Is Daquan Jones a cut candidate?

[BigAl2526]

I saw a couple news outlets that suggest Jones could be cut.  There are several reasons to think this could happen.  First, Jones wasn't very effective last season and his lack of effectiveness could have made Ed Oliver less effective too.   He'll be 34 years old and it would be difficult to argue he's going to get better.  Second, Buffalo could save some meaningful money under the cap by cutting him, $5.5 million according to observers. 

 

There is one good reason I can think of not to cut him.  Daquan Jones is a natural 1 tech.  The only other one tech on the roster is Zion Logue.  Even Deone Walker, whom the Bills presumably drafted to take Jones' place, was not really a natural one tech at Kentucky.  He played all over the d-line, and a minority of snaps at 1 tech.  His game has not really been tying up guards and centers to make life easier for the 3 tech and linebackers.  Keeping Jones would give the Bills a veteran presence to mentor Walker and give the Bills some stability at one tech while Walker gets acclimated.  Clearly, the Bills are going to move, whether by choice or necessity, toward a less defined role for their interior d-lineman.  I don't think long term they are going to have a pure 1 tech and 3 tech.  Hopefully, however they scheme it, they will be able to both control the run game and put pressure on the QB better than they did in 2024.

 

So, what do you think.  Is Jones a goner come September?

[julian]

If he looks in camp the way he looked last season then yes please. 

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

7 minutes ago, BigAl2526 said:

. 

 

There is one good reason I can think of not to cut him.  Daquan Jones is a natural 1 tech.  The only other one tech on the roster is Zion Logue.  Even Deone Walker, whom the Bills presumably drafted to take Jones' place, was not really a natural one tech at Kentucky.  He played all over the d-line, and a minority of snaps at 1 tech.  His game has not really been tying up guards and centers to make life easier for the 3 tech and linebackers.  Keeping Jones would give the Bills a veteran presence to mentor Walker and give the Bills some stability at one tech while Walker gets acclimated.  Clearly, the Bills are going to move, whether by choice or necessity, toward a less defined role for their interior d-lineman.  I don't think long term they are going to have a pure 1 tech and 3 tech.  Hopefully, however they scheme it, they will be able to both control the run game and put pressure on the QB better than they did in 2024.

 

So, what do you think.  Is Jones a goner come September?

You answered your own question. Definitely not. He had a down year, but is there really anyone else who is ready to fill that position? 

Edited 17 hours ago by ChronicAndKnuckles

[Pete]

A good chance due to play and cap savings.  We would be light at One Tech then.  Still 50/50 shot IMO, depending on which DaQuan shows up for camp.  I bet Espeneza gets traded too.  We gain cap savings, and its a numbers game.  D would get younger, faster, and cheaper

[appoo]

9 minutes ago, BigAl2526 said:

I saw a couple news outlets that suggest Jones could be cut.  There are several reasons to think this could happen.  First, Jones wasn't very effective last season and his lack of effectiveness could have made Ed Oliver less effective too.   He'll be 34 years old and it would be difficult to argue he's going to get better.  Second, Buffalo could save some meaningful money under the cap by cutting him, $5.5 million according to observers. 

 

There is one good reason I can think of not to cut him.  Daquan Jones is a natural 1 tech.  The only other one tech on the roster is Zion Logue.  Even Deone Walker, whom the Bills presumably drafted to take Jones' place, was not really a natural one tech at Kentucky.  He played all over the d-line, and a minority of snaps at 1 tech.  His game has not really been tying up guards and centers to make life easier for the 3 tech and linebackers.  Keeping Jones would give the Bills a veteran presence to mentor Walker and give the Bills some stability at one tech while Walker gets acclimated.  Clearly, the Bills are going to move, whether by choice or necessity, toward a less defined role for their interior d-lineman.  I don't think long term they are going to have a pure 1 tech and 3 tech.  Hopefully, however they scheme it, they will be able to both control the run game and put pressure on the QB better than they did in 2024.

 

So, what do you think.  Is Jones a goner come September?

depends on what they're gonna do with the 5.5M

[Mark Vader]

He should be. Do we save anything if he is a June 1st cut?

[Virgil]

I could see him being a cut candidate after the suspensions.  He’s worth a spot as a veteran to the rookies in the meantime 

[BillsFanForever19]

I don't see it. At least not until after Week 6.

 

Last year, we rostered 6 DT's at the end of the year. And until Ogunjobi comes back, we only have 5 in Oliver, Jones, Sanders, Carter, and Walker. And of those 5, the only sure 1T we have is Jones.

 

Walker will probably be put there, but he's not a true 1T in style of play. Sanders will slide over next to Oliver at times in obvious passing down blitz situations. Carter is supposedly going to be tried there. But he wasn't a 1T in College and I don't see him as a 1T.

 

To cut him would leave us seriously short handed with 4 you can count on (unless you count PS guys like Logue and Rogers, I don't). And handing the position to a 4th Round Rookie. Unlikely.

 

I think if they wanted to move on from him, they'd have done it earlier in the Offseason and really nailed down the position with a Stud in FA or earlier in the Draft. I think they like him more than the board does and plan on rotating him more with Walker and Sanders to keep him fresher.

Edited 10 hours ago by BillsFanForever19

[mushypeaches]

Jeepers H Crackers we are not cutting starters in a year that we are legitimate Super Bowl contenders

 

Do we want the guy to play better?  Sure

But no one gives a sh** about $5M in cap savings when we are trying to bring home a trophy

[JerseyBills]

Ya especially after week 6

He fell off a cliff last year, not good for a 30+ DT

[stlbills13]

I see him more as a phantom injury guy requiring a year long stint on IR after week 6 

[TBBills Fan]

47 minutes ago, Virgil said:

I could see him being a cut candidate after the suspensions.  He’s worth a spot as a veteran to the rookies in the meantime 

That's my thought.  If it happens its because those rookies made him expendable ,and even then it will be after the suspensions. 

 

5 minutes ago, stlbills13 said:

I see him more as a phantom injury guy requiring a year long stint on IR after week 6 

I could see this happening too

[BillsFanForever19]

41 minutes ago, Pete said:

A good chance due to play and cap savings.  We would be light at One Tech then.  Still 50/50 shot IMO, depending on which DaQuan shows up for camp.  I bet Espeneza gets traded too.  We gain cap savings, and its a numbers game.  D would get younger, faster, and cheaper

 

There is no way they're removing Jones *and* Epenesa before Hoecht and Ogunjobi are here. We'd be left short handed at both positions and relying on Day 2 and Day 3 Rookies to start, with underwhelming options underneath if there are any injuries in the first 6 weeks.

 

A large part of the upgrade this offseason was upgrading the depth of both positions. And unlike most positions, DE and DT depth is rotated in on a regular basis. The whole point of doing what we did in FA and the Draft was to not be in situations like we were last year where we had below average talent level guys cycling in. 

 

It's not an upgrade to the rotation at all times if you're removing guys like Epenesa and Jones from the equation. Both still provide more value than what you'd be getting from Solomon and Carter, even if the Rookies are able to step in immediately - which is a big ask of a 3rd and 4th Round Rookie.

 

And specifically for Epenesa, Joey Bosa is historically a walking injury waiting to happen. And he's not likely to go beyond 50% of snaps, likely under. So even if he stays healthy (and God forbid he didn't before Hoecht got here), you're basically asking Jackson to start.

[ganesh]

1 hour ago, mushypeaches said:

Jeepers H Crackers we are not cutting starters in a year that we are legitimate Super Bowl contenders

 

Do we want the guy to play better?  Sure

But no one gives a sh** about $5M in cap savings when we are trying to bring home a trophy

Our current cap space is 2M and we need 3.5M to sign our rookies. 
 

we definitely need cap space and it can only come in a trade for epenesa (6M) or cutting folks like jones, white etc.  Even Samuel could become an odd man out if the others rise in TC. 
 

this is going to be one of the most exciting TC as rookies are vying for starting spots in several positions.  

[EmotionallyUnstable]

With the O Gun suspension, I highly doubt he is a cap casualty to start the year. It’d leave the DT very raw minus Ed. I’m all for an injection of much needed youth into the lineup but idt its McDermott’s style to roll with Oliver, two rookies and a second year player who couldn’t see the field by end of year. 
 

Maybe when O Gun comes back, and the young blood have had a chance to get their feet wet, then I could see this happening. Same with Epinessa 

[BillsFanForever19]

32 minutes ago, ganesh said:

Our current cap space is 2M and we need 3.5M to sign our rookies. 
 

we definitely need cap space and it can only come in a trade for epenesa (6M) or cutting folks like jones, white etc.  Even Samuel could become an odd man out if the others rise in TC. 
 

this is going to be one of the most exciting TC as rookies are vying for starting spots in several positions.  

 

We can come up with that without having to cut anyone. Joe Marino came up with a list of things he'd do before Free Agency started. Most of it has been done already, but there's still some levers to pull:

 

- Connor McGovern extension could save us 4.2m.

 

- Dion Dawkins restructure could save us 9.8m.

 

- Dawson Knox restructure could save us 6.3m.

 

Other moves like a James Cook extension (unlikely) could save us a little. And a David Edwards extension could save some too.

 

Cutting Samuel Pre 6/1 would cost us 12m in Dead Cap and actually cost us 3m in Cap Space. Post 6/1 would cost us 8.63m in Dead Cap and save us 430k in Cap. I don't think I have to tell you... that's not going to happen. Not only does cutting him save us nothing (and if we do it now it actually costs us cap) - we also don't have the kind of depth at WR to be cutting him.

Edited 15 hours ago by BillsFanForever19

[BarleyNY]

1 hour ago, Virgil said:

I could see him being a cut candidate after the suspensions.  He’s worth a spot as a veteran to the rookies in the meantime 

Possibly, but it’s worth noting that he is a vested vet. That means the Bills owe him his whole salary if he’s on the team past week one. 

[Don Otreply]

Not yet he isn’t, 

[Walking Tall]

1 hour ago, mushypeaches said:

Jeepers H Crackers we are not cutting starters in a year that we are legitimate Super Bowl contenders

 

Do we want the guy to play better?  Sure

But no one gives a sh** about $5M in cap savings when we are trying to bring home a trophy

You may care about 5 million in cap savings come the trade deadline if we need to bring someone in.

[Orlando Buffalo]

When the dudes who are suspended come back then maybe but not until then at a minimum. I have no idea what he has left but he always drops off at end of year and maybe he can be effective with some rest then.