Archives for March 7, 2017

'Robey-Coleman's release leaves the Bills especially thin at cornerback heading into free agency. Buffalo is not expected to re-sign top cornerback Stephon Gilmore, an upcoming free agent. Former second-round pick Ronald Darby and second-year pro Kevon Seymour top the depth chart at the position following Robey-Coleman's release.'

'Christian spent a brief time on Buffalo's active roster last season, appearing in three games as he moved back and forth from the practice squad.'

'Carpenter, 31, missed five extra points last season and converted only 76 percent of his field goal attempts, ranking him 32nd among 36 NFL kickers who qualified. Carpenter, who took a pay cut last offseason after a subpar 2015, was due to count $2.937 million against the Bills' salary cap this season. He had served as the Bills' kicker since 2013.'

'Robey-Coleman’s release comes as somewhat of a surprise, considering Stephon Gilmore is set to hit free agency in just a few days. Ronald Darby will be one starter in the secondary, but it’s unclear who will assume the other two spots at cornerback.'

'For the purposes of this article, I'll assume they don't move on from Taylor and their cap number remains the same. There of course are other moves the team may make between Tuesday and Thursday, the start of the new league year. But until then, let's assume the Bills are operating with the same $24 million cap space they have as of today, or somewhere close to it.'

''Long snapper Garrision Sanborn was tied with Eric Wood as the second-longest tenured Bill on the roster behind only Kyle Williams. The 8-year starter is likely to be replaced by Reid Ferguson, who was signed in January. Ferguson went undrafted last year out of LSU, and was cut by the Bills in training camp.'

'The trouble is, the Bills have only 45 players signed currently. That gives them just about $4 million per roster spot in 2017 to stay under the cap with their Top 51, and that doesn't even include wiggle room likely needed as the bottom contracts/draft picks begin to become more expensive.'

'After the first wave of cuts by the Bills to open up some salary cap space, they have 45 players signed, with only about $24 million in cap room. So, considering only the Top 51 is what's accounted for the salary cap in the offseason, the Bills have roughly around $4 million per roster spot to deal with, but it's likely even less, considering the lowest contracts in the Top 51 will go up when the Bills go through with the draft and in undrafted free agency.'

'Tight end Gerald Christian and S Phillip Thomas were also released from the roster.'

'“They’re in a position where if you can convince somebody that wanted to come up to where you’re picking in the first round and get more multiple picks in the middle rounds of this draft, which is the sweet spot to me, that third, fourth round area you can get a lot of starters there,” said NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah. “Second round caliber players, you’re going to get them in the third, fourth and in some positions maybe even the fifth round this year.”'

'“I don’t think I was ready to be a pro yet and all the things that go with it,” said White. “Darby was actually one of the guys who convinced me to go back to school. He was telling me the ins and outs, the real side that other people weren’t telling me. I think I made the right decision by going back.”'