Buffalo Bills Offseason Primer. State of the Bills.

[GunnerBill]

Just worked out my calculation by the way and if they cut / keep / re-sign as I propose we have 48 players under contract and are pretty much (if you take the overall average of the contracts as the cap number year 1 which obviously in some case they won't be) bang on the $175m salary floor. So it is tight and maybe the likes of John Brown do have to do something with their contract to remain in that case.

 

If the cap ends up more like stagnant as some are speculating then we have plenty of room. 

[DCOrange]

Great post.

 

Some ramblings from myself on some of this:

• I think I agree with pretty much everything you said regarding the free agents. The one potential sticking point for me is McKenzie; I think it would be wise to try to get some sort of deal done with him just in case, but for me, replacing him in the offense is one of my top priorities this offseason. I think the role he plays is an important one, but he's just too limited IMO; good at the jet sweeps but pretty much worthless at actual WR things. We can find someone in the draft that can replace his skills while potentially being a much bigger factor operating as a real WR IMO. Guys like Kadarius Toney, Rondale Moore, Tutu Atwell, etc.
• I think I might be willing to go a bit higher than you on Milano, but ultimately, I think he probably prices himself out of Buffalo. Guessing we will bring Daryl Williams back but not sure it's the right move to make personally.
• Moving John Brown one way or another makes a lot of sense IMO. I don't expect much back in a trade as I think teams will call our bluff knowing he's likely getting cut if we don't get a trade done, but I'd still take a day 3 pick for him and call it a day.
• I agree with your assessments on the DLine and the safeties. I think I'd probably try to keep Hughes with a restructure and be fine moving on from the rest of the DLine. I had brought up this point re: the safeties last year in the lead-up to the draft, which is why I was in support of taking guys like Dugger, Winfield, and Chinn. I expect we'll be moving on from at least one of our safeties by next offseason, so once again, I think it would be wise to get their eventual replacement in house, preferably via the draft.
• Agreed re: Edmunds; pick up the option, let him prove himself worthy of a big contract. He seems poised to get a big contract just due to his accolades and age but it makes me super nervous personally.
• I think you're probably right about Allen, but for the amount of money he's going to get, it's going to make me uneasy until I see him play this way another season. I loved him throughout the draft process and obviously still love him now (as I think we all do at this point), but I'm going to be a bit nervous about regression next year knowing that we're probably about to make him the highest paid player in the league or close to it.

Some positions of importance this offseason IMO:

• WR - Already discussed this re: McKenzie/Brown so won't rehash it here.
• RB - I mentioned this in one of the other threads, but I think I'd probably look to bring in one of the pass-catching RBs in free agency this offseason and there's a bunch of them available. Jamaal Williams, James White, Rex Burkhead, Tevin Coleman, etc. I wouldn't bother spending another early draft pick on a RB personally; guys like the ones mentioned above will sign cheap enough that relative to the draft pick that I'd rather just take the certainty of getting a good one that fits our needs. Jamaal Williams is the #1 option IMO but he'll probably be the most expensive if I had to guess.
• CB - A strong contender to be our day 1/2 pick. I agree with you that we need a more versatile corner opposite Tre.
• D-Line - Guess we'll have to wait and see what happens with Star but I assume he'll be back next year. If so (and probably even if he doesn't come back), edge rusher is the bigger hole and also probably more difficult to fill unfortunately. There are some solid pass rushers available in free agency this year but we aren't exactly flush with cap space so it'll be tough to sign any of the top guys. I don't know much about the position in the draft this year, but from what I've read, it sounds like another blah year for edge rushers so we might be out of luck.