know he is at the end of his career but can you imagine Suh and Star in the middle of our D-line. Them two alone would clog up four O-linemen and leave our ends and LB's room to roam and make plays. If I did this I would also draft a big bodied DT for a space eater to learn how to maneuver and handle double teams in the NFL behind those two. Plus he would bring some attitude to our line which needs it.

 

Solomon Thomas (DE) Sportrac has his value at 5.6M a year. This guy reminds me of Jerry Hughes coming over from Indy when we got him. A new environment might be good for this dude and he is young 25 years old. Affordable, and he was a round 1 # 3 overall pick in 17'. I just think he played at Stanford then drafted by SF....same area maybe a change of scenery might help him focus. 

 

I would also try to sign our own like D Williams and Flaciano for our O-line; and I would love to get Milano back but I don't see that happening. 

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

Assuming Star is coming back and if he does he's to expensive to cut, I think we have enough players inside.  Edge is where we're lacking.

 

If we truly were in the running for Watt, that tells me Beane was willing to go close to $15 mil.  Maybe didn't want to go quite that high for Watt and that's why he's now in Az.  But that tells me he wasn't totally out of the price range so I'd go for the top DE's out there.  At his age Watt may not be worth $15 mil, but there are some that are, and if Beane was willing to go to  $12 or $13 mil, I'm sure he'd go a couple more for a younger better player.  The only worry is who will ultimately be available on March 17th.  Won't be shocked to see some of the top talent gets re-signed by then.

[Governor]

We are way lacking in talent. The process can only get you so far. We need 3 or 4 great players added to this team. How?

[BruceVilanch]

1 hour ago, The Governor said:

The process can only get you so far

a game away from the superbowl 4 years after making it to the playoffs for the first time in 17 years is pretty far.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

The Bills and their front office doesn't over spend on anyone 

 

Sorry, I'm calling non-sense on this one.  Beane has two flaws. He overspends in FA and he gives up too many draft picks moving up in the draft.

Star, Murphy, Morse, Klein, Matakevich, Kroft, Gore, and Norman are just a few FAs that were grossly overpaid.  

The Brown and Beasley deals seemed to be market competitive deals.  And despite the lack of production, at the time the deals for Jefferson, Addison, and Butler seemed ok.  Hyde and Poyer were signed before Beane joined the team.  

1 hour ago, The Governor said:

We are way lacking in talent. The process can only get you so far. We need 3 or 4 great players added to this team. How?

They are not that far off.  Losing Williams and Milano will create some holes for sure. They need to bring back Williams, get Ford healthy, let Knox continue to develop and add two pass rushers.  If Williams walks they will have enough cap space to find on pass rusher in FA and then add an OT in the draft

[78thealltimegreat]

1 hour ago, The Governor said:

We are way lacking in talent. The process can only get you so far. We need 3 or 4 great players added to this team. How?

They where the 2nd best or 3rd best team in football this year that’s not that far away 

[Governor]

I truly believe this team has been over performing and I’m worried that it won’t last.

 

We need the best FA DE we can find, draft the best LB available and even trade back up for a RB if need be, and call it a day. I’m also worried about Star.

[Weatherman]

Just now, The Governor said:

I truly believe this team has been over performing and I’m worried that it won’t last.

 

We need the best FA DE we can find, draft the best LB available and even trade back up for a RB if need be, and call it a day. I’m also worried about Star.

On what grounds?  We had one of the tougher schedules in football.  Josh is only going to get better plus our team was not very healthy heading into the playoffs.  

[BruceVilanch]

17 minutes ago, The Governor said:

I truly believe this team has been over performing and I’m worried that it won’t last.

 

We need the best FA DE we can find, draft the best LB available and even trade back up for a RB if need be, and call it a day. I’m also worried about Star.

Glass half empty type of guy? I think the majority of fans were kinda waiting for this team to fail and break our hearts, and I get it, that was "On Brand" for bills teams of the past. I would be lying if I wasn't worried half way through the season that the wheels would fall off, but this team proved they could sustain a season of success, I really think this team is built for the long haul. Enjoy the ride man.

[Nelius]

Over performing? Never really thought of it that way. If anything I thought Edmunds, Epenesa, Hyde, Zack Moss, Dawson Knox, etc. were underperforming. This team should upgrade anywhere it can (especially at RB) because that's what good teams do but this isn't a team of average players playing above their heads right now. There's a lot of talent.

[BarleyNY]

6 hours ago, BruceVilanch said:

a game away from the superbowl 4 years after making it to the playoffs for the first time in 17 years is pretty far.

Wait, we did what now?!

[Greg S]

8 hours ago, The Governor said:

We are way lacking in talent. The process can only get you so far. We need 3 or 4 great players added to this team. How?

13-3 division champs and a run to the AFCCG and we are way lacking in talent. Yes they suck blow it up and start from scratch.

[RickH]

Lawson from the Bengals

[Governor]

7 hours ago, Nelius said:

Over performing? Never really thought of it that way. If anything I thought Edmunds, Epenesa, Hyde, Zack Moss, Dawson Knox, etc. were underperforming. This team should upgrade anywhere it can (especially at RB) because that's what good teams do but this isn't a team of average players playing above their heads right now. There's a lot of talent.

I really just don’t see it. I think the offense was obviously playing over their heads and the coaching did a great job of hiding the lack of talent on defense. I lived in Carolina all of those years and there’s no resemblance at all. 
 

Who is the Julius Peppers of this defense? Who is the Charles Johnson of this defense? Those D lines were absolutely dominant. We don’t have ANY of those pieces. I would send BOTH of our LB’s packing tomorrow. We aren’t close on defense at all if the model is Carolina.

I think a few posters here recently hit it right on the head. We don’t just need an edge guy. Those Carolina defenses had outstanding pressure and sacks coming from up the middle.

[jwhit34]

In regards to the notion that the team over-performed in 2020:  Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs had career-best years (I'm not saying career years because both are young and have a good chance to perform at that level or better).  Beasley had a career year. I don't think anyone else had a career best or career year (never to be duplicated). So by definition you cannot have 3 players at peak performance and 50 at or below their potential and say they over performed. Maybe if you want to add a 4th you can include Bojorquez, but for a guy who punted 41 times I don't think that puts the team in the over perform category.

 

Spending in free agency:  The nature of free agency (open bidding on players) is that way more times than not a player is overpaid. It's just the way it is. Every team misses on free agents. Murphy and Kroft were misses, the others, particularly Morse, Star, Brown, maybe Matakevich, have been productive but probably overpaid by varying degrees. You have to be good in the draft, undrafted free agents, etc. and get value so it gives you some leeway in free agency to probably overspend a bit.

 

It's like your own personal budget, if you have some level of discretionary income there are things that you purchase that are a value but there are things you want a little more and are willing to overspend on them, whether it's cars, your house, maybe you're into wine, heck even sporting event tickets. You afford yourself those luxuries because you're good with your money on other things. 

[Governor]

Would an elite edge guy make that happen? Maybe. But it would have to be a Mack type player. I think we need to find out, and quickly.

[Greg S]

2 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

I think Josh Allen carried the team to that record and got them to the divisional playoff game. I mean look at his numbers. They got incredible QB play throughout the entire season. If he had an off game the team was basically ***** because they don't really have a roster capable of picking him up.

 

Allen is elite. There are quite a few starting spots that have players that are either disappointing or just meh. 

 

They definitely need to improve on both sides of the ball. Defensively they weren't as good in 2020 as in years past. Offensively they struggled to run the ball all year. With that said the Bills do have the franchise QB, and a solid receiving corps. To make it say the Bills are "way far" away makes them sound like the Jets.  I really hope Beane focuses on building the lines on both sides of the ball. They have good players at the skill positions but if they can improve the lines then I think this team has a Super Bowl run in them with a good chance to win a championship.  Better pass rush and better run blocking  are the key for next season.

[T master]

I think Ryan Kerrigan should be brought in for a work out . 

[Punching Bag]

8 hours ago, BruceVilanch said:

Glass half empty type of guy? I think the majority of fans were kinda waiting for this team to fail and break our hearts, and I get it, that was "On Brand" for bills teams of the past. I would be lying if I wasn't worried half way through the season that the wheels would fall off, but this team proved they could sustain a season of success, I really think this team is built for the long haul. Enjoy the ride man.

 

Not a glass empty type of guy - a dribble glass kind of guy.

 

[HOUSE]

Suh is old and moldy

[mjt328]

17 minutes ago, The Governor said:

I really just don’t see it. I think the offense was obviously playing over their heads and the coaching did a great job of hiding the lack of talent on defense. I lived in Carolina all of those years and there’s no resemblance at all. 
 

Who is the Julius Peppers of this defense? Who is the Charles Johnson of this defense? Those D lines were absolutely dominant. We don’t have ANY of those pieces. I would send BOTH of our LB’s packing tomorrow. We aren’t close on defense at all if the model is Carolina.

I think a few posters here recently hit it right on the head. We don’t just need an edge guy. Those Carolina defenses had outstanding pressure and sacks coming from up the middle.

 

Despite what people think, the Bills front office is not trying to make a carbon-copy of the Carolina Panthers.

With our GM and HC both from that organization, there are obviously going to be similarities.  But over the years they have learned what works and what doesn't.  They are clearly trying to do their own thing here.

 

Josh Allen became a Top 5 quarterback in 2020.  That was the main reason for our success on offense.  If you don't believe he can replicate that going forward, then yeah.. maybe we were playing over our heads.  But personally, I don't see any reason to believe he's going to step back as his career progresses.  I've heard many state that Allen is possibly the most physically gifted QB to ever enter the NFL.  The question was if he could develop that talent, and he's clearly doing that.  

 

On defense, we lack a big-name All-Pro talent on the Front 7.  No disagreements there.  But I would also say that Buffalo's secondary (Tre White, Jordan Poyer, Micah Hyde) has more talent than anything Sean McDermott had on his defense in Carolina.  

 

Very few teams can boast more than 3-4 elite guys on their roster.  The Chiefs are considered the absolute class of the league, and they basically have Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill and maybe Chris Jones that you can put in that elite category.  The Bucs won the Super Bowl.  Their elite guys are basically Tom Brady, and maybe Mike Evans and Shaq Barrett.  The Bills have Allen, Stephon Diggs and Tre White as elite players.  Like Kansas City and Tampa, we have very few holes, solid/good starters at most positions and strong depth on the sideline.  Bottom line, we really aren't far behind anyone in the NFL in talent.

 

 

[BuffaloRebound]

Can somebody explain exactly when you have to be under the cap... Is it by March 17th and then again by the draft?  So theoretically, Beane doesn’t have to do any cuts or restructures before March 17th, can sign a bunch of guys when free agency starts and then has to be under the cap again by the start of the draft? 

[BuffaninSarasota]

50 minutes ago, The Governor said:

I really just don’t see it. I think the offense was obviously playing over their heads and the coaching did a great job of hiding the lack of talent on defense. I lived in Carolina all of those years and there’s no resemblance at all. 
 

Who is the Julius Peppers of this defense? Who is the Charles Johnson of this defense? Those D lines were absolutely dominant. We don’t have ANY of those pieces. I would send BOTH of our LB’s packing tomorrow. We aren’t close on defense at all if the model is Carolina.

I think a few posters here recently hit it right on the head. We don’t just need an edge guy. Those Carolina defenses had outstanding pressure and sacks coming from up the middle.

obviously.... (insert sarcasm)......a very limited run game, no TE difference-maker, John Brown injured/limited - yeah Josh & Diggs sure played "over their heads". They both broke team records.

 

But yeah, the Bills offense played over their heads....🙄

[dave mcbride]

Suh had a very good season, fwiw. I still regard him as basically elite. At some point, he'll drop off, but I have no idea when that will happen. He played very well in the SB. Him at ~$6 million would be an absolute steal and a major upgrade. 

[Malazan]

Suh and Clowney..

 

Did we go back in time? 

[Governor]

23 minutes ago, mjt328 said:

 

Despite what people think, the Bills front office is not trying to make a carbon-copy of the Carolina Panthers.

With our GM and HC both from that organization, there are obviously going to be similarities.  But over the years they have learned what works and what doesn't.  They are clearly trying to do their own thing here.

 

Josh Allen became a Top 5 quarterback in 2020.  That was the main reason for our success on offense.  If you don't believe he can replicate that going forward, then yeah.. maybe we were playing over our heads.  But personally, I don't see any reason to believe he's going to step back as his career progresses.  I've heard many state that Allen is possibly the most physically gifted QB to ever enter the NFL.  The question was if he could develop that talent, and he's clearly doing that.  

 

On defense, we lack a big-name All-Pro talent on the Front 7.  No disagreements there.  But I would also say that Buffalo's secondary (Tre White, Jordan Poyer, Micah Hyde) has more talent than anything Sean McDermott had on his defense in Carolina.  

 

Very few teams can boast more than 3-4 elite guys on their roster.  The Chiefs are considered the absolute class of the league, and they basically have Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill and maybe Chris Jones that you can put in that elite category.  The Bucs won the Super Bowl.  Their elite guys are basically Tom Brady, and maybe Mike Evans and Shaq Barrett.  The Bills have Allen, Stephon Diggs and Tre White as elite players.  Like Kansas City and Tampa, we have very few holes, solid/good starters at most positions and strong depth on the sideline.  Bottom line, we really aren't far behind anyone in the NFL in talent.

 

 

I really don’t know. Would adding an elite DE tell us everything else we need to know about the others? I sure hope so. 
 

I also hope the model is different because if Beane thought Singleterry and Miss were going to be the next DeAngelo Williams/Jonathon Stewart 1-2 punch, he missed by a mile on that one. I don’t know what’s going on there but it isn’t funny anymore.

[RyanC883]

12 hours ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

Assuming Star is coming back and if he does he's to expensive to cut, I think we have enough players inside.  Edge is where we're lacking.

 

If we truly were in the running for Watt, that tells me Beane was willing to go close to $15 mil.  Maybe didn't want to go quite that high for Watt and that's why he's now in Az.  But that tells me he wasn't totally out of the price range so I'd go for the top DE's out there.  At his age Watt may not be worth $15 mil, but there are some that are, and if Beane was willing to go to  $12 or $13 mil, I'm sure he'd go a couple more for a younger better player.  The only worry is who will ultimately be available on March 17th.  Won't be shocked to see some of the top talent gets re-signed by then.

 

I think we def need interior help.  Even if Star comes back, you've gotta question the guys passion (he took the year off because he'd get paid anyway), and what shape will he be in?  That said, I agree we should focus FA on Edge.  I think the draft is decently deep in space eating 1T.  Ideally, I'd grab a 1T in FA and the draft.  

[RyanC883]

8 hours ago, Nelius said:

Over performing? Never really thought of it that way. If anything I thought Edmunds, Epenesa, Hyde, Zack Moss, Dawson Knox, etc. were underperforming. This team should upgrade anywhere it can (especially at RB) because that's what good teams do but this isn't a team of average players playing above their heads right now. There's a lot of talent.

 

I think "over performing" means over performing relative to talent.  I totally agree that Edmunds (2nd year of regression), Hyde, Moss, and Knox underperformed.  Our offense was basically Allen, Beasley, Diggs, and good OL pass (but horrid run) blocking.  We have a LOT of talent upgrades to be made on offense to compete with KC and Tampa, IMO.  

 

On Defense, we do seem okay in the secondary, although we need someone who can cover a TE, as well as rush the freaking passer and stop the run.  We are average in the front 7, and that just won't get it done.  

 

Bean knows this.  He knew our WR's were horrid, he fixed that.  He'll fix the DL.  Tried last year, but we need more than one 1T on the D.  And we need LB's that know how to diagnose plays.  

[Governor]

My GF and I are both UNCW alums and have a soft spot for Beane, but man, we really need to get this off-season and draft right with surgical precision or I fear we could take a substantial step backwards next season.

[LABILLBACKER]

11 hours ago, The Governor said:

We are way lacking in talent. The process can only get you so far. We need 3 or 4 great players added to this team. How?

Not only are we lacking a replacement for Murphy but Jerry isn't exactly young anymore. Who knows how AJE develops?  We almost need 2 edge rushers. I know Ngakoue will cost us but you all saw how Tampa beat KC.

[aristocrat]

kj wright would be an interesting look for milano replacement. 

[Governor]

7 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Not only are we lacking a replacement for Murphy but Jerry isn't exactly young anymore. Who knows how AJE develops?  We almost need 2 edge rushers. I know Ngakoue will cost us but you all saw how Tampa beat KC.

 I totally agree. I didn’t think Hughes would still be on the team last season. I expected to already have upgraded there. 

[BuffaloRebound]

I actually think Clowney wouldn’t be a bad signing.  Doubt he gets more than $7-8m on a 1 year deal.  That’s basically the savings if you cut Addison.  He can rehabilitate his career here then move on.  There’s premier talent in there somewhere.  You’d be buying low with him instead of over-paying for almost every other free agent pass rusher with premier talent.  

Edited March 2, 2021 by BuffaloRebound

[BillsFanMike]

I would like the team to sign Carl Lawson DE free agent from the Bengals. His stats and QB pressures have been outstanding. 

[Rc2catch]

So we expect our coaches to get more from clowney than Vrabel? Say what you will about Tennessee but those boys play hard for that staff. Why would we be different? Clowney is done. He’s never going to be what people think he’s capable of. At best you might get 2-3 games a year from him at a high level. Then he’s playing hurt or missing games the rest of the year. 
Suh and David and Godwin and others will probably take a couple bucks less on one year deals to run it back with Tampa. 

[Nelius]

2 hours ago, The Governor said:

I really just don’t see it. I think the offense was obviously playing over their heads and the coaching did a great job of hiding the lack of talent on defense. I lived in Carolina all of those years and there’s no resemblance at all. 
 

Who is the Julius Peppers of this defense? Who is the Charles Johnson of this defense? Those D lines were absolutely dominant. We don’t have ANY of those pieces. I would send BOTH of our LB’s packing tomorrow. We aren’t close on defense at all if the model is Carolina.

I think a few posters here recently hit it right on the head. We don’t just need an edge guy. Those Carolina defenses had outstanding pressure and sacks coming from up the middle.

 

I don't agree that we're trying to perfectly emulate Carolina, and if we are, then we already have the advantage at QB and WR so that should be taken into account if you're making this comparison. Also advantage at CB1.

 

I completely agree that we don't have a Peppers right now, but we also have a ton of young talent on this team hat can still develop, and a great front office that isn't going to just shut down now that we've sniffed the Super Bowl. I trust Beane to make at least a couple of moves, as he's regularly done for years now. So yes, I agree that we need more talent because it would be foolish to say otherwise, but again this isn't a team of Chris Kelsays playing really hard. We've got at least three All-NFL blue chips for starters, including one at the position that counts the most, and have seriously upgraded talent year over year for three years now.

 

 

[BuffaloRebound]

4 minutes ago, Rc2catch said:

So we expect our coaches to get more from clowney than Vrabel? Say what you will about Tennessee but those boys play hard for that staff. Why would we be different? Clowney is done. He’s never going to be what people think he’s capable of. At best you might get 2-3 games a year from him at a high level. Then he’s playing hurt or missing games the rest of the year. 
Suh and David and Godwin and others will probably take a couple bucks less on one year deals to run it back with Tampa. 

What’s so special about Vrabel?  His defenses have been poor in Tennessee.  And coming from Belichik and O’Brien tree, I can’t imagine he’s a player friendly coach.   

[Solomon Grundy]

For me, I want the player that wants to play in Buffalo to win first and foremost. Not a player that wants to come to Buffalo for a paycheck. I’m sure that GM and coach are gauging this in talks with FAs. 

[Da webster guy]

4 hours ago, Greg S said:

13-3 division champs and a run to the AFCCG and we are way lacking in talent. Yes they suck blow it up and start from scratch.

 

Yup.  Bring back Jauron, Donahoe and Peterman.

54 minutes ago, BillsFanMike said:

I would like the team to sign Carl Lawson DE free agent from the Bengals. His stats and QB pressures have been outstanding. 

 

Agree.

 

Dude is great.  Would fit in nicely here, much more productive than Watt anyway.  

 

Word is Bengals are gonna tag him tho.....   

[Governor]

1 hour ago, RyanC883 said:

 

I think we def need interior help.  Even if Star comes back, you've gotta question the guys passion (he took the year off because he'd get paid anyway), and what shape will he be in?  That said, I agree we should focus FA on Edge.  I think the draft is decently deep in space eating 1T.  Ideally, I'd grab a 1T in FA and the draft.  

Yeah. I don’t think there’s any reason to think Star can still play. That’s another hole.