Bored - Offseason Speculation

[Virgil]

I'll be honest, Bills are 9-3, don't play tomorrow, and I'm not dreading the rest of the season.  I have absolutely no idea what to do with myself right now.  So, I'm going to look at the current FA class, mock drafts, and our salary cap to have some fun.  Feel free to play along or dismiss and move on.

 

Salary Cap Space: 91 Million (26 mil in rollover, 1 mil in dead cap (Wow Beane!))

Draft Position:  25th (I'm giving us a first round win)

 

Current Starters - Unrestricted FA's: 

Jordan Phillips - Re-sign - 11 mil

Lorax (Retiring)

Kevin Johnson - Re-sign - 5 mil

Shaq Lawson - Let him test the market (probably not re-signed)

Quinton Spain - Re-Sign - 7 mil

Frank Gore - Let Go

Kurt Coleman - Re-Sign - 3 mil

Corey Liuget - Re-Sign - 4.5 mil

Dean Marlowe - Re-Sign - 2 mil

Isiah McKenzie - Re-Sign -  3 mil

Duke Williams - Not enough room on roster, drafting a WR

Total Spent on Re-Signings = 35.5 Mil

 

Starting Players heading into last year of deal:

Trent Murphy - Cut (Save 7.2 Million.  Dead hit of 1.75 mil)

Ty Yeldon - Cut (Save 1.6 Mil.  Dead 250k)

Ty Nsekhe - Let play out

Jon Feliciano - Let Play Out

Jordan Poyer - Let Play Out

Tre White - Trigger 5th year option

Andre Roberts - Let Play Out

Patrick DiMarco - Let Play Out

Matt Barkley - Let Play Out

Dion Dawkins - Extend - 14 Mil per

Matt Milano - Extend - 8 Mil per

Corey Bojorquez - Let Play Out

Total Spent on Extensions - 13.2 Mil (with the cuts)

 

***Total Cap Remaining for Additional Free Agents - 42.2 mil

 

Positions of Interest:

OLB - Lorax is retiring

DE - Murphy and Shaq could be gone

WR - Need a big bodied #1

RB - Backup to Singletary

OLB/MLB - Depth

 

2020 Free Agents (In order of rank from NFL.com and projected contract from Spodrac)

OLB/Edge - Jadeveon Clowney (20.3 mil) Seahawks have 78 mil in cap space

DE - Yannick Ngakoue (17.4 mil) Jaguars with only 7.5 mil in cap space

OLB/Edge - Bud Dupree

OLB/Edge - Shaq Barrett

WR - AJ Green

OT - Anthony Castonzo

DT - Gerald McCoy

DE - Arik Armstead

DT - DJ Reader

OLB/Edge - Matthew Judon

OLB/Edge - Dante Fowler Jr (10.5 mil)

TE - Austin Hooper

TE - Hunter Henry

DT - Javon Hargrave

WR - Amari Cooper (18.7 mil)

 

Mock Draft Results

Walter Football - 1st - Jalen Reagor, WR, TCU, 2nd - Yasir Durant, OT, Missouri, 3rd - Eno Benjamin, RB, Arizona State

Draftek - 1st - Laviska Shenault, WR, Colorado, 2nd - JK Dobbins, RB, Ohio St, 3rd - Jaylon Johnson, DB, Utah

Phinsider - 1st - Justin Jefferson, WR, LSU, 2nd - Solomon Kindley, G, Georgia

Draftsite - 1st - Antonio Golden, WR, Liberty, 2nd - Calvin Throckmorton, OT, Oregon, 3rd - Jabari Zuniga, DE, Florida

 

 

The long and short of it, we have the money to go after one major prize FA, but I don't see us spending 15+ mil on anyone that's not our own.  Yannick would be the most realistic option for us if we do decide to go after someone.  Everyone else is going to be mid-tier, which has worked for us thus far.  I'm the most concerned about replacing Lorax, but there are quite a few mid-tier guys out there.  Wide Receiver is another position I think will be focused on, and every mock has us going there with our 1st pick.  Fortunately, it's a deep draft there.

 

For those wondering tops at those positions:

 

FA Wide Receivers

AJ Green

Larry Fitzgerald

Emmanuel Sanders

Devin Funchess

Amari Cooper

DeVante Parker

Randall Cobb

Danny Amendola

Travis Benjamin

Bershad Perriman

Robby Anderson

 

FA OLB

Dante Fowler

Mario Addison

Whitney Mercilus

AJ Klein

Terrell Suggs

Mychal Hendricks

Shaquil Barrett

Bruce Irvin

Shaq Thompson

 

Projected Possible 1st Round WR (My Choice is to see which one over 6'2 falls to the second and trade up)

Jerry Jeudy, Alabama, 6'1", 4.45

Laviska Shenault Jr, Colorado, 6'2", 4.52

CeeDee Lamb, Oklahoma, 6'2" 4.55

Jalen Reagor, TCU, 5'11", 4.35

Antonio Gandy-Golden, Liberty, 6'4", 4.54

Henry Ruggs 3rd, Alabama, 6', 4.4

Justin Jefferson, LSU, 6'3", 4.5

Tamorrion Terry, Florida State, 6'4", 4.5

Gabriel Davis, UCF, 6'3", 4.5

DeVonta Smith, Alabama, 6'1", 4.45

Tee Higgins, Clemson, 6'4" 4.55

 

Projected Possible 1st Round OLB

Isaiah Simmons, Clemson *My Choice for our 1st pick)

Kenneth Murray, Oklahoma (OLB/ILB)

Terrell Lewis, Alabama (OLB/ILB)

Jon Greenard, Florida (OLB/DE)

Julian Okwara, Notre Dame

Anfernee Jennings, Alabama (OLB/ILB)

 

Pipe Dream FA Signing -  Austin Hooper, TE, Falcons.  He'll cost some serious money, but the Falcons are in cap hell.  Imagine him and Knox on the field together.  He's the big bodied 3rd down receiver who Allen can high point the ball to.  Also, this is the kind of weapon that Daboll would love to have.  Even if we draft a WR in the first, Hooper would be a top receiver on this team.  He can line up as a receiver as much as  Tight End.  I would gladly cut Kroft and put that money towards Hooper. 

 

 

Alright, that's all I got.  This was more for me than everyone else to just look around at what's going on.  It's strange to not have to care that much about this as we hit December.  But I enjoy these kinds of things.  @whatdrought@BuffaloHokie13Get ready for the mock drafts

 

Edited December 3, 2019 by Virgil

[Warcodered]

I don't know but if they get a WR with a high pick I'm glad we've got Brown and Beasley leading that room as vets.

Edited December 1, 2019 by Warcodered

[CaptnCoke11]

Dobbins would be a great pick to pair up with Singletary 

[Solomon Grundy]

1 minute ago, CaptnCoke11 said:

Dobbins would be a great pick to pair up with Singletary 

Not better than Jonathan Taylor 

[Virgil]

4 minutes ago, Warcodered said:

I don't know but if they get a WR with a high pick I'm glad we've got Brown and Beasley leading that room as vets.

 

I don't like drafting WR's in the 1st because of the typical learning curve.  If our offense keeps this going and Foster can show anything, then I'd rather have the OLB from Clemson.  He would start immediately, can rush the passer and is great in coverage.  The idea of him, Milano, and Edmunds for the next 10 years is scary to me. 

 

There's so many WR's that I think we can get solid value in the 2nd.  Then, you get your typical round 3 RB who's more of a bruiser and I'm good with our draft.  Everything else is depth

[Boatdrinks]

This seems like a post for years past, when the playoffs were a pipe dream by turkey day. I appreciate the effort it probably  took, but this team is in the thick of a wildcard race in great position with winnable games coming up. 

[CaptnCoke11]

4 minutes ago, the skycap said:

Not better than Jonathan Taylor 

Or him

[WMDman]

Yannick would be my FA target

[Gugny]

25 minutes ago, Virgil said:

I'll be honest, Bills are 9-3, don't play tomorrow, and I'm not dreading the rest of the season.  I have absolutely no idea what to do with myself right now.  So, I'm going to look at the current FA class, mock drafts, and our salary cap to have some fun.  Feel free to play along or dismiss and move on.

 

I like the formula of a young RB and a veteran RB.  I didn't see any FA RBs on your lists, but I wonder who's out there that would be a good fit to spell Singletary.

 

I'm not sure what kind of chemistry Beasley and Cooper had last year in Dallas.  If it was good, perhaps bringing Cooper in would be a good idea, I don't know.  I'm fine with drafting the best available WR, too.  

 

If they're going to use (I use that term loosely) Foster like they have this season, I'm not sure why they'd bring him back.  I'd love nothing more than to see another late-season surge from him and have him back next season, though.

[offyourocker]

I would not pay 8 for Levi or 4.5 for Liuget or 3 for Coleman

[JDubya76]

I’ll take Draftek’s draft. Please and thank you.

[elijah]

Hunter Bryant, TE, Washington, KJ Hamler, WR, Penn State, JK Dobbins, RB, Ohio State all top my wishlist in the draft. 

 

Hamler is is an extremely fast receiver from Penn State.  He doesn’t have the same height and size as Foster, but his overall game is that of Foster & McKenzie combined and he could fill their roles with just one roster spot leaving an extra one for a bigger bodied receiver like Duke

Just now, offyourocker said:

I would not pay 8 for Levi or 4.5 for Liuget or 3 for Coleman

 

Just now, offyourocker said:

I would not pay 8 for Levi or 4.5 for Liuget or 3 for Coleman

If you’re not paying 8 for Levi you’re likely letting Levi walk 

[Beast]

25 minutes ago, Warcodered said:

I don't know but if they get a WR with a high pick I'm glad we've got Brown and Beasley leading that room as vets.

I believe we do need one in a big way.

 

One injury at WR could derail this offense. I don’t want to worry about that next season. This year, so far so good, knock on wood.

[Virgil]

5 minutes ago, elijah said:

Hunter Bryant, TE, Washington, KJ Hamler, WR, Penn State, JK Dobbins, RB, Ohio State all top my wishlist in the draft. 

 

Hamler is is an extremely fast receiver from Penn State.  He doesn’t have the same height and size as Foster, but his overall game is that of Foster & McKenzie combined and he could fill their roles with just one roster spot leaving an extra one for a bigger bodied receiver like Duke

 

If you’re not paying 8 for Levi you’re likely letting Levi walk 

Wallace, Johnson, and Phillips are all players that I’m really curious to see what offers they will see from other teams.  

[gobills1212]

21 minutes ago, Boatdrinks said:

This seems like a post for years past, when the playoffs were a pipe dream by turkey day. I appreciate the effort it probably  took, but this team is in the thick of a wildcard race in great position with winnable games coming up. 

I mean, in fairness, he did say this post was BECAUSE of that;)

[whatdrought]

I struggle with a first rounder on Defense on anything but DE. For one, the Clemson kid is long gone, and for two, as a rotational player I don’t see the value. 

 

My draft would be:

 

1- Aj Epeneza or Yetur Gross-Matos at DE 

2- Michael Pittman Jr., Justin Jefferson, Brandon Aiyuk, Chase Claypool, or someone along those lines at WR.

 

this is a great WR class- maybe best of the century. I’d be fine taking a end in round one, and then circling back for a WR. I also wouldn’t mind a WR in the first.

[downunderbill]

91 million, wow. Start resigning who we need to and front load those contacts. There's a good young crop of players coming up for renewal over the next few years.

[whatdrought]

27 minutes ago, Boatdrinks said:

This seems like a post for years past, when the playoffs were a pipe dream by turkey day. I appreciate the effort it probably  took, but this team is in the thick of a wildcard race in great position with winnable games coming up. 

 

Theres a tonal difference in this thread that shows how much we’ve improved. I’m always looking forward to the next offseason because I love the business side of the NFL almost as much as the football side. The difference is, this year it’s a lot harder to find needs and it’s all about the happy perspective of seeing our team get even better!

 

 

If you’re like me and just enjoy knowing who the names are going to be next spring, this is a decent source:

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2837159-matt-millers-top-10-nfl-draft-prospects-in-2020.amp.html

Edited December 1, 2019 by whatdrought

[Virgil]

5 minutes ago, gobills1212 said:

I mean, in fairness, he did say this post was BECAUSE of that;)

Shhh!  You can’t expect people to read the first line or the thread topic

[whatdrought]

Also- I love this article because it offers pro-comps for the best WR’s in the class. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2864432-ranking-the-top-10-wide-receivers-of-potentially-historic-2020-nfl-draft-class

 

Personall, I don’t watch a lot of tape so it’s hard for me to know how a player plays without descriptions - pro comps are fun because I can think “would I want a Deandre Hopkins type player, or Devante Adams.” Obviously they’re no guarentee to be that player, but I like the baseline of knowing skill-set and how they play.