Niagara Gazette

‘1. Cookie Gilchrist, 1962.’

‘None of the players released had equal or greater value than they did a year ago and three are already over 30 or will be by the start of training camp, while White would turn 30 by season’s end. Injuries caught up to some like Poyer and White, while others like Deonte Harty and Nyheim Hines never found roles in the offense.’

‘The moves are projected to save Buffalo $36.283 million in cap space and are now roughly $6 million over the cap.’

‘Brian Thomas Jr., LSU: Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr., LSU’s Malik Nabers and Washington’s Rome Odunze — the first two didn’t partake in drills — are still separate from the rest of the receiver class, but Thomas may have inched closer to the pack and further from being available late in the first round.’

‘Hines is set to be owed $5.16 million next season and the Bills can save $4.66 million by releasing him prior to June 1, according to overthecap.com. Hines was acquired by the Bills from Indianapolis before the trade deadline in 2022, but never became a major part of the offense.’

‘Florida State’s Keon Coleman, Oregon’s Troy Franklin, Texas’ Adonai Mitchell and LSU’s Brian Thomas Jr. all have a chance to be first-round picks and all of them confirmed meeting with Buffalo, as did South Carolina’s Xavier Legette and Texas’ Xavier Worthy.’

‘Hyde and Poyer are coach Sean McDermott’s most beloved players and not just because they’ve been with him since he arrived in Buffalo in 2017 nor because the Bills have played without both just four times since then. The duo has the instincts, intelligence and toughness McDermott covets in safeties.’

‘Ulofoshio is part of a growing trend of players remaining in school instead of jumping to the NFL early. Players in college when COVID-19 hit now have six years to play four seasons instead of five to play four and there is likely to be two more crops of draft pools with similar numbers as the COVID rules expire in 2026.’

‘Bills strength and conditioning coach Eric Ciano and the team’s weight room received the highest marks. Ciano was voted the second-best strength coach in the league, while the team’s weight room was ranked third and garnered the only A-plus vote.’

‘The selection of Kincaid and the constant mixing and matching of personnel packages shows the Bills value matchups more than a specific trait. The Bills had four receivers play at least 30% of the snaps, two tight ends played at least 40%, while a third tight end — Quintin Morris — played more than 15% and most of guard David Edwards’s 148 offensive snaps came as a tackle eligible.’

‘“When I leave here, our guys will really start working the next few weeks on putting all the medical information together as well,” Beane said. “Sometimes I get some medical grades back and you’re like, ‘Holy cow, I got three guys in the first round right now that we’ve got D or F medical grades on.’”’

‘“These these new ideas, these fresh ideas and kind of a new set of eyes a little bit, at least from a different angle, I think that’s important,” McDermott said. “But also trying to develop them, sharing some things, some mistakes that I’ve made over the years as a coordinator and some areas that I think are important to developing as a coordinator. So it’s all part of developing staff, developing, in this case, our play-callers.”’

‘Many NFL teams had been budgeting for the cap to be in the mid-240s next season, but the significant jump benefits teams like the Bills. With the new cap number, the Bills are still projected to be $43.701 million over, but that number is now down from roughly $56 million and could be the difference in keeping a few players or signing a few new ones in free agency.’

‘This time around, the Bills must be more judicious with their handling of the position. A.J. Epenesa started to come around the last two seasons, but he spent his first two changing his body shape after shaving 10-15 pounds since college, while Boogie Basham was never a true fit for the defense and was dealt for a seventh-round pick prior to the season.’

‘Marvin Harrison Jr. (Ohio State), Malik Nabers (LSU) and Rome Odunze (Washington) are considered to be top-notch receiver prospects entering the NFL draft and are so highly thought of that the Bills likely won’t sniff any of them when they hit the clock with the 28th pick. And even the ultra-aggressive Brandon Beane (who has traded up in the first round two years in a row) likely won’t want to pay the price to move up this year.’