Update: Free Agent RB's Hitting the Market

[ngbills]

No tags expected on some of the big names - Jacobs, Barkley, Henry, Pollard, Ekeler and more. This RB free agent pool is gonna be stacked. Guessing we can upgrade from Harris/Murray/Johnson and it wont cost much at all. Here is who we are looking at:

 

Barkley

Jacobs

Ekeler

Henry

Pollard

Swift

Dillon

Singletary

Moss

Dobbins

Edwards

Elliott

Edwards-Helaire

Gibson

McKinnon

Murray

Harris

Akers

Kelley

 

[BillsFanForever19]

On 2/26/2024 at 3:32 PM, ngbills said:

No tags expected on some of the big names - Jacobs, Barkley, Henry, Pollard, Ekeler and more. This RB free agent pool is gonna be stacked. Guessing we can upgrade from Harris/Murray/Johnson and it wont cost much at all. Here is who we are looking at:

 

Barkley

Jacobs

Ekeler

Henry

Pollard

Swift

Dillon

Singletary

Moss

Dobbins

Edwards

Elliott

Edwards-Helaire

Gibson

McKinnon

Murray

Harris

Akers

Kelley

 

Or.....

 

We have Cook. We get Johnson back cheaper. We Draft a guy late on Day 3.

 

Done.

Edited February 28 by BillsFanForever19

[BuffaloBillyG]

And the Bills will be linked to every single one. 

 

IMO, the main one I'm watching is CEH. He's shouldn't command much and may like to reunite with Joe Brady. Would take over the Murray role. Darrynton Evans is under contract again and could be the PS/3rd RB along with a late round rookie.

[Prospector]

I wouldn't spend on any RB this year with our Cap situation

[DCofNC]

There’s going to be some quality backs available in the 2M range and I’d take one.  Cook is so slight framed, wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a replacement available that’s better than Johnson.

[Bruffalo]

Cook and some late round or undrafted power back. I'm not spending more than the minimum on RB2 if I'm Beane. 

[BBFL]

Just read an article talking about the unlikelihood of Saquon, Jacobs and Pollard getting the tags again. They then proceeded to list all running backs who are on the FA market…

 

Holy cow. If you need a running back of top quality to be the possible finishing piece to your offense, what an off-season for your team. 
 

Now while Ekeler and Henry have a lot of wear and tear on them they still have tremendous value to whomever signs them. 
 

Should be exciting! Also on a positive note, thankful Cook showed his true potential last year otherwise we might have had to pay a guy we believe could hold the #1 lead back role for our team. 😮‍💨

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

I think we are all set. But amazing to think a guy like Ekeler could be had on a cheap 1-year deal! He would be so good for us.

[Warriorspikes51]

It would be funny if Singletary or Moss came back.   

I'm interested in Derrick Henry, Swift, Ekeler, McKinnon.

I don't expect us to sign any, but they could help us IMO

[Low Positive]

And to think RB was the most important player on the team just a decade ago.

[Beast]

Ty Johnson and some other guy.

 

Done.

 

 

[Warriorspikes51]

Adding an elite player at a lower price than most other positions could be a wise investment for big games.

 

I'll say it again:  Derrick Henry is IMO the only player we could add to the team that WILL change how defenses play us within games

 

An Allen, Henry, Cook  run option package will be enough of a threat to force teams to drop their safeties lower.  

Then you kill em on play-action deep to your new rookie WR 

James Cook is a good player. No one is scared of him.  EVERYONE on the field is scared of Derrick Henry 

Can you imagine Power sweeps with Allen and Henry?  Fun stuff. 

 

Edited February 26 by Warriorspikes51

[Blackbeard]

2 minutes ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

Adding an elite player at a lower price than most other positions could be a wise investment for big games.

 

I'll say it again:  Derrick Henry is IMO the only player we could add to the team that WILL change how defenses play us within games

 

An Allen, Henry, Cook  run option package will be enough of a threat to force teams to drop their safeties lower.  

Then you kill em on play-action deep to your new rookie WR 

James Cook is a good player. No one is scared of him.  EVERYONE on the field is scared of Derrick Henry 

 

I"m of the same mindset.

 

Agree

[Buffalo_Stampede]

10 minutes ago, Beast said:

Ty Johnson and some other guy.

 

Done.

 

 

Ty Johnson is the perfect change of pace for Cook. Cheap, has some power, but also speed and can catch. 
 

I would like to see a late round rookie added. 6th-7th round.

[KDIGGZ]

Who cares. Get the best WR we can!

[harmonkillebrew]

Still a need a short yardage guy. I wonder if Damien Harris is cleared to return.

Or we just go full tush push, but I don't really like Josh taking those hits and I think he's a little to tall to do it effectively when the D knows its coming.

[H2o]

And I think all of them are going to be whining about how teams aren't giving RB's big contracts. Why would you? Outside of McCaffrey, who could probably line up full time at WR as well, is really worth much gtd $$$? I think the top guys will find less money on annual average than they played out their Franchise Tags for. 

[ngbills]

For those saying Cook + anyone is enough. Clearly the Bills dont trust him or think this. He comes off the field a ton compare to most lead backs in the league. We need more than Ty Johnson, fun to root for a guy like that but he does not scare anyone. You add Henry like some have mentioned and that would change defenses mindset. 

[NoSaint]

58 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

Ty Johnson is the perfect change of pace for Cook. Cheap, has some power, but also speed and can catch. 
 

I would like to see a late round rookie added. 6th-7th round.

I think where this thread is getting derailed is not seeing how cheap most of these guys will also be. 
 

the known name isn’t scary if coming in cheaper than Hines and harty etc…. And you may see household names in that price range 

 

Heck, if o on a dumpster dive salary deandre swift just played on a 1 year 1.7m for instance. That’s Ty Johnson money basically 

[BillsFanForever19]

4 hours ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

Adding an elite player at a lower price than most other positions could be a wise investment for big games.

 

I'll say it again:  Derrick Henry is IMO the only player we could add to the team that WILL change how defenses play us within games

 

An Allen, Henry, Cook  run option package will be enough of a threat to force teams to drop their safeties lower.  

Then you kill em on play-action deep to your new rookie WR 

James Cook is a good player. No one is scared of him.  EVERYONE on the field is scared of Derrick Henry 

Can you imagine Power sweeps with Allen and Henry?  Fun stuff. 

 

4 hours ago, Blackbeard said:

I"m of the same mindset.

 

Agree

 

For the millionth time, Derrick Henry is not coming to the Buffalo Bills.

 

You can fantasize what it would be like all you want. Would it be good? Yeah, it'd be good. But I don't see the point in fantasy.

 

We're not spending that kind of Money on RB2. Even if he is cheaper bc of his age and the market, it still won't be cheap enough to justify it.

 

And Derrick Henry is not going to choose to go somewhere that he isn't the unquestioned starter. 

 

Take a look at any article that prognosticates Henry's next team. You never see Buffalo on there. It doesn't make sense any way you slice it besides fantasy of what it would be like.

 

He's going to Baltimore. A contender that will play him in the same role he played in Tennessee. He's going to get at the very least 4.5-5m a year from them. In the slim event he didn't go there, he'll go somewhere else where he's the lead Back.

 

You know what all those big names RB's on the market also means? It means there's a LOT of teams that have openings for Starter. And if you think Derrick Henry isn't high on the lists of all of the teams that need a RB1 - you're kidding yourself.

 

Money is tight. We can get under the cap. But that money will need to be used on WR, DE, DT, and S. Not to mention the million and one depth holes we have.

 

We're not putting 5m (on the low end btw) into a 2nd RB when we already have a Pro Bowl RB who was 4th in the league in Rushing last season, when we have a million more important, harder to fill holes than the dime a dozen RB position, and we don't have much money to begin with.

Edited February 27 by BillsFanForever19

[Buffalo_Stampede]

52 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

I think where this thread is getting derailed is not seeing how cheap most of these guys will also be. 
 

the known name isn’t scary if coming in cheaper than Hines and harty etc…. And you may see household names in that price range 

 

Heck, if o on a dumpster dive salary deandre swift just played on a 1 year 1.7m for instance. That’s Ty Johnson money basically 

I don’t want any of them. I like how Ty fits here.

[FireChans]

3 hours ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

 

Or.....

 

We have Cook. We get Johnson back cheaper. We Draft a guy later.

 

Done.

Better idea. Don’t draft a running back at all. Draft positions that matter.

[78thealltimegreat]

You might be able to get one of these doing the proverbial ring chasing and get one on a one year deal but I won’t sleep if the bills don’t snag a guy in free agency 

[ShakAttack]

2 hours ago, Low Positive said:

And to think RB was the most important player on the team just a decade ago.

it was still the most important player for one of the Super Bowl teams last year. But that’s about it.

[BillsFanForever19]

37 minutes ago, FireChans said:

Better idea. Don’t draft a running back at all. Draft positions that matter.

 

I'm not saying pick a guy on Day 1 or Day 2. Or even early on Day 3. But we have to fill a couple holes at the position and grabbing a guy in the 6th or 7th Round is already about the least you can possibly do. Save for grabbing a couple Undrafted and hoping you find a gem there.

[MJS]

Maybe if one of those guys gets left out and wants to sign a cheap prove it deal at the end of free agency.

[BillsFanForever19]

8 minutes ago, MJS said:

Maybe if one of those guys gets left out and wants to sign a cheap prove it deal at the end of free agency.

 

Here's something people aren't taking into account with this list (that I briefly touched on in my Henry rant) -

 

This many quality RB's on the market means that many teams are in the market to replace them. 

 

Henry's leaving the Titans? Well than Tennessee needs to find a replacement. Saquon's leaving the Giants? Then the Giants have to replace him.

 

Some of them will look to the Draft. But for a lot of them, it will just be a game of musical chairs.

 

The market works both ways. A lot of them available doesn't automatically equate to them all coming cheaper. Especially when there's a lot of teams that now have holes.

[SectionC3]

3 hours ago, Beast said:

Ty Johnson and some other guy.

 

Done.

 

 

With Murray potentially back on the PS if he’s interested. He still hasn’t listed his house for sale. 

[Warriorspikes51]

1 hour ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

 

 

For the millionth time, Derrick Henry is not coming to the Buffalo Bills.

 

You can fantasize what it would be like all you want. Would it be good? Yeah, it'd be good. But I don't see the point in fantasy.

 

We're not spending that kind of Money on RB2. Even if he is cheaper bc of his age and the market, it still won't be cheap enough to justify it.

 

And Derrick Henry is not going to choose to go somewhere that he isn't the unquestioned starter. 

 

Take a look at any article that procrastinates Henry's next team. You never see Buffalo on there. It doesn't make sense any way you slice it besides fantasy of what it would be like.

 

He's going to Baltimore. A contender that will play him in the same role he played in Tennessee. He's going to get at the very least 4.5-5m a year from them. In the slim event he didn't go there, he'll go somewhere else where he's the lead Back.

 

You know what all those big names RB's on the market also means? It means there's a LOT of teams that have openings for Starter. And if you think Derrick Henry isn't high on the lists of all of the teams that need a RB1 - you're kidding yourself.

 

Money is tight. We can get under the cap. But that money will need to be used on WR, DE, DT, and S. Not to mention the million and one depth holes we have.

 

We're not putting 5m (on the low end btw) into a 2nd RB when we already have a Pro Bowl RB who was 4th in the league in Rushing last season, when we have a million more important, harder to fill holes than the dime a dozen RB position, and we don't have much money to begin with.

 

why yes, yet another thread where you’ve come to slap my wrist and correct all my erroneous thoughts🤣 cheers 

 

as for the salary cap stuff….I’m going to restructure your posts by converting the base into a bonus for myself….for every post lecturing about $ constraints.  I can now afford to retire!! Thanks!!!😎

[Fan in Chicago]

4 hours ago, ngbills said:

No tags expected on some of the big names - Jacobs, Barkley, Henry, Pollard, Ekeler and more. This RB free agent pool is gonna be stacked. Guessing we can upgrade from Harris/Murray/Johnson and it wont cost much at all. Here is who we are looking at:

 

Barkley

Jacobs

Ekeler

Henry

Pollard

Swift

Dillon

Singletary

Moss

Dobbins

Edwards

Elliott

Edwards-Helaire

Gibson

McKinnon

Murray

Harris

Akers

Kelley

 

 

Which of these have the best hands to catch out of the backfield? That and a ~$1.5MM AAV price tag will be a good indication of who we will sign. 

[Pete]

Bills need a pass blocking, short yardage back.  That way Josh is not our battering ram.  Bills need a tough RB who runs angry.  We are lacking and need that.  A 6th or 7th most likely will not yield that.  I want a proven player 

[BillsFanForever19]

1 hour ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

 

why yes, yet another thread where you’ve come to slap my wrist and correct all my erroneous thoughts🤣 cheers 

 

as for the salary cap stuff….I’m going to restructure your posts by converting the base into a bonus for myself….for every post lecturing about $ constraints.  I can now afford to retire!! Thanks!!!😎

 

When you made a post that was based in reality, I commended you. It was the first offseason post you made and I thought things would be different this year.

 

Alas, here we are again. Every day littering the board with extreme ideas that have little to no chance of happening and arguing how it's realistic or even "likely". Chris Jones, Derrick Henry, Michael Pittman Jr., Trading Stefon Diggs, Mike Evans, Trading for Cortland Sutton, DK Metcalf, Drafting not 1 but 2 WR's in Round 1, etc. etc.

 

For every post of yours that I reply to, you make 3-4 more of the same insane ideas over and over. So if my replying in reality is making you money, hey, maybe I should do it more 😎

 

As I said in the Cover 1 review, I don't believe that we cannot afford ANYONE. There are members of this board that argue we cannot even afford mid tier FA's. That's incorrect. We will be able to get out from where we are and grab some quality players.

 

But that doesn't include the absolute best, most expensive players at every given position. Your head is in the clouds all the time. Every post is extremes that are, at best, VERY unlikely to happen. Hell, even when we made a somewhat bold move to sign Floyd - your next post was "that's cool - now sign Melvin Ingram AND Justin Houston too!"

 

You post about the Offseason more than maybe anyone on this board. And I love to have meaningful discussion about things we'll do. But with you, it's 24/7 off the wall ideas that don't fall in line with how Beane operates or more importantly, reality.

Edited February 27 by BillsFanForever19

[NoSaint]

2 hours ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

I don’t want any of them. I like how Ty fits here.

yea, using swift as a 1050 yards last year vs  Ty Johnson’s 1050 in 6 years is definitely Ty, right?

 

 

[FireChans]

1 hour ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

 

I'm not saying pick a guy on Day 1 or Day 2. Or even early on Day 3. But we have to fill a couple holes at the position and grabbing a guy in the 6th or 7th Round is already about the least you can possibly do. Save for grabbing a couple Undrafted and hoping you find a gem there.

I would do less than a 6th or a 7th. 
 

It’s a dead market. Productive backs are signing vet minimums.  
 

It’s a waste to spend a pick at all.

 

Damien Harris 2 years ago had over 1k yards from scrimmage and 15 TD’s. He signed with us for 1 year $1M in guarantees, 1.7M total.

Edited February 27 by FireChans

[NoSaint]

19 minutes ago, Pete said:

Bills need a pass blocking, short yardage back.  That way Josh is not our battering ram.  Bills need a tough RB who runs angry.  We are lacking and need that.  A 6th or 7th most likely will not yield that.  I want a proven player 

In addition to being trusted in big moments there’s the proverbial what if cook rolls an ankle. 
 

are we really thinking Ty Johnson and the 17th best back in the draft down the stretch? 

2 minutes ago, FireChans said:

I would do less than a 6th or a 7th. 
 

It’s a dead market. Productive backs are signing vet minimums.  
 

It’s a waste to spend a pick at all.

 

Damien Harris 2 years ago had over 1k yards from scrimmage and 15 TD’s. He signed with us for 1 year $1M in guarantees, 1.7M total.

bingo 

[Jay_Fixit]

4 hours ago, Prospector said:

I wouldn't spend on any RB this year with our Cap situation

Good thing the Bills fan figure that out.

 

Fans worrying about cap.

 

LOL

[FireChans]

6 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

yea, using swift as a 1050 yards last year vs  Ty Johnson’s 1050 in 6 years is definitely Ty, right?

 

 

Did Ty Johnson have the most elite 132 rushing yards in 10 games in NFL history?

 

top 5 for sure.

[BillsFanForever19]

1 minute ago, FireChans said:

I would do less than a 6th or a 7th. 
 

It’s a dead market. Productive backs are signing vet minimums.  
 

It’s a waste to spend a pick at all.

 

Personally, I think using a 6th or 7th IS using less assets than signing multiple vet minimum guys, in the cap situation we're in.

 

Our money should be going towards more important things.

[boyst]

Not afraid to throw someone on the practice squad like Lenny or Duke Johnson for the needed callups. 

[FireChans]

1 minute ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

 

Personally, I think using a 6th or 7th IS using less assets than signing multiple vet minimum guys, in the cap situation we're in.

 

Our money should be going towards more important things.

Disagree. With how top heavy our roster is and will be going forward with Josh and co’s big contracts, getting hidden gems like a Christian Benford or a Dane Jackson who are spot starters at worst is infinitely more valuable than an even league average running back in the 6th or 7th round. 
 

Christian Benford, currently, probably has a higher trade value than most RB’s in the league. Easily. 
 

And sure, you aren’t likely to always find those guys, but a league average starter at an important position will always be more important than a league average starter at RB.

 

RB’s are not just dime a dozen because you can find them all over the draft. They are a dime a dozen because there’s about 15 guys available who can produce every year and will work for pennies on the dollar. How many CB’s or DE’s get picked up off the street and randomly produce at a high level? Not many. How many running backs have a production explosion? All the time. 
 

Like I said, Damien had 15 TD’s and got $1.7M. If Benford got cut tomorrow, he’s probably get $8M+ a season. I know what position I’d invest in when drafting.