Magox

I do believe they will make a bid for Hendrickson and even other trade opportunities that we hadn’t talked about but the odds of getting a Hendrickson are low. Odds are they fill out the rest of the needs at safety, CB, DT, DE and WR with better replacements in most of those positions than what we had in 2024. I think they will try to get one of the better Edge rushers available such as Bosa, Mack, Sweat (which someone will overpay big time for him), Za’Darius. But I believe most of the signings will be potential value signings that have chances to become good players.

Rousseau contract details out: $8M in cap savings for 2025 There is 1 voided year which seems to be the Bills M.O For 2025 his cap hit will be 2.1% of the total cap For 2026 his cap hit will be 3.85% of the total cap For 2027 his cap hit will be 6.9% of the cap. HOWEVER The base salary is at $16.4M which will very likely be converted to a bonus spreading it out to the remaining 2 active years and a voided year which would lower the cap hit by $12M making it at around 3.5% of the total cap. Great deal, isn’t cost prohibitive and leaves tons of flexibility to add more players to the roster. Right in line with what was predicted.

This could be an interesting trade opportunity

lol

The running back market has been depressed over the past 5 years and that deflationary cycle is now being broke. So it’s hard to break out of that thinking that RB’s are a dime a dozen and to pay over $10M is crazy. Thats not the case any longer, teams are running it more and the cap is exploding, contracts for RB’s are going up. Cook is a playmaker and our 2nd best offensive skilled player on the team. They are going to sign him min, they’re just negotiating. Cook rightfully believes he should be around $15M and the Bills are trying to get him for less. It’s taking a little time, I imagine a similar argument is going on with Benford as well.

It is. If you chase the bigger names you’ll have to overpay. The Bills have 5 holes on the team to plug this offseason, CB, Safety, DE, DT and WR. I’m hoping we address all those needs substantively over the next few months.

It’s been near universal praise from analysts and people I respect. Go onto X and it’s everywhere aside from some grumbling fans. I know the frustration from some that they want a high end talent at the WR spot and I would love it as well. Who wouldn’t want a great boundary weapon for Josh? Im not against getting one, but based on the fact that the Bills had one of the most efficient, high scoring teams that gave up record low sacks/turnovers ever in the history of the NFL. It’s clear as day that the bigger needs overall are on defense. It makes more sense to spend more on defense than offense. They are making lots of moves right before FA begins that is freeing up lots of money. They are going to spend. May not be like how some want but the commitment to winning by spending will be there.

Burrow must be looking at the Bills and thinking why don’t the Bengals do the same.

lol

You’re blaming that Pittsburgh made the trade for DK instead of Buffalo is because the Rousseau signing. Do you not see how absurd that sounds? The Rousseau signing is not going to take up much of the cap for at least the next three years. The Bills are at least $20M under the cap and there are quite a few more non crazy things they can do to free up another $25M. They aren’t getting all these deals done right before FA for nothing, this isn’t coincidental. They are freeing up money to spend.

Teams like Dallas and Cincinnati that wait till the end pay the higher contracts.

Such a hysterical take lol

This is the point that I’ve been making. He’s not a top 10 WR, not even the best on his team but he is elite at go and post routes which is exactly what the Bills need most out of a WR. The price is high for that limited skill set. Teams can just go two high and essentially he becomes very limited but when teams go man to man with 0 or 1 blitzes then he could be the ultimate pressure valve and make teams pay.

At first blush of it had been an extension it would have been around $11M savings but since this is a whole new deal it could actually be significantly more.

He’s taking the Tom Brady route and allowing his team flexibility to get the players they need. I was expecting a $60-$65M deal. This is a serious team friendly deal. Should be about $11M in cap savings and I believe we are at about $20M under the cap. So far every single deal has been a team friendly deal with maybe the exception of Bernard! Beane has done a great job so far with extending our players. Now he just needs to close the deal and get a couple high quality players via FA/trade

This is setting up to a very expensive overpay FA period over the first few days. They should prioritize with one of the best CB’s and a big DT like DJ Jones. Will have to pay a premium but they need to fill those roles.

Where did the other thread go? lol

He had a good season but I wouldn’t consider it to be better stats. He had 25% more carries than Cook with only about 120 more total yards and his epa was lower, had almost half a yard per carry lower, 10 less TD’s and he fumbled the ball 5 times and lost it 3 times vs Cook fumbling it once with none lost. Cook had the better season. With that said, Aaron Jones is still producing, just surprised he got paid as high as he did considering the tread. From my perspective if you are Cook’s agent it strengthens his negotiating hand. I hope we can get him to extend for $12m AAV but I think it will be higher than that

He is going into his 9th season, very rare to get a big contract at that age. The closest comp we have is Derrick Henry who is regarded as a much better RB signed his deal one year ago when he was 30 for $8M AAV. RB rates are definitely on the rise, this is now the 2nd RB that reflects that. If Jones at age 30 entering into season 9 is $10M AAV then Cook who is age 25 going into his 4th season is going to be valued considerably higher. I’m just surprised they offered him a deal that high

If Aaron Jones at age 30 is $10M AAV then Cook is most certainly higher

He is not a great receiver, do I need to post his rankings? He is a good quality receiver who is great at go and post routes. With that said, I’d be happy to have him because we actually could use someone who is fantastic at the skill sets he offers.

And it appears that Joe Brady isn’t either. That’s my main trepidation with getting a high priced player at WR. Diggs was having a really good year until Brady took over and both he and Gabe Davis production fell off a cliff. And Amari couldn’t really get it going either. I think it’s reasonable to assume that Brady’s offense doesn’t really feature boundary receivers.

A second rounder makes it more palatable. The valuation is rich and he isn’t worth $30M AAV, but it’s manageable. I also think that he will end up not costing $30M AAV unless he goes to a non contender. Never know though, seems like a natural fit for the Chargers.

Yep! I’m convinced the Bills will free up lots of cap room and spend on players more than they have in the past to reshape the defense.

Bernards deal is looking even better. Bolton has 2/3 of his contact guaranteed whereas Bernard has 1/2 of his