WGR

‘The idea of franchise tagging Phillips has nothing to do with the $15.5 million. It has everything to do with it only being for one year. The worst thing I believe the Bills could do is sign Phillips to a multi-year extension. By 2021, the Bills will have to give out new deals to cornerback Tre’Davious White, left tackle Dion Dawkins, linebacker Matt Milano, and even safety Jordan Poyer if they want to keep him around. A multi-year deal for Phillips would stretch into a time period where the Bills have to pay all those guys, and possibly quarterback Josh Allen and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds too.’

‘Lotulelei was set to count $10.1 million against the team’s salary cap in 2020. The restructure will give the Bills some cap relief, although the team will already have close to $90 million in available space when free agency opens in March.’

‘One way the Bills can get better on defense next season is a more productive pass-rush on the edge. While Shaq Lawson had a career year in his contract season, it still only resulted in 6.5 sacks. There are better options in free agency that the Bills can pay if they are going to reach deep into their pockets for an edge-rusher.’

‘Hauschka had a rough start to the season, but finished strong. Over the first nine games, Hauschka was only 8-for-13 on field goal attempts, and also missed an extra point. Over the final seven games, he was 14-for-15 on field goals. The Bills actually put in a waiver claim on kicker Chase McLaughlin in early December after he was waived by the 49ers, but the Colts had a higher waiver priority and were awarded McLaughlin, who was with the Bills during training camp. So it’s clear the Bills were at least looking to bring in some competition for Hauschka, who had a nice bounce-back second half. His leg doesn’t seem to have the strength it did even just a couple years ago. After going 7-for-9 on field goals of 50-yards or more in 2017, he’s only 5-for-12 over the last two years including only 1-for-5 last season.’

‘Cesaire played seven years in the NFL, all with the San Diego Chargers, from 2003 to 2011, where he registered 220 career tackles, 12.5 sacks and three forced fumbles in 125 games. He entered the NFL as an undrafted player back in 2003 out of Southern Connecticut State.’

‘Poyer, however, is going into the final year of a contract that has been a tremendous value for the Bills. He’s scheduled to make $3.45 million in base salary and bonuses. To put that into perspective, Poyer is scheduled to be the 30th-highest paid safety in the NFL in 2020, and that doesn’t include new contracts that will be handed out in free agency. He’ll count for only $4.325 million against the cap. A great value for the Bills in both respects. There’s been a lot of buzz on social media and elsewhere over the last year or so about Poyer’s contract and the team needing to pay him more. There’s no doubt he’s performed well enough to warrant a new deal and more money, but the Bills have several contracts they’ll have to address over the next year, including cornerback Tre’Davious White, linebacker Matt Milano, and offensive tackle Dion Dawkins, who are all also going into the final years of their deals. For 2020, Poyer is under contract to the Bills, and still a huge piece of what they do on defense.’

‘Johnson is a pending unrestricted free agent. He should be a player the team wants to have back, both from a depth and talent standpoint. He’s a former first round pick who’s shown he can be a valuable player. It will be interesting to see what his market value is after being a part-time player but staying healthy. My sense is he won’t be offered huge money elsewhere, and teams would probably still rather have him on a shorter-term deal. That can easily work for the Bills and they may very well want to make that happen.’

‘The team is very high on Corey Thompson, who is primarily a weakside backup for Matt Milano and also a core special teams player. He’ll be the one to beat for that role going into camp once again in 2020, but his spot is certainly not guaranteed.’

‘But Olsen has had his injury concerns, as well. The soon-to-be 35 year old has missed 18 games over the last three seasons due to foot injuries. Over the last four seasons, the two have played the exact same amount of games. Olsen has been far more productive.’

‘Overall, there are a lot of financial decisions to be made on players already on the roster, like Murphy, on what to do with Lawson, and whether or not to pursue a big-ticket free agent. Defensive end could also be the spot the team focuses in on with their first round pick come April. I think Hughes being on the roster in 2020 is almost a certainty, but nothing else is beyond that. They could go into training camp with many of the same names already listed above, or could have a complete overhaul.’

‘The team had until Feb. 28 to inform the county if they intended on exercising the clause, which was signed back in 2013. If they had done so, the lease would have expired on July 30 of this year. However, since they will not opt-out, the team is tied to the stadium until the official end of the lease, which is set to expire following the 2023 season.’

‘”I expect it will continue to be a collaborative process between the public sector and the Bills,” Goodell said. “We all want the Buffalo Bills to continue to be in Buffalo and to be successful [with> a stadium that is going to be competitive with other teams around the league. I think everyone’s committed to that.”‘

‘Although no other finalists have been reported yet, McDermott will likely be up for the award against the likes of Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh and San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan.’

‘”I expect it will continue to be a collaborative process between the public sector and the Bills,” Goodell said. “We all want the Buffalo Bills to continue to be in Buffalo and to be successful [with> a stadium that is going to be competitive with other teams around the league. I think everyone’s committed to that.”‘

‘Jordan Phillips is one of the team’s biggest pending free agents. After re-signing with the club on a one-year deal last offseason and betting on himself, he made it pay off. On top of the great energy and competitiveness he brought to the group, Phillips did everything that was asked of him and turned it all into a career year, collecting 9.5 sacks (second to only Aaron Donald for all NFL defensive tackles) and 31 total tackles. His previous highs were two sacks and 24 tackles. As a former second round pick and just 27-years-old, Phillips is hitting unrestricted free agency at the exact right time. Now the questions are how much he will command on the open market and if the Bills will be willing to pay that.’