biggerdaddynj

Does keeping Hamlin mean we’re not taking a shot at a safety in the draft (a free safety in the draft with one of our day 3 picks—a Malachi Moore, etc). Have a draftee on a rookie deal always helps. I admire Hamlin and wish him nothing but the best. However, we really need to be more athletic/dynamic on the back end of our defense and I don’t think Hamlin has shown he provides that.

I read he played over the A gap for his first four seasons with Cleveland before switching to the 3 technique in Pittsburgh so maybe he has versatility and can play some 1 technique along with our draft pick (e.g., Grant, Tyliek Williams, Alfred Collins, Omar Norman-Lott, Jordan Phillips (the new one!), CJ West, Stackhouse, Caldwell, etc).

For those who want to check in on what’s happening PFF has a free “2025 NFL Free Agency LIVE Deal Grader: Grading and tracking every transaction”: https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-2025-nfl-free-agency-live-deal-grader-grading-and-tracking-every-transaction

Moving up from the Carolina Panthers North!

I step away to take a break and lo and behold Mr. Brandon Beane has taken a nice swing in free agency that I never expected! It’s a considerable gamble for sure but I think it’s one we can afford to take, there are very slim pickings available for teams in need of a “closer”. It’s not Garrett or Crosby and Cincy won’t trade Hendrickson to us, so it’s either this or overpay a younger guy you hope has legit upside to a 3-4 year deal (I assume they think Bosa will contribute more than Miller would have in a team friendly deal). At least it’s a potential shot at a game changer as opposed to a deal for a JAG. A little excitement. This is one and done. And, I’m sure Beane will keep his eyes open. The draft will weigh heavily on how our DL does this year.

Glad we re-signed the best third down back in the NFL. My favorite free agent signing … to date (softens the blow of losing Mack).

Couple of moves involving DBs: Philly traded CJ Gardner-Johnson to Texans (for G Kenyon Green) and Kristian Fulton signed with KC. Still waiting for us to make a move for a starting caliber CB2. Based on our past history with rookies, I assume the CB we draft won’t be starting this year (for better or worse).

Gonna miss a guy who can do things like this (and so much more): https://www.buffalobills.com/video/mack-hollins-nearly-takes-onside-kick-to-the-house-bills-at-lions

One of the Cover 1 guys analogized him to Lorax:

This BLOWS!!! Great role player—glue guy with intangibles through the roof—a mentor and locker room guy, gave us a much needed fiery presence on the field; physically he was a great blocker especially for a WR (Kincaid should only be as good one day), very good hands when called upon he produced making some very good grabs, and he’s a special team ace (multiple key plays on teams). He clearly earned/deserved a raise from his $2.6M deal last year. It bums me out…

PFF’s grade on the Palmer deal: “2024 PFF Grade: 67.0 2024 PFF WAR: 0.17 Contract: 3 years, $36 million ($18 million guaranteed) PFF Projected Contract: 2 years, $15 million ($10 million guaranteed) PFF Deal Grade: Average Palmer's signing signals the end of Amari Cooper’s tenure in Buffalo, as he was a trade deadline pickup for the Bills in 2024 but currently remains a free agent. Last year in Los Angeles, Palmer totaled 43 catches for 603 yards and a score, with 102 of his yards earned after the catch. During his four years with the Chargers, he accumulated 58 explosive plays (receptions of 15-plus yards).” Here’s a link to the entire article to kill some time: https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-2025-nfl-free-agency-live-deal-grader-grading-and-tracking-every-transaction Some interesting tidbits related to our hopes/dreams—the DK Metcalf deal was “average”; the CBs signed likewise “average”; and the 1 year Mack deal they graded as “elite” (guess it’s based on production and market).

Comp picks (just having fun!).

Seems like a WR who has a chance to balance out our “everyone eats” offense by adding the separation piece we desperately need. Think Slayton will get significantly overpaid based on the slim pickings on the FA market (I don’t count Higgins). Swing for upside (high ceiling) at WR with a 4th/5th rounder this year. Wish we’d been able to get something more but circumstances didn’t pan out in our favor. It will be a real tragedy (football not life!) if Diggs winds up being the only the true WR1 Josh will have during his career.

It wasn’t the draft compensation, as others have said, but rather the money. i would have been stoked to have DK here because he seems like a perfect fit. However, a 2-3 year deal for his age and style of play was what I thought was fair as opposed to a 5 year deal. After 2-3 years, we could have still gotten out and have been able to make other important moves that we’ll surely need in the later days of Allen’s “window” I think the extra 2 years are a great risk no matter how structured. IMHO a 5 year deal at that price is very risky based on DK’s style of play. As many have already said, a bodied physical WR’s window for success starts to close fast and that would likely be in the 3rd or 4th year of the 5 year contract. To be clear, I was VERY excited at the prospect of having DK in a Bills uniform but the risk of such a lengthy deal makes me nervous. I’m sure there were probably a lot of other teams who were very interested and I’d love to find out how many others offered up a 5 year deal. Might be why this was resolved so quickly. That said, I congratulate DK for getting the best deal he possibly could. Just wish it could have worked out for us.

A 2nd and a 5 year $150M contract is pretty steep (even with the money being spread out).

Kaiir Elam trade rumors (we can send a player to Carolina for once!). https://lastwordonsports.com/nfl/2025/03/08/rumor-panthers-preparing-trade-bills-kaiir-elam/

Well, I guess the only bright side is this means the NFL is not going the way of the NBA … at least not yet. Apparently, the threat/use of the franchise tag still carries a substantial amount of weight. After listening to a lot of Garrett’s interviews, I think his trade request to a contender was sincere but I think he finally realized the harsh reality, he’d likely be in the same situation as Reddick last year. And, it seems like the perceived stigma of a team using the tag must not be so great because the current opinion is that Tee Higgins will likely resign with Cincy even after being tagged not once but twice and other teams have tagged players only to resign them later and I don’t recall any situations where tagging a player led to the team being a pariah for FAs.

Hairston just helped himself. Was hoping he’d be back one of our options in the 2nd. Heard his onfield interview at the Senior Bowl and he seemed to have an infectious personality.

Was thinking the same thing but Gonzo just added two CBs to the list: Denzel Burke CB Ohio State and Mello Dotson CB Kansas Hope Beane is looking at Shavon Revel, Jr. His surgeon “confirmed for NFL teams that Revel's recovery is continuing on track after he underwent surgery to repair his left ACL four months ago … [and] will be ready to conditioning and individual work upon being selected in the 2025 NFL Draft, with full clearance not anticipated until training camp.”

Here’s the link—it’s a good watch (warning it’s 2 hours) and gives you ideas on potential moves to clear up cap space (nothing crazy/unrealistic):

Fangio’s D is costing a lot of people multi-leg player prop parlays.

$24.8M. Crazy.

That’s a WR getting separation!

Spotrac has Sweat’s market value at $18.8M tonight he’s added a few million to that!

Howie Roseman for MVP.