DCOrange

He played like crap yesterday unfortunately and Braswell played very well. I don't think it has to be more complicated than that.

https://theathletic.com/2445275/2021/03/12/how-matt-milano-re-signing-with-bills-changes-buffalos-offseason-and-future/ I'm just including it here because it's essentially the same conversation; Joe B published an article this morning talking about the ramifications of the Milano deal on the rest of the offseason. For those that don't subscribe, the summary of it is essentially this: This leaves us with ~11 mil in cap space right now with the flexibility to get up to 20-23 mil based on a few cuts/restructures. Likely takes us out of the running for the top-tier pass-rushers, but he thinks we could still be involved with the mid-tier guys, such as Carl Lawson, Trey Hendrickson, Denico Autry, Melvin Ingram, and Romeo Okwara. He thinks we're likely looking for a strength-based edge guy rather than a speed/bend type guy as he thinks our main issue was setting the edge and keeping the QB in the pocket. My note here: I wonder if this has something to do with the reported interest in Autry, as that would seemingly fit him to a T. We have until March 21st to get out of Addison's roster bonus, so the expectation is that we'll make our move for a pass rusher early in free agency so that we can cut Addison. With all the OLinemen getting cut, he thinks this will drive the asking prices down and play into our hands to allow us to get at least one more starting OLineman in free agency. He thinks they'll likely just opt to bring Feliciano back but you never really know. He thinks this definitely takes us down a peg in terms of what we can spend on a tight end. He thinks Henry, Jonnu, and Ertz are out as options and has returned to liking the idea of acquiring Cam Brate. My note here: yes please. Lastly, he says this makes Edmunds' 5th year option less of a slam dunk, but ultimately, he thinks they're still pretty likely to pick it up. My note here: I may be mistaken, but I think we could theoretically decline the 5th year option, play the year out, and then give him one of the tags for slightly more money if we aren't comfortable committing to his 5th year a couple months from now?

I'd also say at 5'9", 180+ lbs is actually pretty stocky. He's short but he's super strong. This isn't like Hollywood Brown where he was a twig on top of being short.

Quote from the article: Although it would increase his 2022 cap hit by the same amount, he would carry a comparatively small 2022 dead-cap hit (~$1.95 million) if the Bills reworked the contract and wanted to move on after the season. Most contracts allow teams to do this whenever they’d like without permission from the player, making it a pretty straightforward transaction.

Yep. I wonder if they'll turn to Adrian Clayborn if they don't get Autry or someone else like him for the same reasons.

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nfl/colts/2021/03/11/colts-denico-autry-expected-have-plenty-suitors-open-market/6877265002/

I'll wait to see how it's structured, but my guess is this won't be too painful to get out of if need be down the road. Solid price for a good player though.

He does that to pretty much all fan bases lol. Saints have been his latest target, making fun of their cap hell and the fact that Taysom Hill is their 3rd highest paid player.

I think Rondale Moore can provide the returning/gadget stuff if he pans out well/stays healthy. We could have taken Kadarius Toney (or the Notre Dame OT for that matter) at #30 but as mentioned, Joe thought we'd trade down in that scenario instead.

Wow, Schwartz being cut is pretty big; he was arguably one of the best tackles in the league before he got hurt.

Joe B said the way the contract is structured would likely allow Buffalo to do this without needing his permission at all. It would just convert some of his salary into a signing bonus to save ~1.5 mil in cap space. Joe B expects Radunz to compete with Ryan Bates for the starting RT spot. It includes who leaves via free agency in the article. I can add that into the OP.

He was actually good last year after flaming out in New York

https://theathletic.com/2441292/2021/03/11/bills-mock-offseason-2021-predicting-free-agent-signings-cuts-and-draft-picks/ As always with The Athletic, it's behind a paywall, but I'll list the moves here. This is what Joe B is guessing the Bills will ultimately do this offseason. Cuts: WR John Brown IDL Quinton Jefferson Edge Mario Addison TE Lee Smith Restructures: OL Mitch Morse LB AJ Klein Re-Signings: OL Ike Boettger - 1/$1.5M OL Jon Feliciano - 3/$21M QB Matt Barkley - 1/$2M CB Levi Wallace - 1/$1.2M S Dean Marlowe - 1/$1.5M Leaving via Free Agency: LB Matt Milano - a different article from The Athletic predicts he'll end up in Washington OT Darryl Williams WR Isaiah McKenzie KR Andre Roberts P Corey Bojorquez Trades: 2022 5th round pick for TE Zach Ertz #30 pick for #40, #115, #236 #93 and #212 picks for #78 Signings: Edge Carl Lawson - 4/$36M P Michael Palardy - 1/$0.9M With these signings and the people we let go, we are projected to receive a 4th round comp pick and potentially a 6th or 7th. Draft: #40: OT Dillon Radunz, North Dakota State #61: WR Rondale Moore, Purdue #78: LB Chazz Surratt, North Carolina #115: CB Israel Mukuamu, South Carolina #162: IOL Robert Jones, Middle Tennessee State #178: IDL Bobby Brown III, Texas A&M #235: TE Shaun Beyer, Iowa #236: P James Smith, Cincinnati

I think Diggs (not big but amazing in contested situations) and Davis project as those kinda guys. I think Samuel would be a perfect fit (but an expensive one and maybe TOO expensive of one) because he can do all the McKenzie gadget-stuff, can fill in Beasley's spot in the slot or Brown's spot out wide, and can even potentially line up in the backfield to give us a pass-catcher back there. There's a few guys in the draft this year that can theoretically do these things while being on a rookie contract, but obviously with Samuel you already know what you're getting. As I've mentioned though, I think ultimately, Beane will go cheap on WRs this offseason to save that money for other spots.

Bringing Ross in would be reminiscent of us trading for Corey Coleman. Might be worth taking a flier on him but in all likelihood he won't be the answer to any of our needs.

Gabe isn't slow and he's always been at his best as a vertical threat. Still might not ultimately be the #2 guy out wide that we need but he's always projected as a fit there if he develops the right way and he developed very well over the course of his rookie season.

The simple answer is it almost certainly will not be faster, at least not at the WR position. Brown and McKenzie are the only WRs that ever stood a chance of being replaced this offseason and they're the two fastest on the team. It's possible we'll add speed at TE or RB but I don't think speed necessarily needs to be a priority personally. I think we're basically all set at RB and I'd prefer a versatile TE over a purely athletic one. Still, Henry or Jonnu would be a boost to our TE position's athleticism while also being more versatile than, say, Gerald Everett.

If we make a relatively big splash at WR, I would guess that it's Curtis Samuel (absolutely perfect fit and former Panther) or Emmanuel Sanders (we were interested before and he's versatile enough to fill Brown's spot or fill in in the slot sometimes as well). I don't really expect us to do that though; I think they envision a larger role for Davis at Brown's expense and either a draft pick or cheap vet to add some depth/versatility. I definitely do expect us to bring in a veteran TE via free agency or trade. Henry and Jonnu both make a lot of sense if Beane wants to spend that kind of money on a TE. My personal preference would still be Cam Brate or OJ Howard assuming Tampa moves on from one of them but we'll see.

They have Taysom Hill to play all 3!

Was an obvious move for them since he's overpaid and it's $0 dead cap. If he comes back 100%, he's probably worth roughly half that money. Would be a nice fit here though IMO, as he's a LB that flies around the field. I think he'd compliment Edmunds pretty well.

Idk if I'd take him over Evans, but they're both elite WRs in my opinion. Locking him in was a no-brainer.

Milano could still get over $12.5M per simply because: He's hitting the open market; David did not and David almost certainly could have gotten more if he did. He's now the unquestioned #1 LB on the market. It's possible that the cap dip this year makes teams more careful with their money, but it still wouldn't surprise me if Milano gets something in that range.

He's a top 10 or so WR and he just turned 25; he was probably going to get more than this on the open market.

It's still significantly stronger than last year's. Last year, the top free agent on the market was Robby Anderson and Breshad Perriman. This year, you have Juju Smith-Schuster, Kenny Golladay, Will Fuller, Corey Davis, Antonio Brown, TY Hilton, Curtis Samuel, and Marvin Jones, all of whom are arguably on the level of the #1 option last year. It's still a very strong free agent class of WRs, just missing the top 2 choices. I could get on board with him on a cheap deal. Certainly not a sexy pickup but he'd bring positional flexibility which McDermott generally likes and he's been good like 4 of the past 5 years (of course the one year he wasn't good was this past year so he could just be declining).