Is It Crazy to Spend Assets to Upgrade the Defense This Offseason?

[st pete gogolak]

The consensus appears to be that the defense was not elite this year, not great or however you want to phrase it.  To me, you can't be second in YPG, third in YPP without at least being good to very good.  Contrast that with an offense that was at the bottom of almost every statistical measure and by many measures was historically bad.  The logical way to go is to spend every available dime upgrading the offense. 

 

What if we're a player or two from that elusive elite or great defense?  Take a penetrating DT (Oliver?) or a DE who can get to the QB (Allen?), sign someone like Anthony Barr, a hybrid OLB/DE who can give you a lot of versatility on getting to the passer.  I wouldn't mind seeing that scenario at all.

 

If you spend assets on defense, you've got too many holes to fill on offense to fix in one offseason.  I'd take remaining money and picks to seriously upgrade the offensive line.  Wideouts, tight end and running back will have to wait.  That will be next season's fix.  I think that fits the timeline.  Next year markedly better; 2020 serious contender.

 

Make sense?

[Doc]

They'll have $90M to spend and probably won't be able to get all the offensive FA's they want, so yes, they should sign some FA's to upgrade the defense.

[oldmanfan]

Top guys in the draft are mostly on defense.   You see a guy with All Pro potential grab him, especially at DE or OLB.

[LABILLBACKER]

We were either 1st, 2nd or 3rd all year in defense. We knew going in our offense was going to struggle with losing several olineman and a poor wr corp for a rookie qb. The Texans game tells you everything you want to know about how this season went. The defense in that game played amazing but the offense and special teams were horrible and cost us the game. These are the two areas of this team we have to put most of our emphasis on. 80% of this offseason has to go to offense along with firing Crosman and Castillo. I don't blame the defense for anything this season for they have played far above my expectations.....

[hondo in seattle]

Obviously  with one of the worst offenses in the league - and one of the better defenses - the priority is offense.

 

But I'm sure McD and Beane both have a few defenders on their Xmas list.   And - like most GMs - Beane  will probably blend BPA with need.  So I'm expecting a few defensive guys in the draft and/or free agency.  

[ILBillsfan]

Offense is obviously the glaring weakness but there are holes to fi on the Defense as well as we have an OLB and DT that are aging and could definitely use an elite DE. So I have no issues in this draft at going BPA since really both sides have issues. 

 

It should be a very interesting off season and draft.

 

 

[Charlottebillsfan2]

Having ten picks and truck load of money to spend I think they can upgrade both sides of the ball. 

 

[jr1]

depth wins championships

[TheBeaneBandit]

The D has a few spots where we should definitely get younger at, esp RDE and 3Tech. If the Bills brass wants to use some of that cash on that side of the ball I'm all for it. Build both sides and build toward sustainable success.

[Jobot]

You need a revolving door of talent.  To spike all the money into the offense would obviously be foolish.  You need good contracts cycling through both sides of the ball at a somewhat consistent pace.  You can't win a superbowl by ping ponging back and forth between having a great offense/poor defense, and poor offense/great defense.

[whatdrought]

We have a ton of money, and there isn’t a whole lot in the FA market on offense.

 

I would love to go into the draft with something like this:

 

2x offensive linemen (Paradis and Williams come to mind) 

 

2x vet playmakers (Cole Beasley and Jermaine Kearse) 

 

1x vet runner (TJ Yeldon) 

 

1 front seven impact player (Jadaveon Clowney, Anthony Barr)

[Mark Vader]

The priority in free agency should be offensive players, but I would not be surprised if we added another player or two on defense. The Bills will have the money to do so.

 

When it comes to the draft, I see the Bills going with both sides of the ball. The defense in this year's class is too good to pass up.

 

We don't know if Kyle Williams or Lorenzo Alexander will retire or come back. Jerry Hughes is still a good DE, but he's going to be on the wrong side of 30 very soon. Will the Bills give Jordan Phillips a new contract? We still need another OLB. We could also use more depth in the secondary. 

 

We have the means to address both the offense and defense, and that's what we should do.

[Koko78]

Depends on who is available and at what cost. Kyle is likely going to need to be replaced, and quality depth at all defensive positions (especially in the secondary) is always a good thing.

 

However, they should not buff up the defense to the exclusion of the offense. Allen still needs weapons, and the offensive line is in serious need upgrades and depth.

[ghostwriter]

 

4 minutes ago, whatdrought said:

We have a ton of money, and there isn’t a whole lot in the FA market on offense.

 

I would love to go into the draft with something like this:

 

2x offensive linemen (Paradis and Williams come to mind) 

 

2x vet playmakers (Cole Beasley and Jermaine Kearse) 

 

1x vet runner (TJ Yeldon) 

 

1 front seven impact player (Jadaveon Clowney, Anthony Barr)

Perfect.

[Mark Vader]

6 minutes ago, whatdrought said:

We have a ton of money, and there isn’t a whole lot in the FA market on offense.

 

I would love to go into the draft with something like this:

 

2x offensive linemen (Paradis and Williams come to mind) 

 

2x vet playmakers (Cole Beasley and Jermaine Kearse) 

 

1x vet runner (TJ Yeldon) 

 

1 front seven impact player (Jadaveon Clowney, Anthony Barr)

I like the way you think.

 

Would love to have Yeldon & Paradis. Do you really think the Texans will let Clowney walk?

[billspro]

54 minutes ago, st pete gogolak said:

The consensus appears to be that the defense was not elite this year, not great or however you want to phrase it.  To me, you can't be second in YPG, third in YPP without at least being good to very good.  Contrast that with an offense that was at the bottom of almost every statistical measure and by many measures was historically bad.  The logical way to go is to spend every available dime upgrading the offense. 

 

What if we're a player or two from that elusive elite or great defense?  Take a penetrating DT (Oliver?) or a DE who can get to the QB (Allen?), sign someone like Anthony Barr, a hybrid OLB/DE who can give you a lot of versatility on getting to the passer.  I wouldn't mind seeing that scenario at all.

 

If you spend assets on defense, you've got too many holes to fill on offense to fix in one offseason.  I'd take remaining money and picks to seriously upgrade the offensive line.  Wideouts, tight end and running back will have to wait.  That will be next season's fix.  I think that fits the timeline.  Next year markedly better; 2020 serious contender.

 

Make sense?

 

I would be all for signing Barr to play a similar role to Zo. I would like oline with that 1st round pick and a WR with the 2nd round though.

[Johnny Hammersticks]

Yes we should.  Especially if that 1st round pick lands us near Greedy Williams or Josh Allen.  Greedy would give us a bookend, shut-down corner opposite tre for the foreseeable future.  Josh would give us versatility in that he will be an excellent SOLB/edge rusher combo.

[wagon127]

Its ok to get some defensive talent upgrades as well, but you need offense. Referees when it comes to calling penalties, are more likely to target the defense then offense. Get Josh Allen the weapons he needs, so we can see what he is truly capable of.

[Dave Allen]

From my view, the elite defenses have at least one elite playmaker at each level. White and Edmunds are on their way, but we don't have that one guy on the DL who strikes fear into the quarterback. If the Bills have a shot at a guy like that in the draft, I'd be all for it. Otherwise, I expect them to focus more on adding depth.

[Johnny Hammersticks]

4 minutes ago, wagon127 said:

Its ok to get some defensive talent upgrades as well, but you need offense. Referees when it comes to calling penalties, are more likely to target the defense then offense. Get Josh Allen the weapons he needs, so we can see what he is truly capable of.

 

What?