billsfan89

They have great offensive line coaches, they probably think they can fix him

Certainly good options in the secondary, WR woof, D-Line not much either but certainly good role players

Palmer would be a replacement for Cooper, Mack at 4+ with the potential to be 5+ is paying him more than the Bills can afford for a role player. Not sure if they view Palmer as a role player thus the reason they shelled out more.

Kupp can play on the outside it's just not where he's most effective. The question with Kupp in my mind is age and injuries. Kupp has missed 19 games the past 3 seasons and seems consistently banged up when he does play. Then you have the question of WR's always seeming to age out around age 32/33. Usually WR's have their last very good to great seasons at age 32 or 33 so Kupp's right up against that. If Kupp was added to the WR core on a modest contract I wouldn't hate it but it just doesn't seem like the move this rather prudent front office would do anyway.

Feels like a generally very lackluster free agency period. It's been a larger and larger theme the past 15ish years where truly elite players just aren't hitting free agency. Players with 1 year left on their deals are taking extensions if teams are offering them a lot more frequently. Teams are also jumping on the chance to retain players on more reasonable deals given their leverage makes those kinds of deals better. Maybe some years just don't have a great crop of free agents but it feels like a downward trend for years now. Bills doing a decent job not over investing in good but not great players thus far. Gotta go bargain hunting once the initial shock is over.

Von was averaging a sack a game in 2022 on 55% of the teams defensive snaps. He was every good as he was advertised to be. He got hurt on a player colliding into him violently on Thanksgiving. It wasn't that Von wasn't good it was that he got hurt. It wasn't even an age related injury either, just bad luck.

I actually wouldn't hate seeing the Bills go after him.

Given how much Brady likes to run the ball I would say that they will have a full back. Gilliam makes sense because he's a core ST player and still fairly young as he will be 28 next season. Not sure teams really care to develop full backs Bills will have a ton of draft picks so a late round pick at FB is an option.

I would have liked Hollins back but I'm not gonna overpay for him is my take. Gonna miss his whole vibe and he was a very good role player. But I think a rookie taking that WR 5 spot while scooping up a cheaper vet to kick the tires on as a ST ace type later in free agency is the prudent way to go and the Bills have always operated very prudently in the McBeane era for the most part.

Use Knox more as a fullback while having Gilliam for more traditional uses and special teams. No need to overpay a full back.

Hollins snap counts were influenced by the fact that he was the only WR that played in all 17 games. Shakir missed 2 games, Keon missed 4 games, Samuel was dinged up and missed 3 games. Of course Cooper was traded mid-season and got banged up. Also Hollins was the teams best run blocking WR, so I would imagine that given how run heavy the Bills were he was likely on the field often in running situations. He didn't get many targets so his added pop was noticeable. If Hollins was younger I would have strongly liked the Bills to have made a competitive offer but at age 32 and given where the Bills are at they just weren't in position to pay a premium on what is a high end role player.

Whenever the Bills sign a guy who I am less familiar with I always do a bunch of looking them up. Seems like Rams fans like him, ST ace (blocked 3 kicks last year) who was an elite rotational defensive linemen who is very versatile. Big guy whose going to help the Bills with physicality on the edge and give the coaches a chance to work in different looks. Seems to me more like a Smoot replacement but with Von gone the Bills certainly needed 2 bodies at DE and they got 1.

He was an ST Ace that added some punch as a WR4/5. He had 5 TD's and just under 400 yards on limited targets. I wouldn't classify him as a JAG but he was a high end role player. But the Bills simply couldn't justify paying a contract worth up to 5+ million for a high end role player. If this was 2019 and Josh was on a rookie deal yeah over pay for the margins of the roster. But the Bills simply can't overpay a role player even if he's a really fun personality.

Palmer is also going to turn 26 this season, a lot younger than Cooper who will be 31 and Hollins who will be 32. And I say this as someone who loved Mack and wanted him back. But you can't massively overpay a role player even if there is value in the locker room.

Goodbye sweet prince, you played well and got your cash.

Is he open?

Palmer seems like a starter at WR Mack is/was a role player mainly a WR 4/5 just two different roles.

Seems like a DE 3/4 type player, very versatile and physical. Not too familiar with him but kind of a mid tier move at a position that needs multiple moves so if this is a complementary move and not the big major piece then I like it.

Always produced fairly well and is the type of boundary WR the team needs. Nice signing bit of an overpay but that’s free agency. Hoping the Bills still draft a WR in round 2 to add depth and development to the position

The number is large for a role player, but the Bills certainly will miss his vibe. Sigh it’s a business and the Bills will have to cast a new search for a whacky WR5 whose a good ST player.

They wouldn't be able to use the 15.5 million they would get in 2025 from Post June 1st cutting Von until AFTER June 1st and considering the Bills only need about 10 million for draft pool, practice squad, and emergency funds in season the Bills would be locking about 5 million in cap space away at a time (after June 1st) when it's use would be a lot less useful. And that's also pushing off 7.5 million onto 2026's cap.

Quarter of a billion guaranteed largest ever, well deserved.

30 million a season seems accurate for a WR1, Beane made the assessment that a 2nd plus a massive cap charge was not worth it for DK. You can argue it either way but it's not a bad non-move in my opinion

It's a business above all else.