BigAl2526

The Bills signed several WRs to reserve futures contracts, including Tyrell Shavers and Andy Isabella. Shavers was a UDFA of the Bills a years ago. His measurables are a lot like those of Justin Shorter's. Isabella is a little bigger version of Harty. Buffalo needs to sign free agents at several positions. Safety is a prime position for a free agent addition since there are a bunch of good ones in the market even after a couple were signed today. The WR market isn't as good. The WR draft class is excellent. I'd love for Buffalo to sign top notch free agents at all positions of need, but that's just not realistic given the cap restrictions. I think Buffalo will take a chance on the draft being enough to address WR this off season.

Quinton Morris is a bit on the short side, but that's not a concern in my mind for a third stringer. I find myself wondering if for the few times the Bills line up a fullback in the backfield Morris could fill that role in addition to being the 3rd string TE. Nothing against Gilliam, who is a good fullback and came out of college as a short tight end, but if the Bills can save a roster spot and get more reps for the money from Morris, that is a good thing.

Just going down through the whole list, it looks like there are lots of reasonable prospects. There is only a handful, like 3 or 4 that I'd be inclined to throw out (too old, to slow or too small, or a combination thereof. I'd be a little surprised if the Bills can't find a player they like at a value they are happy with.

I doubt that the Bills are going to sign one of the top names on the list. Last time I looked, the Bills are still dealing with a fairly tight cap situation, even after the cuts they just made. They'll sign somebody though. Are there any guys who are in a similar situation to Jordan Poyer when the Bills got him from the Browns?

He hasn't done enough on the field to warrant any optimism, but we don't know what's going on behind the scenes: how much of a handicap his injury was last season, how he handles himself in team meetings and in practice. If you go by what we've seen on the field, he's already gone. I'm not ready to say though.

If you shorten it to Foley Fatso, just don't tell him to his face.

He seemed to work pretty well as Allen's backup. At this point he's probably figured out that he's destined to be a backup the rest of his career, so he's content with a backup's contract. I'm OK with it if it is a cap friendly deal. I do think the Bills need to start thinking about bringing in a developmental guy.

Davis Webb is still listed as QB coach for the Broncos under Sean Payton. My guess is that it is in his long term best interest to stay with Payton, who is considered an offensive genius, rather than make a lateral move to the Bills, even though he's probably friends with Josh Allen.

Legette was a one year wonder in college. That automatically makes him somewhat more of a gamble than a WR who had three years of productivity at a big name school. When you get to the tail end of the first round, however, there are bound to be a few more risks than drafting in the top five. If the Bills are interested, they will need to do their due diligence in order to assess his coachability and his ability to address the shortcomings in his college game. I compared him to DK Metcalf, but I was only thinking about physical characteristics. He was listed at 6'3" in college. If he's shorter than that, it kind of negates that physical comparison. He's still got speed and he's got some body mass that can translate to power.

The obvious assumption is that the Bills will continue to use the same defensive scheme they've had since McDermott arrived. Under Frazier, the defense was very reluctant to blitz. Under McDermott this past season they blitzed more, but the difference had more to do with play calling than scheme. Babich has spent more time with a McDermott defense than he has with any other scheme. He's done some college level position coaching, but during his NFL career the only time that he hasn't been with McDermott is the three seasons he spent with Cleveland from 2013 to 2015. Babich will likely have some ideas for new wrinkles to the scheme, but he's not going to throw it out. The players love him as a position coach, but a coordinator's job is very different. Still, he's put time in. He's bright and hard working, and it seems appropriate that he get his chance to move up.

Jones is close to a "must sign." Beyond him, it's going to be a balancing act that depends on what the Bills can do with cap management and what they can find in free agency among value prospects who might have some untapped upside.

With Frazier, you know what you're getting. The Dolphins will get a quality defense that is sold on zone and hates blitzing. In the modern NFL, there are ways for quality offenses with smart offensive coordinators and great QBs to beat a Frazier defense. Ultimately, I think that's why the Bills decided to move on from Frazier. Yes, McDermott is primarily a zone defense guy, but he understands the need to vary what you do in order to keep offenses off balance. That's also why I don't worry about Buffalo facing a defense where Frazier is in charge. Buffalo will know what they are facing and how to combat it.

I really have a hard time thinking Brady feels the need for more money. There can't be a lot of things that he would want that he can't buy already short of a super yacht ore a country. I'm guessing he just enjoys football enough that he wants to stay close to it. Being a high priced network color commentator carries an advantage over a coaching position in that you avoid the grind and the stress.

Yeah, he does seem like a punk, in the worst sense of the word. Not sure what he'd be worth, but I don't think he's ever going to be a quality starter in the league.

I like your mock for the Bills, though Bullock is a bit light. Hopefully, he can add some quality weight and not lose speed. You have Brian Thomas going a lot sooner than any mock draft I've seen. Do you think he's going to time faster than the 4.47 I've seen estimated for him?

The fact that he has experience as a tight end is a benefit for the Bills. He's good on special teams, can play a few reps at fullback and line up at tight end in the case of injury. It's not a waste of a roster spot.

The Bills drafted Brown in the second round. If you're not drafting in the first round, you're going to be getting something less than a complete prospect. In the case of Brown, the Bills drafted for traits. They got a tall, athletic tackle who has very long arms. He lacked the polish from playing in a big time college program. They might have been able to draft a player with better experience in place of Brown, but they probably would have had to sacrifice something - size or athleticism, if not both.

I think Floyd is gone. The Bills are stuck with Miller next season because he's too expensive to get rid of. Hopefully, he'll be fully recovered. I'm also hoping that his lack of productivity this season had more to do with the lagging effects of his injury than his age. As I'm reminded every day, you don't recover from old age.

The problem is, if Cosell is right, this is not a problem you're likely to fix in one year picking late in the draft and lacking cap room to sign a premium free agent. The Bils can draft a WR in the first round, and I'd be happy if they did, but more receivers need time to develop than come in and set the league on fire in their rookie year, and the later you pick in round one, the lower the odds of the receiver you pick having a rookie season worthy of a #1 receiver. Still, drafting an outside receiver is a priority for this draft. If he is going to be a true #1 receiver at some point, whether or not it is in his rookie season, they need to look for elite physical traits and coachability. Guys like Troy Franklin and Xavier Legette have elite physical traits. The coachability is something that the Bils have to do in depth research on, but they would be the kind of player I think the Bils should look for.

Congratulations. To be perfectly honest, he wouldn't be my choice for that award. My thought is that the award is for players who made a comeback that had relevance on the field of play. Hamlin played special teams and had a few reps on defense, but his role could have been filled by any safety who was signed by a team as a fringe member of the roster. I'm glad for him though, not just the award, but for his good health.

I expect that he's gone. Buffalo has a couple big receivers that might develop in Shorter and UDFA Tyrel Shaver. They need to draft an outside receiver with some speed though. Any free agents they sign are going to be of the "value" variety given their cap woes.

Yeah, the liver is one organ, perhaps the only organ, that can be split and part of it donated. Both parts will then grow back to the original size. The donor candidate doesn't have to be dead.

I'm fine with the Bills taking a close look at anybody who might help the offense be more effective, as long as his name isn't Nate Hackett.

My guess is the offense in GB is based on the West Coast system and nomenclature. That's fine, but it means something of a learning curve for Josh and the offensive skill players. The question is, what is the extent that learning a new language is going to affect the efficiency of the offense, particularly early in the season.

This very same discussion happened a few weeks ago. Not going to happen. Elam's skill set is not a fit for what Buffalo wants from their safeties, not even close. Benford is more of a fit as others have suggested, but I think the Bills need him at CB.