Free Agency News and Updates - around the league

[Philo]

1 hour ago, thebandit27 said:

They're going to let Blake Martinez walk and sign Schoebert? Interesting.

 

Do the Packers play a 3-4 scheme? I know Martinez is an ILB, but was wondering if he could work as a 4-3 OLB in Zo's role. I have no idea how the skill sets translate. He may be too rich though even if he could fit. He has been a very good tackler, which was a weakness for the defense this season. 

[aristocrat]

keep murphy until camp and at worse he becomes a camp cut but it's always a good thing to have a guy playing for another contract and who knows maybe he has a big year and we get ourselves a little comp pick right?

[Buffalo Junction]

1 hour ago, thebandit27 said:

They're going to let Blake Martinez walk and sign Schoebert? Interesting.

Likely. Martinez is great at playing cleanup, but he can get washed out easily. Particularly against zone schemes. He’s not good at taking on blocks and he’s exposed against the run in Pettine’s scheme. Part of that is due to bad NT play, but Martinez is more of a chase guy instead of downhill. 

 

6 minutes ago, Philo said:

 

Do the Packers play a 3-4 scheme? I know Martinez is an ILB, but was wondering if he could work as a 4-3 OLB in Zo's role. I have no idea how the skill sets translate. He may be too rich though even if he could fit. He has been a very good tackler, which was a weakness for the defense this season. 

More of a WLB in a 4-3. Decent speed and coverage ability. 

[aristocrat]

3 minutes ago, Buffalo Junction said:

Likely. Martinez is great at playing cleanup, but he can get washed out easily. Particularly against zone schemes. He’s not good at taking on blocks and he’s exposed against the run in Pettine’s scheme. Part of that is due to bad NT play, but Martinez is more of a chase guy instead of downhill. 

 

More of a WLB in a 4-3. Decent speed and coverage ability. 

 

well what do we need?  WLB.  I would absolutely sign this guy

[billsfan89]

Some  non-Bills predictions and Bills predictions for free agency. 

Bills Predictions

1- Quinton Spain will be the only major resigned player. Phillips and Shaq will be allowed to test the market and they will get overpaid. 
2- No major splashes but several quality signings. I think they try and replicate last year’s prudent approach to free agency. I think they do go with one bigger signing in the 10-12 million aav range (similar to Mitch last off-season) and then 2-3 other 7-9 million aav signings to fill out other needs. 
3- Mario Addison will be brought in to replace Shaq and an Edge defender will be drafted in the first 3 rounds to help get younger at the position long term.  
4- Koft is cut but Murphy and most of the other “cut” candidates stay at least through camp. 

Non-Bills Predictions 

1- Brady signs with the Titans as does Antonio Brown. 
2- The Jets go big game hunting again and sign 2-3 big names but neglect key areas of depth and need. 
3- The Pats sign Phillip Rivers 
4- CMC is not traded but the Panthers do go with the full tear down outside of CMC. I think they would trade CMC if he got them 2 first round picks and another premium pick along with 1-2 other picks but that package just won’t materialize.

5- The Bears trade one of their second round picks and a future pick for Andy Dalton. 

6- Andrew Luck stays retired for one more season (He comes back 2021.)

7- The Colts sign Yannick or Clowney. 

8- The Chargers trade for Foles and draft Tua. 

 

Should be an interesting free agency period as I think there will be the usual flurry of signings but also there will be a lot of movement at the QB position. 

[Locomark]

17 minutes ago, billsfan89 said:

Some  non-Bills predictions and Bills predictions for free agency. 

Bills Predictions

1- Quinton Spain will be the only major resigned player. Phillips and Shaq will be allowed to test the market and they will get overpaid. 
2- No major splashes but several quality signings. I think they try and replicate last year’s prudent approach to free agency. I think they do go with one bigger signing in the 10-12 million aav range (similar to Mitch last off-season) and then 2-3 other 7-9 million aav signings to fill out other needs. 
3- Mario Addison will be brought in to replace Shaq and an Edge defender will be drafted in the first 3 rounds to help get younger at the position long term.  
4- Koft is cut but Murphy and most of the other “cut” candidates stay at least through camp. 

Non-Bills Predictions 

1- Brady signs with the Titans as does Antonio Brown. 
2- The Jets go big game hunting again and sign 2-3 big names but neglect key areas of depth and need. 
3- The Pats sign Phillip Rivers 
4- CMC is not traded but the Panthers do go with the full tear down outside of CMC. I think they would trade CMC if he got them 2 first round picks and another premium pick along with 1-2 other picks but that package just won’t materialize.

5- The Bears trade one of their second round picks and a future pick for Andy Dalton. 

6- Andrew Luck stays retired for one more season (He comes back 2021.)

7- The Colts sign Yannick or Clowney. 

8- The Chargers trade for Foles and draft Tua. 

 

Should be an interesting free agency period as I think there will be the usual flurry of signings but also there will be a lot of movement at the QB position. 

 

No way Pats ever sign Rivers. Belicheat couldn’t deal with his inconsistency and tendency for picks. 

[Buffalo Junction]

2 hours ago, aristocrat said:

 

well what do we need?  WLB.  I would absolutely sign this guy

Milano is our weak side lber. We need a replacement for Alexander. The FA  packer lber that would best fit there is Kyler Fackrell. 

[Reed83HOF]

29 minutes ago, Locomark said:

 

No way Pats ever sign Rivers. Belicheat couldn’t deal with his inconsistency and tendency for picks. 

 I would pay to see that

[aristocrat]

43 minutes ago, Buffalo Junction said:

Milano is our weak side lber. We need a replacement for Alexander. The FA  packer lber that would best fit there is Kyler Fackrell. 

 

he played strongside in college.  

[billsfan89]

1 hour ago, Locomark said:

 

No way Pats ever sign Rivers. Belicheat couldn’t deal with his inconsistency and tendency for picks. 

 

Belicheat will take a look at the vet QB's available to replace Brady and land on Rivers as a stop gap. Rivers in recent years up until 2019 had been a great QB in terms of consistency and low turnovers. In 2017 and 2018 he had 10 and 12 picks to 28 and 32 TD's. That's a nearly 3 to 1 TD to INT ratio. His 2017 and 2018 production levels also included high completion percentages. I think Billy B knows a bargin when he sees one and will use Rivers as his QB the next 2 seasons to buy him some time to groom a young QB. 

 

Rivers also comes at a cheaper price than Dalton who will require significant draft capital to trade for and might be as good or better anyway. I think that Rivers makes a lot of sense for the Pats if Brady bolts. Rivers can be asked to mostly manage games and work within a system. Rivers has played in a lot of different systems under a lot of different coaches and has had mostly success. I think Billy B will just ask him to mostly manage games and hand the ball off only letting him loose in games when needed. 

[Buffalo Junction]

11 minutes ago, aristocrat said:

 

he played strongside in college.  

He played safety at BC too. ?‍♂️. McD moved him to WLB. In McD’s scheme that type of player fits the will position. 

[JaCrispy]

27 minutes ago, aristocrat said:

 

he played strongside in college.  

I hear he continues to play both sides to this day...??‍♂️

[JerseyBills]

 

Panthers wtf .. ??‍♂️                

If you can't see tweet, Panthers send 27 y/o OG Trai Turner to Chargers for 32 y/o LT Russel Okung

Turner is a 5x pro bowler

 

Edited March 5, 2020 by JerseyBills

[YattaOkasan]

3 hours ago, billsfan89 said:

 

Belicheat will take a look at the vet QB's available to replace Brady and land on Rivers as a stop gap. Rivers in recent years up until 2019 had been a great QB in terms of consistency and low turnovers. In 2017 and 2018 he had 10 and 12 picks to 28 and 32 TD's. That's a nearly 3 to 1 TD to INT ratio. His 2017 and 2018 production levels also included high completion percentages. I think Billy B knows a bargin when he sees one and will use Rivers as his QB the next 2 seasons to buy him some time to groom a young QB. 

 

Rivers also comes at a cheaper price than Dalton who will require significant draft capital to trade for and might be as good or better anyway. I think that Rivers makes a lot of sense for the Pats if Brady bolts. Rivers can be asked to mostly manage games and work within a system. Rivers has played in a lot of different systems under a lot of different coaches and has had mostly success. I think Billy B will just ask him to mostly manage games and hand the ball off only letting him loose in games when needed. 

Please let this happen. Rivers in the cold and behind that line would be great to watch. I think he’s going to Indy where they have a line and play indoors. 

[billsfan89]

Just now, YattaOkasan said:

Please let this happen. Rivers in the cold and behind that line would be great to watch. I think he’s going to Indy where they have a line and play indoors. 

 

Indy could make sense for Rivers too. I like the fit there as well. Something tells me that Indy will however not want a long term commitment at QB since they feel Luck will come back and Rivers could be that stop gap. But I think the Pats could take Rivers and get him back to a version of his 2017 and 2018 form when he was one of the top 10 QB's in the league. I think that Belicheat wants a game manager who when called upon can win a game. I think Rivers fits that mold. I think if reigned in 80% of the time he can manage games and then when needed let it rip that other 20%. 

 

If not Rivers I could see the Pats trading a second round pick and a 2021 pick for Dalton and then drafting a QB next year while having Dalton take the position for the next 2-3 years as a pseudo game manager. 

[YoloinOhio]

 

[Motor26]

Really hope their splash signings are for the offensive and defensive lines. Then pickup depth at the skill positions so they can draft skill players early in the draft. 

[whatdrought]

6 hours ago, billsfan89 said:

Some  non-Bills predictions and Bills predictions for free agency. 

Bills Predictions

1- Quinton Spain will be the only major resigned player. Phillips and Shaq will be allowed to test the market and they will get overpaid. 
2- No major splashes but several quality signings. I think they try and replicate last year’s prudent approach to free agency. I think they do go with one bigger signing in the 10-12 million aav range (similar to Mitch last off-season) and then 2-3 other 7-9 million aav signings to fill out other needs. 
3- Mario Addison will be brought in to replace Shaq and an Edge defender will be drafted in the first 3 rounds to help get younger at the position long term.  
4- Koft is cut but Murphy and most of the other “cut” candidates stay at least through camp. 

Non-Bills Predictions 

1- Brady signs with the Titans as does Antonio Brown. 
2- The Jets go big game hunting again and sign 2-3 big names but neglect key areas of depth and need. 
3- The Pats sign Phillip Rivers 
4- CMC is not traded but the Panthers do go with the full tear down outside of CMC. I think they would trade CMC if he got them 2 first round picks and another premium pick along with 1-2 other picks but that package just won’t materialize.

5- The Bears trade one of their second round picks and a future pick for Andy Dalton. 

6- Andrew Luck stays retired for one more season (He comes back 2021.)

7- The Colts sign Yannick or Clowney. 

8- The Chargers trade for Foles and draft Tua. 

 

Should be an interesting free agency period as I think there will be the usual flurry of signings but also there will be a lot of movement at the QB position. 

Not a bad list. 2 complaints:

 

1- I don’t think Antonio Brown will he signing anywhere. Even if he does, he likely won’t play.

 

2- No way Andy Dalton is worth a 2nd round pick. 4th is more like it.

[billsfan89]

2 hours ago, whatdrought said:

Not a bad list. 2 complaints:

 

1- I don’t think Antonio Brown will he signing anywhere. Even if he does, he likely won’t play.

 

2- No way Andy Dalton is worth a 2nd round pick. 4th is more like it.

 

I agree that if AB does sign he will have a lengthy suspension coming his way if he does make it to the field. But I think Brady is thirsty for him and the Titans would give him a mid level deal if this scenario is to hypothetically play out.

 

As far as Dalton, I think a team does have to give up something of value, QB's get overvalued. Remember Tyrod was traded for pick 65 and I would say Dalton has a slightly better resume.

[thebandit27]

Friendly reminder that this is the time of year when all tends to go quiet regarding the Bills.

 

If things are strangely quiet surrounding a big name FA, and you hear nothing connecting said player to the Bills, then he could very well be a target.