jkeerie Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 Okay. The SB is over. The Chiefs won...again. It's ground hog day. I suggest we stop torturing ourselves with what could have been in 2023. So let's discuss where the Bills team goes moving forward. We know the GM we know the coaching staff. We know many of the players. We know we'll have 10 draft picks. So...realistically...what players do we restructure? What players do we re-sign? What players do we extend? What players do we cut ties with? What free agents would you like to see the Bills sign knowing we won't be able to afford top line FAs? Deal with the knowns. This is not a thread for wishful thinking (regarding coaches etc). We are moving forward. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoonerBillsFan Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 1st is seeing what cuts, trades and restructuring is done to get under the cap. We are just over a month away from needing to be under at the start of FA / the new NFL year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkeerie Posted February 12 Author Share Posted February 12 That's what I'm asking. What moves would you make along those lines? Likely they'll restructure Josh. Who else would you restructure? Who would you cut? I'm trying to garner thoughts so we can move on from the Book of Lamentations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSBill Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 I'm trying to figure out how to use my time better, and yet here I am at 6 AM in the morning, posting on TBD. Help! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
78thealltimegreat Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 The offseason is pretty simple to me offensively get Josh two more WRs and maybe another olineman. The defense back seven seems to be just a health issue but in order we need a safety to replace Hyde and we need help on the defensive line mainly DT. Kicker as it showed in this game is major concern as Tyler didn’t have his best year…he’s one of the top paid kickers in the league but he missed some makable kicks see KC. Take nothing away from 49ers or Ravens but the Super Bowl was played a few weeks back in high mark stadium. The AFC will be even tougher next year but we are just as good as anyone. Onward. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ganesh Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 Gone from last year squad: * Hyde, Poyer, White, Jackson * Rapp, Hamlin, * Matkevich, * Floyd, Epenesa, Ford, Jones, Lawson, * Harty, Sherfield, Davis * Murray * Morse It is the defense once again that is garbage and needs to be retooled yet again. Unfortunately, they cannot get rid of MIller(and his big contract) and hence they will have to give up White (and his big contract). 2 hours ago, 78thealltimegreat said: The offseason is pretty simple to me offensively get Josh two more WRs and maybe another olineman. The defense back seven seems to be just a health issue but in order we need a safety to replace Hyde and we need help on the defensive line mainly DT. Kicker as it showed in this game is major concern as Tyler didn’t have his best year…he’s one of the top paid kickers in the league but he missed some makable kicks see KC. Take nothing away from 49ers or Ravens but the Super Bowl was played a few weeks back in high mark stadium. The AFC will be even tougher next year but we are just as good as anyone. Onward. The Bills backups are average to below average. We need better talent for them to step up and not miss a beat. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddaryl Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 offseason starts the moment the Bills have no more games to play. In other words 3 weeks ago 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RG Murdock Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 Not good when 75% of your D-Line are free agents, and you have no real money to spend to keep at least a couple of them. Beane's been a great GM, but his misses on his D-Line picks are coming back to haunt them. The Miller contract is atrocious. Let's face it, if Miller does not come back and play at least decently (Maybe 6-8 sacks) the Bills are going to have problems. Odd that the Bills are $50M over the cap, and the Chiefs are $24M under. $75M difference. Not optimal. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steptide Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 30 minutes ago, ganesh said: Gone from last year squad: * Hyde, Poyer, White, Jackson * Rapp, Hamlin, * Matkevich, * Floyd, Epenesa, Ford, Jones, Lawson, * Harty, Sherfield, Davis * Murray * Morse It is the defense once again that is garbage and needs to be retooled yet again. Unfortunately, they cannot get rid of MIller(and his big contract) and hence they will have to give up White (and his big contract). The Bills backups are average to below average. We need better talent for them to step up and not miss a beat. I don't think Morse and Poyer are gone. Think they'll be here 1 more year 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
78thealltimegreat Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 50 minutes ago, ganesh said: Gone from last year squad: * Hyde, Poyer, White, Jackson * Rapp, Hamlin, * Matkevich, * Floyd, Epenesa, Ford, Jones, Lawson, * Harty, Sherfield, Davis * Murray * Morse It is the defense once again that is garbage and needs to be retooled yet again. Unfortunately, they cannot get rid of MIller(and his big contract) and hence they will have to give up White (and his big contract). The Bills backups are average to below average. We need better talent for them to step up and not miss a beat. None of these players really move the needle for me other than Jones. Even when the defense was healthy they weren’t exactly stopping offenses with a pulse best to get younger on that side of the ball anyway. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregg Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 32 minutes ago, RG Murdock said: Not good when 75% of your D-Line are free agents, and you have no real money to spend to keep at least a couple of them. Beane's been a great GM, but his misses on his D-Line picks are coming back to haunt them. The Miller contract is atrocious. Let's face it, if Miller does not come back and play at least decently (Maybe 6-8 sacks) the Bills are going to have problems. Odd that the Bills are $50M over the cap, and the Chiefs are $24M under. $75M difference. Not optimal. Definitely going to be some changes this offseason especially on the defensive side of the ball. They need to get younger and as you mentioned it's going to be hard to resign some of them because of the cap. I believe we have 10 picks in this draft. Beane really needs to hit a HR here. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkeerie Posted February 12 Author Share Posted February 12 39 minutes ago, RG Murdock said: Not good when 75% of your D-Line are free agents, and you have no real money to spend to keep at least a couple of them. Beane's been a great GM, but his misses on his D-Line picks are coming back to haunt them. The Miller contract is atrocious. Let's face it, if Miller does not come back and play at least decently (Maybe 6-8 sacks) the Bills are going to have problems. Odd that the Bills are $50M over the cap, and the Chiefs are $24M under. $75M difference. Not optimal. Bills have 58 players under contract. The Chiefs 43...not including Jones and Snead. Yes...the Bills are in worse shape but the Chiefs don't have a boatload of cash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just in Atlanta Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 Defensive stats: No. 2 - TDs allowed No. 4 - INTs No. 4 - Sacks No. 4 - Point differential No. 8 - Yds/att No. 9 - Fumble recoveries Biggest loss differential - 6 points We are top 10 in almost every defensive category, despite the rash of injuries. Visually, the defense had the look - aggressive and smart. How McD had this unit playing as well as it did with these massive injuries is nothing short of amazing IMO. People calling the defense "garbage" and other vapid names have a poor take and that's saying it lightly. 2 2 2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wppete Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 Beane needs to make some major moves starting with free agency and trades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Vader Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 10 hours ago, jkeerie said: That's what I'm asking. What moves would you make along those lines? Likely they'll restructure Josh. Who else would you restructure? Who would you cut? I'm trying to garner thoughts so we can move on from the Book of Lamentations. Cut Mitch Morse & Tre'Davious White, unless they agree to take pay cuts. Get Von Miller to take a pay cut. Restructure contracts of Josh Allen & Dawson Knox. Give contract extensions to Dion Dawkins, Rasul Douglas & Taron Johnson. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warriorspikes51 Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 6 minutes ago, Mark Vader said: Cut Mitch Morse & Tre'Davious White, unless they agree to take pay cuts. Get Von Miller to take a pay cut. Restructure contracts of Josh Allen & Dawson Knox. Give contract extensions to Dion Dawkins, Rasul Douglas & Taron Johnson. Von needs to be on a deal that is mostly incentives Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Vader Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 10 minutes ago, Warriorspikes51 said: Von needs to be on a deal that is mostly incentives Nice thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweats Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 Unlikely, but you gotta get rid of Von and Diggs with those contracts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCBills Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 Realistically? Re-sign: Daquan Jones AJ Epenesa Ty Johnson David Edwards Shaq Lawson Cut: Tre White Deonte Harty Draft: Two Wide Receivers in Rounds 1-4 Use the rest of the picks on Defense (DT, DT, S, S, CB, CB, LB) Restructure: Allen Extension: Dawkins Douglas Johnson Going to need to absolutely crush this Draft If we're allowed to dream.. Trade Diggs. Somehow, someway. I'd even be willing to lose a player or two to make this happen due to his cap acceleration. This team around Allen doesn't step up in the playoffs, and while Kelce is ol' reliable for Mahomes, Diggs has been the opposite of that for Allen. Rip the band-aid off and move on. Kincaid, Shakir, Knox and Cook can hold it down while we get some high draft picks at WR going as the season progresses. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warrior9 Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 1 hour ago, Just in Atlanta said: Defensive stats: No. 2 - TDs allowed No. 4 - INTs No. 4 - Sacks No. 4 - Point differential No. 8 - Yds/att No. 9 - Fumble recoveries Biggest loss differential - 6 points We are top 10 in almost every defensive category, despite the rash of injuries. Visually, the defense had the look - aggressive and smart. How McD had this unit playing as well as it did with these massive injuries is nothing short of amazing IMO. People calling the defense "garbage" and other vapid names have a poor take and that's saying it lightly. People keep talking about this: we lost 1 guy? We lost Milano. We upgraded Tre White with Rasul Douglass. We didnt have "massive injuries" In the play offs we were banged up but in the regular season (which is where those stats come from) there was 1 injury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nedboy7 Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 1 hour ago, Just in Atlanta said: Defensive stats: No. 2 - TDs allowed No. 4 - INTs No. 4 - Sacks No. 4 - Point differential No. 8 - Yds/att No. 9 - Fumble recoveries Biggest loss differential - 6 points We are top 10 in almost every defensive category, despite the rash of injuries. Visually, the defense had the look - aggressive and smart. How McD had this unit playing as well as it did with these massive injuries is nothing short of amazing IMO. People calling the defense "garbage" and other vapid names have a poor take and that's saying it lightly. This fan base might be brain damaged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iraq Vet Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 (edited) I hate to say it but I am in a little bit of a panic mode this off season. Chiefs won the super bowl and are $25 million under the caps. We are getting pretty old in critical positions and are $50 million over the cap. Von and Diggs are not cuttable/tradable because of their dead cap money. White has had 2 major injuries in his legs and is not getting younger. Our Safeties looked their age at the end of the year. A. Epenesa will get a big dollar offer from someone. L Floyd is a mercenary and will take top dollar. I don't see Greg Rousseau getting massively better, he is decent and will always be just decent. Yeah, I know that there will be a boat load of restructures and contract extensions to get us to resign a guy or two so a decent contract. But extensions and restructuring just pushes the cap issue down the road, effectively making everything much worse in the future. There is some hope.. it is not all a nightmare.... Kincaid, Shakir, Torrence, and Cook might be the real deal. Justin Shorter is huge and decently fast. Rasul Douglas is the real deal. If Milanio comes back near his old self, we have really good young LBs that step up this year a lot. Dorian Williams was a rookie and come on late in the season, imagine a good pro training off season for him. a potential 3-4 defense not a dime defense on 1st down with our young LBS. Tommy Dolye is a decent depth piece. Hines will come back at a lower price/extension. I have not given up on Kailr Elam as the 1st guy off the bench. Taylor Rapp will resign. We need to have killer draft.... almost a perfect draft. We need a DT that is 400 pound sumo wrestler to occupy 2 lineman. Oliver is best when he has a hippo next to him. An heir to Diggs as a #1 WR. maybe 2 great WR Smart athletic Safeties a DE... (yeah I know we always draft a DE) An heir to Mitch Morris. That can play both center and guard A late 7th round development QB with a high ceiling. We have been lucky with Allen's health. A fast and nasty hard hitting Safety or LB.. late round. This is super hard to hit on all of these... but for once Beane can't just have a good draft. He needs to have a great one. The future of the salary cap demands it... Edited February 12 by Iraq Vet spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackbeard Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 I"m in the camp of (2) WR coming in. But i'd like to see one as a FA signing. We need the help NOW, and not when the coaches THINK our new WR draft pic can play. M. Brown is who I would target. And then get the best WR available with our first pick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkeerie Posted February 12 Author Share Posted February 12 20 minutes ago, Iraq Vet said: I hate to say it but I am in a little bit of a panic mode this off season. Chiefs won the super bowl and are $25 million under the caps. We are getting pretty old in critical positions and are $50 million over the cap. Von and Diggs are not cuttable/tradable because of their dead cap money. White has had 2 major injuries in his legs and is not getting younger. Our Safeties looked their age at the end of the year. A. Epenesa will get a big dollar offer from someone. L Floyd is a mercenary and will take top dollar. I don't see Greg Rousseau getting massively better, he is decent and will always be just decent. Yeah, I know that there will be a boat load of restructures and contract extensions to get us to resign a guy or two so a decent contract. But extensions and restructuring just pushes the cap issue down the road, effectively making everything much worse in the future. There is some hope.. it is not all a nightmare.... Kincaid, Shakir, Torrence, and Cook might be the real deal. Justin Shorter is huge and decently fast. Rasul Douglas is the real deal. If Milanio comes back near his old self, we have really good young LBs that step up this year a lot. Dorian Williams was a rookie and come on late in the season, imagine a good pro training off season for him. a potential 3-4 defense not a dime defense on 1st down with our young LBS. Tommy Dolye is a decent depth piece. Hines will come back at a lower price/extension. I have not given up on Kailr Elam as the 1st guy off the bench. Taylor Rapp will resign. We need to have killer draft.... almost a perfect draft. We need a DT that is 400 pound sumo wrestler to occupy 2 lineman. Oliver is best when he has a hippo next to him. An heir to Diggs as a #1 WR. maybe 2 great WR Smart athletic Safeties a DE... (yeah I know we always draft a DE) An heir to Mitch Morris. That can play both center and guard A late 7th round development QB with a high ceiling. We have been lucky with Allen's health. A fast and nasty hard hitting Safety or LB.. late round. This is super hard to hit on all of these... but for once Beane can't just have a good draft. He needs to have a great one. The future of the salary cap demands it... They have only 43 players signed. Their free agent list includes Chris Jones, Snead, Tranquil, Gay, and a number of others from their starting defense. So they are not awash with cash. Yes...the Bills have more free agents...but they need to get younger and build through the draft...and play those players so they develop! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trust The Process Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 (edited) The Bills currently have 21 Unrestricted Free Agents and are set to start the offseason approximately $51 million over the cap which means Brandon Beane has his work cut out for him just to free up enough cap space to fill out his roster, sign his draft class, and have enough cap space leftover for the regular season. Here's what I would do this offseason if I were Brandon Beane. Below is a list of 21 Unrestricted Free Agents. I would re-sign 5 of the 21 FA's. *UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS 1. WR Gabe Davis 2. WR Trent Sherfield 3. RB Latavius Murray 4. RB Ty Johnson: re-signed $1.5M 5. RB Damien Harris 6. QB Kyle Allen 7. OL David Edwards: re-signed $2M 8. FS Micah Hyde 9. S Taylor Rapp 10. DE Shaq Lawson 11. DE A.J. Epenesa: re-signed $5.5M 12. DE Leonard Floyd 13. DT DaQuan Jones 14. DT Tim Settle 15. DT Jordan Phillips 16. DT Poona Ford 17. DT Linval Joseph 18. LB Tyrel Dodson: re-signed $3M 19. CB Dane Jackson: re-signed $3M 20. CB Cam Lewis 21. ST Tyler Matakevich *RELEASED RB Nyheim Hines: Cap Hit in 2024 is $5.5M with a Dead Cap of 500K is a cap savings of $5M. WR Deonte Harty: Cap Hit in 2024 is $5.57M with a Dead Cap of $1.37M is a cap savings of $4.2M. C Mitch Morse: The problem here is that at 32 (in April), Morse is set to make $11.2 million in the final year of his deal. Cutting him saves $8.4M, and the team is due to draft or sign a younger center anyway. Morse is a difficult Bills cut candidate to jettison this offseason, but it only gets harder from here. For the time being Ryan Bates will be my starting Center while the young Center develops. SS Jordan Poyer: When Poyer hit free agency last season, he expected a big market, but it never came and he returned on a two-year deal worth $10 million. Age and injuries appeared to wear on Poyer this season and it was clear doesn’t possess the same range anymore. Cutting Poyer saves $5.7M in cap space. LB Von Miller: There's lyrics in Kenny Rodgers song ''The Gambler'' that says ''You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run''. It's high time to cut our losses and move on. Von is washed up, and his valuable roster spot can be put to better use with someone younger and heathier. The thinking here would be to get out of his contract before the remaining $6.43M of 2024 salary becomes fully guaranteed. Without a Post June 1st Designation, Buffalo would take on a $32.5M dead cap hit (including $10.71M cash), which would represent an $8.6M cap loss for 2024. I'd designate Von as a Post June 1st Designation which would mean $17.08M of 2024 dead cap ($10.71M cash), & another $15.4M of 2025 dead cap. This would free up $6.8M of cap space for the Bills next year, but not until June 2nd. I'm willing to bite the bullet. Addition by subtraction. *CONTRACT RESTRUCTURE QB Josh Allen LG Connor McGovern IOL Ryan Bates LB Matt Milano *DON'T RESTRUCTURE WR Stephon Diggs TE Dawson Knox *CONTRACT EXTENSIONS OT Dion Dawkins: UFA after 2024. Offer a 2 year contract extension through 2026. CB Rasul Douglas: UFA after 2024. Offer a 2 year contract extension through 2026. CB Taron Johnson: UFA after 2024. Offer a 2 year contract extension through 2026. *PAY CUT RESTRUCTURE WITH INCENTIVES FOR SNAPS/GAMES PLAYED CB Tre White: White is coming back from a torn Achilles without a timetable for return, his 2nd long-term injury in 3 seasons. 2024 Cap Hit is $16.4M with a $10.4M Dead Cap. Releasing White saves $6M in cap space. I'd ask White to accept a $6M Pay Cut with the opportunity to earn that back by hitting incentives, but if White disagrees, I'll designate him as a post-June 1 release which saves $10.2M in cap space. *TEAM NEEDS 3 WR's to replace Davis, Sherfield, and Harty 1 RB to replace Latavius Murray 3 DE's to replace Miller, Floyd, and Lawson 5 DT to replace Jones, Phillips, Settle, Ford, and Joseph (DL gets revamped) 1 FS to replace Hyde 1 SS to replace Poyer 1 HYBRID SAFETY to replace Rapp (Safety group gets revamped) 1-2 CB's to replace Lewis and possibly White *FREE AGENT ADDITIONS FS Geno Stone: $8.5M AAV, replaces Hyde SS Jeremy Chinn: $3M AAV, replaces Poyer DE Jadeveon Clowney: $7M AAV, replaces Floyd LDT Sebastian Joseph-Day: $3.5M, replaces Jones RDT Maurice Hurst Jr: $1.5M replaces Settle WR Kendrick Bourne: $5M AAV or WR Darnell Mooney on the cheap (Spotrac projected Mooney AAV at $10.4M. He should be half that much) RB J.K. Dobbins: $2M AAV *NFL DRAFT: 10 total draft picks. 1,2, comp pick 3, 4, two 5th's, three 6th's and a 7th. 2 WR'S: My draft plan is to add 2 explosive WR''s. The traits this receiving core lacks is speed, size, explosiveness, yards after the catch, and separators. The offense also finished last in the league completing deep middle passes. These are huge needs which must be addressed. The first would be an Outside X-Receiver with size, speed, and big play ability who stretches the field. With the 28 overall pick I'm hoping LSU WR Brian Thomas Jr or Oregon WR Troy Franklin is available. If not, trade out of the 1st round with a team selecting early in the 2nd round and draft Xavier Legette instead. The second WR will be selected on Day 3. Some of the notable WR's who's projected to be Day 3 picks that I like is Virgina WR Malik Washington, UCF WR Javon Baker, Illinois WR Isaiah Williams, and Idaho WR Hayden Hatten. Round 1: WR Brian Thomas Jr or WR Troy Franklin. If both aren't available trade out of 1st rd with team early in the 2nd and draft South Carolina WR Xavier Legette. Any one of these 3 WR's replaces Davis. Round 2: LDT T'Vondre Sweat, replaces LDT Jones Round 3: DE Round 4: C Round 5: SS Round 5: CB Round 6: RDT Round 6: WR Round 6: DE Round 7: OT Edited February 13 by Trust The Process 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregg Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 Saw this over at the Buffalo Range board. Byron Murphy, DT, 6’1” 307lbs – Texas Murphy is an uber-talented Defensive Lineman who can play zero technique to five technique at a high level. In 2023 as a junior Murphy recorded 13 tackles, 5 assists while making 19 stops. As a pass rusher, he produced an incredible 40 total pressures, which included 30 QB hurries, 4 QB hits, and 6 sacks on the year. This is elite for an interior Defensive Lineman. Exhibits explosive first-step quickness and disrupts plays behind the line of scrimmage. Murphy's collegiate performance and skill set suggest he possesses the potential to become an outstanding pro. Beane / McDermott are undoubtably drooling over the possibility of drafting him – yet he could be drafted as high as 12-14, so will be unlikely to be an option for the Bills. If he makes it to pick 23-25, look for Beane to be leaping out of his chair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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