Free Agents We Should Be Looking At

[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.