18 Free Agents 10 Observations

[Magox]

9 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

Mitch Morse,    C,    Kansas City

Ty Nsekhe,    OT,   Washington

Cole Beasley,    WR,   Dallas

Jon Feliciano,    OG,    Oakland

Kevin Johnson,    CB,    Houston

Frank Gore,   RB,   Miami

Senorise Perry,   RB,   Miami

Andre Roberts,   WR/Return,   N.Y. Jets

Spencer Long,    OG/C,    N.Y. Jets

Tyler Kroft,   TE,    Cincy

Jake Fisher,   TE,   Cincy

Eli Harold,   DE,    Detroit

John Brown,   WR,   Baltimore

E.J. Gaines,   CB,    Cleveland

Mo Alexander,    S,   Seattle

LaAdrian Waddle,    OT,  New England

Quinton Spain,   OG,   Tennessee

 

Duke Williams,   WR,    The Great White North    (Is he technically a free agent signing?)

Christian Wade,   Rugby/ RB?     England   (I'm not even counting him in the numbers, but he would be #19 if I did)

 

18 Free agents.  That is nuts.  That is a third of the entire 53 man roster.  I wouldn't be surprised to see Ansah in the next week or so if he passes his medical added to the list, and there are rumors out there about Frank Clark in Seattle too.  Ansah would be a big signing, Clark would be seismic.  

 

Ten Observations;

 

Offense  14  players  (including 2 special teamers, Roberts WR and Perry RB)

Defense  4   players

 

1.)  It's easy to see where the emphasis was this off season in free agency.  I was hoping Beane would be able to upgrade two O-line positions in free agency before the draft and it looks like he has upgraded four.  The O-line was clearly the biggest weakness on this team last year.  I think it means we are not going to have to use a high draft pick on an O-lineman this year. I was hoping for an OT in the 1st, but not anymore.  The presence of Morse will be huge.  I think he has all the intangibles of Eric Wood, and is probably a better Center. The lack of an effective center last year was crippling to the entire unit.  We made Morse the highest paid Center in the league and I think it was worth every penny.  It was a weakness that absolutely had to be addressed, if we paid a premium to get him here, so be it.  I think Nsekhe is our starting LT this year.  Can't wait to see all the camp battles on that O-line.

 

2.)  I think of all the players on the list, the one who might have gone a bit below the radar in terms of his importance, is Andre Roberts from the Jets.  Our return game last season was abysmal.  I would be willing to bet that there will be at least one game this season where his returns will mean the difference between a win and a loss for this team.  How much is an extra win worth in this league?  The difference between 9-7 and 10-6?  It's huge.  Great signing by Beane that gets no love from the media pundits but I think it will be a difference maker.

 

3.)  Adding Beasley and Brown will hopefully bring some much needed veteran leadership into the receiver's room. They should elevate the play of the other receivers already on the team.  Duke Williams is a big red zone target (Basically a Kelvin Benjamin who gives a sh*t and can catch the ball) and I hope he will end up being a real diamond in the rough.  The Duke might end up being Beane's best sneaky, looking under every rock, acquisition this off season.

 

4.)  I brought this point up in a thread I started a few weeks ago, with 18 new free agent players we are not going to be able to bring in 10 draft picks who have any sort of chance to make this roster, even if we cut all of the dead wood from last year's roster.  There are only 53 players to be carried into the regular season.  Like many here, I can see Beane bundling picks to move up in the draft repeatedly.  I can also see him trying to turn 2019 draft picks into 2020 picks.

 

5.)   This is related to the #4 above, I think this year's draft is going to be crazy.  I can see us climbing up and down that draft board like a spider monkey jacked up on Mountain Dew.  I think Beane will be wheeling and dealing like a riverboat gambler.  Don't think it is safe to go to the bathroom at any point during the draft just because the Bills aren't on the clock or you are going to miss something.  God only knows where we are going to end up selecting players this year. This draft is going to be fun!

 

6.)  Great coaching is going to be critical this season.  I think it is reasonable to assume that after free agency, draft picks, and the one or two training camp surprises, we might be going into the season this year with 50% of the roster being comprised of first year Bills.  McDermott and the coaches are going to have a big job continuing the tough but disciplined, team first culture they have been cultivating over the last couple of seasons.  McDermott mentioned this point at the Owner's Meetings.  Bringing in more capable players is only part of the process, getting them to buy into the teams philosophy and gel as a cohesive unit is another thing all together.  This is going to be McDermott's toughest coaching job yet.  I hope he is up to it.

 

7.)  There are free agents from 14 different teams on this list.  They are going to report for off season workouts this coming Monday.  They are all going to walk into our brand new, state or the art, best in the league work out facilities and you can bet your ass they will be snap chatting photos of the facilities back to all of their buddies on their old teams and talking smack about how nice it is here in Buffalo.   It's not just the training facilities either.  The meeting rooms, the cafeterias, everything about the One Bills Drive facility that impacts the player's lives on a daily basis has been updated and is state of the art.  There are going to be a lot of people in this league looking at Buffalo differently after next week.  Money very well spent by the Pegulas.  Each of these players will become an ambassador for the Bills around the league.

 

8.)  Watching Antonio Brown throw JuJu under the bus for no reason this week makes me glad that AB did not end up on this team.  I was excited when the rumors broke and I thought it would be incredible to get him to Buffalo.  No one can dispute the man's ability, the guy is a baller, but he sure looks like a team cancer.  I think we dodged a bullet on that one.

 

9.)  Beane signed these players to team friendly contracts and didn't mortgage the team's future to do it.  We should have the cap space next year to extend the players signed to short contracts who play hard this season.   We should be able to build a real core of players on this team and not watch our talented players walk out the door to other teams. 

 

10.)   Lastly, this free agency surpassed any expectations that I had going into it.  It is too early to see how these additions will pan out for the Bills, but I don't think you can objectively look at these signings and not be optimistic that Beane has upgraded the quality of our starters and added real depth to our roster.  I am excited to see what Allen does this season with a real supporting cast.  They got our franchise QB last year and this year they are building a team around him.  

 

 

 

 

Great Post!  

 

And I seem to remember telling certain posters that the previous 2 years were not about adding talent but finding the franchise QB, instilling a culture of accountability and attitude and shedding off players who didn't fit the mold and under performed their abilities to free up cap space so that THIS would be the year to finally begin to upgrade the talent on a NET basis.

 

That's exactly what happened.

[Logic]

10 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

 

7.)  There are free agents from 14 different teams on this list.  They are going to report for off season workouts this coming Monday.  They are all going to walk into our brand new, state or the art, best in the league work out facilities and you can bet your ass they will be snap chatting photos of the facilities back to all of their buddies on their old teams and talking smack about how nice it is here in Buffalo.   It's not just the training facilities either.  The meeting rooms, the cafeterias, everything about the One Bills Drive facility that impacts the player's lives on a daily basis has been updated and is state of the art.  There are going to be a lot of people in this league looking at Buffalo differently after next week.  Money very well spent by the Pegulas.  Each of these players will become an ambassador for the Bills around the league.

 

Great post overall. Thanks for taking the time!

I liked the above bullet point in particular. 

It cannot be overstated how smart it was for McBeane to request these facility upgrades and how smart it was for the Pegulas to agree to them and finance them.

For a team like Buffalo, which, as we all know, doesn't exist in the most attractive market for young, rich athletes, it is is/was imperative that they find something to help make them more of a priority destination. Our high quality coaching staff was the first step, as lots of free agents have already cited the "family atmosphere" and "culture of accountability" as being attractive elements. But these facilities? Absolutely the cherry on top. And if anyone thinks they don't matter, they need only reference Cole Beasley's recent comments. It is absolutely critical and absolutely awesome to have (as of now) the best athletic facilities in the NFL. It also may translate to wins, in that the facilities feature state-of-the-art recovery equipment and therapy.

I just can't adequately express how awesome this is for the Bills and the players. It's a huge deal.

[The Bills Blog]

19

[Shaw66]

That's a great post. Outstanding.  Thanks. 

 

I think the coaching challenge is an important point.  Most important is the challenge of having a raw rookie oline coach with all these new faces.  

 

I'm a little less optimistic about the impact of all the new oline guys.   Some of those guys are going to get cut.  And I disagree about the draft.  The Bills won't shy away from a stud OT on the first round if he is the BPA.  The Bills signed a lot of players, but there isn't a premier tackle among them.  

 

I agree completely about Roberts.  I think his impact will be felt in the return game AND on offense, where he will be an upgrade overr McKenzie, who wasn't bad on the jet sweeps and gadgets. 

 

I really hadn't bought the notion about too many draft picks, but I think you're correct.  Bills will make moves.  I think what is going to happen is McD will get a couple of sleepers in the second, third, fourth rounds, guys he loves and Beane is willing to move up for.  

 

Your comments about the facilities are interesting.  Fact is, everything the Bills are doing seems to be first class and with a purpose.  I won't be surprised if in a few years people are talking the Bills as a model franchise.  

 

Thanks for your post.  It really is excellent. 

[Orlando Buffalo]

I had not realized the amount of signings and i am quite sure not all these guys make 53 man roster. I would bet at least one of OG is cut and likely a TE even without anyone else coming in.

[Shaw66]

1 hour ago, Logic said:

Great post overall. Thanks for taking the time!

I liked the above bullet point in particular. 

It cannot be overstated how smart it was for McBeane to request these facility upgrades and how smart it was for the Pegulas to agree to them and finance them.

For a team like Buffalo, which, as we all know, doesn't exist in the most attractive market for young, rich athletes, it is is/was imperative that they find something to help make them more of a priority destination. Our high quality coaching staff was the first step, as lots of free agents have already cited the "family atmosphere" and "culture of accountability" as being attractive elements. But these facilities? Absolutely the cherry on top. And if anyone thinks they don't matter, they need only reference Cole Beasley's recent comments. It is absolutely critical and absolutely awesome to have (as of now) the best athletic facilities in the NFL. It also may translate to wins, in that the facilities feature state-of-the-art recovery equipment and therapy.

I just can't adequately express how awesome this is for the Bills and the players. It's a huge deal.

I agree Logic.  As I suggested in my post, I don't think it's just about the new facility.  The Bills seem to be doing everything right.  A few examples, and they aren't just on the management side.  

 

McDermott's total sincerity. 

 

Beane's completely straight forward approach with players. 

 

Allen calling free agents to welcome them. 

 

Shady recruiting Gore.

 

Beasley picking the Bills over the Pats.  

 

The Pegulas continuing dedication to the whole project and their support of McBeane. 

 

And behind all of it is the fans.  I was doing my taxes and was sure to take the deduction for my $17 donation to the Dalton Foundation.  It reminded me about all of that.  That kind of passion - $400,000 for a desperation TD pass - isn't lost on free agents.  

 

I never imagined a transformation like this.  

Edited April 13, 2019 by Shaw66

[eball]

11 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

I agree Logic.  As I suggested in my post, I don't think it's just about the new facility.  The Bills seem to be doing everything right.  A few examples, and they aren't just on the management side.  

 

McDermott's total sincerity. 

 

Beane's completely straight forward approach with players. 

 

Allen calling free agents to welcome them. 

 

Shady recruiting Gore.

 

Beasley picking the Bills over the Pats.  

 

The Pegulas continuing dedication to the whole project and their support of McBeane. 

 

And behind all of it is the fans.  I was doing my taxes and was sure to take the deduction for my $17 donation to the Dalton Foundation.  It reminded me about all of that.  That kind of passion - $400,000 for a desperation TD pass - isn't lost on free agents.  

 

I never imagined a transformation like this.  

 

Cue the usual “I’ll reserve judgment until they show it on the field” suspects...

[HappyDays]

The position group battles are going to be crazy this year. I feel like less than half the starters on defense are set in stone right now, and beyond Allen and Morse I couldn't name a single definite starter on offense. And this is before the draft. No one is coming to training camp with a job handed to them. That's the biggest difference since McDermott took over.

[Formerly Allan in MD]

11 hours ago, BuffaloBillsGospel said:

I like the enthusiasm and agree with most but i don't think OL is off the table at #9, the RT position is still lead by a 1st year starter who looked good as a fill in but has never done it FT so it could be a disaster, plus he's 31. I wouldn't be upset if they go a bunch of different routes and I agree we'll be working the draft board, I see us moving back into round 1.

You're right about the OL.  I believe we'll move up for someone Beane truly covets.  He did it last year for Allen and we have plenty of draft capital to pull it off.

[Misterbluesky]

Out of the 18,we brought in 4 solid ST players,that's huge and was dearly needed.

[Paul Costa]

Nice job !! I’m ?% in agreement 

[BillyWhiteShows]

12 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

Mitch Morse,    C,    Kansas City

Ty Nsekhe,    OT,   Washington

Cole Beasley,    WR,   Dallas

Jon Feliciano,    OG,    Oakland

Kevin Johnson,    CB,    Houston

Frank Gore,   RB,   Miami

Senorise Perry,   RB,   Miami

Andre Roberts,   WR/Return,   N.Y. Jets

Spencer Long,    OG/C,    N.Y. Jets

Tyler Kroft,   TE,    Cincy

Jake Fisher,   TE,   Cincy

Eli Harold,   DE,    Detroit

John Brown,   WR,   Baltimore

E.J. Gaines,   CB,    Cleveland

Mo Alexander,    S,   Seattle

LaAdrian Waddle,    OT,  New England

Quinton Spain,   OG,   Tennessee

 

Duke Williams,   WR,    The Great White North    (Is he technically a free agent signing?)

Christian Wade,   Rugby/ RB?     England   (I'm not even counting him in the numbers, but he would be #19 if I did)

 

18 Free agents.  That is nuts.  That is a third of the entire 53 man roster.  I wouldn't be surprised to see Ansah in the next week or so if he passes his medical added to the list, and there are rumors out there about Frank Clark in Seattle too.  Ansah would be a big signing, Clark would be seismic.  

 

Ten Observations;

 

Offense  14  players  (including 2 special teamers, Roberts WR and Perry RB)

Defense  4   players

 

1.)  It's easy to see where the emphasis was this off season in free agency.  I was hoping Beane would be able to upgrade two O-line positions in free agency before the draft and it looks like he has upgraded four.  The O-line was clearly the biggest weakness on this team last year.  I think it means we are not going to have to use a high draft pick on an O-lineman this year. I was hoping for an OT in the 1st, but not anymore.  The presence of Morse will be huge.  I think he has all the intangibles of Eric Wood, and is probably a better Center. The lack of an effective center last year was crippling to the entire unit.  We made Morse the highest paid Center in the league and I think it was worth every penny.  It was a weakness that absolutely had to be addressed, if we paid a premium to get him here, so be it.  I think Nsekhe is our starting LT this year.  Can't wait to see all the camp battles on that O-line.

 

2.)  I think of all the players on the list, the one who might have gone a bit below the radar in terms of his importance, is Andre Roberts from the Jets.  Our return game last season was abysmal.  I would be willing to bet that there will be at least one game this season where his returns will mean the difference between a win and a loss for this team.  How much is an extra win worth in this league?  The difference between 9-7 and 10-6?  It's huge.  Great signing by Beane that gets no love from the media pundits but I think it will be a difference maker.

 

3.)  Adding Beasley and Brown will hopefully bring some much needed veteran leadership into the receiver's room. They should elevate the play of the other receivers already on the team.  Duke Williams is a big red zone target (Basically a Kelvin Benjamin who gives a sh*t and can catch the ball) and I hope he will end up being a real diamond in the rough.  The Duke might end up being Beane's best sneaky, looking under every rock, acquisition this off season.

 

4.)  I brought this point up in a thread I started a few weeks ago, with 18 new free agent players we are not going to be able to bring in 10 draft picks who have any sort of chance to make this roster, even if we cut all of the dead wood from last year's roster.  There are only 53 players to be carried into the regular season.  Like many here, I can see Beane bundling picks to move up in the draft repeatedly.  I can also see him trying to turn 2019 draft picks into 2020 picks.

 

5.)   This is related to the #4 above, I think this year's draft is going to be crazy.  I can see us climbing up and down that draft board like a spider monkey jacked up on Mountain Dew.  I think Beane will be wheeling and dealing like a riverboat gambler.  Don't think it is safe to go to the bathroom at any point during the draft just because the Bills aren't on the clock or you are going to miss something.  God only knows where we are going to end up selecting players this year. This draft is going to be fun!

 

6.)  Great coaching is going to be critical this season.  I think it is reasonable to assume that after free agency, draft picks, and the one or two training camp surprises, we might be going into the season this year with 50% of the roster being comprised of first year Bills.  McDermott and the coaches are going to have a big job continuing the tough but disciplined, team first culture they have been cultivating over the last couple of seasons.  McDermott mentioned this point at the Owner's Meetings.  Bringing in more capable players is only part of the process, getting them to buy into the teams philosophy and gel as a cohesive unit is another thing all together.  This is going to be McDermott's toughest coaching job yet.  I hope he is up to it.

 

7.)  There are free agents from 14 different teams on this list.  They are going to report for off season workouts this coming Monday.  They are all going to walk into our brand new, state or the art, best in the league work out facilities and you can bet your ass they will be snap chatting photos of the facilities back to all of their buddies on their old teams and talking smack about how nice it is here in Buffalo.   It's not just the training facilities either.  The meeting rooms, the cafeterias, everything about the One Bills Drive facility that impacts the player's lives on a daily basis has been updated and is state of the art.  There are going to be a lot of people in this league looking at Buffalo differently after next week.  Money very well spent by the Pegulas.  Each of these players will become an ambassador for the Bills around the league.

 

8.)  Watching Antonio Brown throw JuJu under the bus for no reason this week makes me glad that AB did not end up on this team.  I was excited when the rumors broke and I thought it would be incredible to get him to Buffalo.  No one can dispute the man's ability, the guy is a baller, but he sure looks like a team cancer.  I think we dodged a bullet on that one.

 

9.)  Beane signed these players to team friendly contracts and didn't mortgage the team's future to do it.  We should have the cap space next year to extend the players signed to short contracts who play hard this season.   We should be able to build a real core of players on this team and not watch our talented players walk out the door to other teams. 

 

10.)   Lastly, this free agency surpassed any expectations that I had going into it.  It is too early to see how these additions will pan out for the Bills, but I don't think you can objectively look at these signings and not be optimistic that Beane has upgraded the quality of our starters and added real depth to our roster.  I am excited to see what Allen does this season with a real supporting cast.  They got our franchise QB last year and this year they are building a team around him.  

 

 

 

Good post but I think you are reading into the numbers too much.  Yes they signed 19 free agent but many of this players are on one-year deals.  It’s unrealistic to assume all will make the roster and we set well could have a handful of those signings cut.

 

I too can see Beane packing picks to move up, but again, there’s no guarantee that the lower round picks make the team.  Yes Beane wants to keep as many draft picks as possible but it’s not a guarantee that 10 picks = 10 roster spots on Week 1.

[Doc]

3 hours ago, Logic said:

Great post overall. Thanks for taking the time!

I liked the above bullet point in particular. 

It cannot be overstated how smart it was for McBeane to request these facility upgrades and how smart it was for the Pegulas to agree to them and finance them.

For a team like Buffalo, which, as we all know, doesn't exist in the most attractive market for young, rich athletes, it is is/was imperative that they find something to help make them more of a priority destination. Our high quality coaching staff was the first step, as lots of free agents have already cited the "family atmosphere" and "culture of accountability" as being attractive elements. But these facilities? Absolutely the cherry on top. And if anyone thinks they don't matter, they need only reference Cole Beasley's recent comments. It is absolutely critical and absolutely awesome to have (as of now) the best athletic facilities in the NFL. It also may translate to wins, in that the facilities feature state-of-the-art recovery equipment and therapy.

I just can't adequately express how awesome this is for the Bills and the players. It's a huge deal.

 

When I read the post about Tyler Eiffert's dad saying that Buffalo wasn't on his son's list of places to go because of the (poor) condition of the visitor's locker room, I thought it was foolish to not make it as nice as possible, as advertisement for later-on.  Players on other teams don't get to see the home locker room or training facilities until they visit as FA's, but there is no harm in saying "here's how nice the visitor's locker room is.  Imagine how nice the rest of it is."

Edited April 13, 2019 by Doc

[Reks Ryan]

Nice Post OP.   

 

#2 regarding Andre Roberts and special teams in general will be important.   Not sure if Senorise Perry and Mo Alexander will make the team.  But the Bills are putting a focus to  upgrade the ST including coaching staff. And I agree this could easily change the out come of a few games.  Last year ST were awful, so just getting to neutral could change from 1 or 2 losses caused by ST to break even could be the difference in making playoffs. 

 

#6 I am a big McDermott fan.   This year really will be a good test for him and tell a lot if he can be an elite coach or not.  Not only to see how new and more talented players are utilized, but also several new coaches on the staff. 

 

Several of those 18 FAs are not going to be on the opening day 53.    I would say at least 5 or 6 through injury or being outplayed.  This should be the first year since 2015 where there is  really good competition.  The last 3 years the back ups on OL, WR, LB, RB, TE have been very weak.  If they do the draft right they should have a NFL quality 53 coming out of camp for the first time in awhile.

[yungmack]

Excellent post. And well written. Thanks for your efforts.

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

2 hours ago, Logic said:

Great post overall. Thanks for taking the time!

I liked the above bullet point in particular. 

It cannot be overstated how smart it was for McBeane to request these facility upgrades and how smart it was for the Pegulas to agree to them and finance them.

For a team like Buffalo, which, as we all know, doesn't exist in the most attractive market for young, rich athletes, it is is/was imperative that they find something to help make them more of a priority destination. Our high quality coaching staff was the first step, as lots of free agents have already cited the "family atmosphere" and "culture of accountability" as being attractive elements. But these facilities? Absolutely the cherry on top. And if anyone thinks they don't matter, they need only reference Cole Beasley's recent comments. It is absolutely critical and absolutely awesome to have (as of now) the best athletic facilities in the NFL. It also may translate to wins, in that the facilities feature state-of-the-art recovery equipment and therapy.

I just can't adequately express how awesome this is for the Bills and the players. It's a huge deal.

 

...NICELY done bud...certainly is painful, ignorant and uninformed to cast the Pegulas as "clueless owners"....pony up $1.4 billion to field a loser?......I'd bet McBeane's staff of 17+ with many NFL personnel execs from around the league, is a $5+ mil payroll all out of Terry's check book.....$20 mil for the Bills facility, $180 mil for Harbor Center, etc...you know the rest...sometimes there is no need to advertise one's ignorance by posting drivel from under the safety of their Fisher Price desk.....we can already anticipate who will "chime in"....sad..................

[Florida Bills Fanatic]

Like some others on this thread, I'm sure that some of the recent FA signings won't make the 53 man roster nor will all of the draft picks.  I'm sure that is part of the plan.  They brought in a bunch of FA guys with active game experience to compete for a job.  Their contracts can be easily dumped by the team.  The result should be a better roster from top to bottom.  Working with a better roster next year, this process should be easier and easier with each successive year.  Keeping the CAP in a manageable position is the key to making this possible.

[Nanker]

EXCELLENT post Igino. 

Best offseason I can remember for quite awhile. Can't wait for The Draft. 

OTAs begin tomorrow, so we'll soon hear how the newbies are doing.

 

Go Bills!

[Toesy]

They were also impressive last year signing Wallace and Foster after the draft. Overall, IMO Beane and his team know what they are doing-they sometimes make mistakes but they usually don't let them linger-Peterman was the exception IMO.

[Shaw66]

8 minutes ago, Toesy said:

They were also impressive last year signing Wallace and Foster after the draft. Overall, IMO Beane and his team know what they are doing-they sometimes make mistakes but they usually don't let them linger-Peterman was the exception IMO.

Even Peterman wasnt an exception.  He didn't make it, but all GMs take some guys who don't make it. It's important not to let guys go too early.  When you take a guy you have to be willing to invest time in him.   Like Foster.  The Bill's saw something in Peterman, so they gave him time to develop.  It was the right approach.  Not every project plans out.