My off-season plan

[zow2]

From a 30,000 foot view,  I would expect Buffalo to field a more stout defense in 2021 and a better running attack.  I think the Bills will be less explosive on offense but will be better suited to win an AFC Championship and hopefully a SB.

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

4 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

My bad, I thought they all had a year left on their deals.  Great all of them can go.

Davis can not do all the things Brown can do.  Davis was very good but he doesn't have the top end speed brown does.  Hopefully Brown and Bills will find common ground.

The DL will be better with most of those guys gone.  Epenesa will be in year 2. 

The numbers will work out in the end.  They will sign more than just on FA of course, I just highlighted that they need to sign at least one FA pass rusher.  They will add a veteran TE, probably another veteran DB, and maybe decide to keep one of those other vet DL.  

 

Davis can also do things Brown can't do either and never will as in grow in size.  At 1/10 the salary hard to justify, even with a 50% pay cut, he'd still be making 5X what Davis is getting.  Brown looked great in 2019 when he was the Bills #1 WR.  As a #2 WR, not all that certain you're going to see numbers much better than what Davis gives you.

 

To me Brown is one of these guys that became expendable once they drafted Davis.  If the Bills were $50 mil under, great keep him, but rather spend the money on FA's that can help make the team better this year.  Looking at 2020, there are really only two areas of the team that need little to no improvement, QB and WR, so spend the money elsewhere.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

34 minutes ago, Bangarang said:

This plan is too vague and mostly sucks. I look forward to the next several months of this.

Too vague?

What is your plan?

37 minutes ago, warrior9 said:

Why would you cut Matakevich? 

Too expensive.  They need dollars

The will need rookies and UDFA to play Special teams.  

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

34 minutes ago, warrior9 said:

Why would you cut Matakevich? 

He has a Hollywood career he can fall back on.

[NewEra]

9 minutes ago, dneveu said:

 

The defense got a pass rusher?  But its the same DBs and no milano.

Yeah.  To his credit, I don’t know how much flexibility we have in order to make big changes.  I can’t stand it when people say we should add JJ Watt, Derrick Henry, Lavonte David and resign all of our priortiy FAs.  At least he didn’t go overboard with additions.  That’s the worst.

 

that said, all I see here is draft a RB in rd 1 and some interior OL mid rounds that can start in the future, but not next year, sign a FA pass rusher along with a vet TE.   Not terrible, but certainly not enough imo

[Ethan in Cleveland]

3 minutes ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

 

Davis can also do things Brown can't do either and never will as in grow in size.  At 1/10 the salary hard to justify, even with a 50% pay cut, he'd still be making 5X what Davis is getting.  Brown looked great in 2019 when he was the Bills #1 WR.  As a #2 WR, not all that certain you're going to see numbers much better than what Davis gives you.

 

To me Brown is one of these guys that became expendable once they drafted Davis.  If the Bills were $50 mil under, great keep him, but rather spend the money on FA's that can help make the team better this year.  Looking at 2020, there are really only two areas of the team that need little to no improvement, QB and WR, so spend the money elsewhere.

I get your point and it has validity.  But cutting Brown weakens the one spot on the team you said needed no improvement.  For one more year they can afford Brown assuming you spend on Williams at RT and let Milano go.  Judging how they opted to play an injured Brown over a healthy McKenzie suggests the staff also feels Brown is valuable.

They have the Kid from Oregon State to be the fifth or sixth guy

4 minutes ago, NewEra said:

Yeah.  To his credit, I don’t know how much flexibility we have in order to make big changes.  I can’t stand it when people say we should add JJ Watt, Derrick Henry, Lavonte David and resign all of our priortiy FAs.  At least he didn’t go overboard with additions.  That’s the worst.

 

that said, all I see here is draft a RB in rd 1 and some interior OL mid rounds that can start in the future, but not next year, sign a FA pass rusher along with a vet TE.   Not terrible, but certainly not enough imo

Thanx. That is the balance I was going for.  Reasonable choices.  I can totally see going with Moss and Singletary again for one more year and spending all draft picks on OL/DL/LB/TE.

[Royale with Cheese]

7 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Too vague?

What is your plan?

Too expensive.  They need dollars

The will need rookies and UDFA to play Special teams.  

 

Then we will have Chargers level bad for special teams.  It's 1/3 of the game...

[PrimeTime101]

1 hour ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Sign Williams, Boettger, Bojo and if possible Feliciano.  Boettger is cheaper but Feliciano is better. If they can get Feliciano on a good deal bring him back. I'm drafting a Center no matter what so I'm not committed that Feliciano needs to come back if the price is too high. Ford starts at on Guard spot anyways.

Tender Wallace

Cut Norman, Smith, Matakevich, Jefferson, Jones, Barkley, and Addison. Keep Butler and Kleine for one more year

Let Milano, Yeldon, Norman, Jones, Barkley, and of course Murphy walk

Keep Brown and Morse but restructure both deals.

Give Diggs a token raise somehow - maybe some silly workout bonus money

Sign one FA pass rusher and one veteran TE

Draft Najee Harris, a TE, two interior OL preferably a true center, and 4 front 7 defenders

Carry just two QBs next year. The Bills are doomed if Allen gets hurt so having 3 QBs is no use. I advocated for 3 last season but let Fromm hold the clip board and save money by cutting Barkley 

Extend Allen after the draft

 

Hope McD moves Edmunds to OLB or Edmunds plays better.

 

Did I miss anyone? i edited above for a few mistakes.

 

your missing something.. we need a true one tech DT.. now he doesn't need to be great but it needs to be a big guy that no matter what, 2 people will have to block him

[Einstein's Dog]

OP - I'm in general agreement and hope something like that materializes.  One slight difference I think they keep Addison and drop Butler - mostly cap related.

 

I hope they can find good veteran TE and pass rusher.  Ertz seems like he would be too expensive, J Smith would be great, H Henry probably too expensive.  For pass rusher they will need to pay, but like many I think they need to redistribute from multiple depth wise to paying for a stud.

[NewEra]

13 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

You beat the Chiefs with pass rush and a slightly more balanced offense.  Knox has to continue to develop and they need to find a better second option at TE.  

It's the same OL on paper, not the same OL that ever played together.  Ford has more upside than any other interior OL and he hardly played last year.  But you are correct he could be a bust.  Feliciano missed half the year.  Like I said I'm drafting a Center/Guard in round 2-4 to compete for a spot.

 

Yes the same DBs.  The safeties are fine.  White, Johnson, Wallace, and Dane Jackson are fine for your top 4 DB's.  

Ok..so we beat the chiefs with a better pass rush.....how is our pass rush any better?  We cut jefferson and Addison while adding 1 FA pass rusher......and we have no idea who that is, because you didn’t give us any idea of who you are signing. Imo, our pass rush is exactly the same:  not good enough. 
 

Yes, I agree, we should sign a vet TE.  Like who?  You’re talking about adding a second TE...so knoxs backup. 
 

and Cody Ford is the guy you’re counting on to make the difference in the OL.

 

I don’t see how this is a good plan at all

[thenorthremembers]

56 minutes ago, BuffaloRebound said:

If Phillips is a cap casualty in Arizona, I’d bring him back.  He’s a big dude who was disruptive.  The Star savior stuff is kind of bizarre.  He might help a little but Beane forced the guy to take a pay cut.  Yes we played a tougher schedule this year, but the defense was noticeably worse this year.  

I agree on the Star stuff.   Everyone is saying the moment Star comes back Edmunds is automatically better.  These guys played with Star, they werent that much better.

[Bangarang]

15 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Too vague?

What is your plan?

Yes, too vague.
 

Quote

Sign one FA pass rusher and one veteran TE

Draft Najee Harris, a TE, two interior OL preferably a true center, and 4 front 7 defenders

Sign a pass rusher. No idea who just go to the pass rusher store and find a good one using a coupon from the Sunday newspaper. Then we can just replace all the veterans we cut with late mid to late round rookies. 
 

Oh and draft a TE just because. Then there’s automatically putting Ford back into the starting lineup even though he hasn’t been good when healthy.
 

Like I said, your plan is too vague and doesn’t make this team any better. 
 

And I don’t have a plan. I just know where this team needs to get better. The draft and free agency are too fluid for me to say what I would do the day after the the SB. 

Edited February 8, 2021 by Bangarang

[blacklabel]

55 minutes ago, warrior9 said:

Why would you cut Matakevich? 

 

I've seen that suggested several times already this off-season. I guess people are unaware that last off-season when Beane asked Farwell who he thought would help his unit he had one answer and it was Matakevich. So Beane went out and got him and for all intents and purposes he performed exactly how they expected and is a core special teamer. 

[Stank_Nasty]

1 minute ago, blacklabel said:

 

I've seen that suggested several times already this off-season. I guess people are unaware that last off-season when Beane asked Farwell who he thought would help his unit he had one answer and it was Matakevich. So Beane went out and got him and for all intents and purposes he performed exactly how they expected and is a core special teamer. 

it was actually matakevich and jones... neither is going anywhere. 

[SCBills]

1 hour ago, NewEra said:

I don’t think Najee Harris and 2 mid round interior OL are going to turn our run game around. I love Harris but you’re returning 4 of our 5 OL and letting the only good run blocker go.....hoping that Harris and one more rookie OL can turn around our run game.  I don’t think that’s enough.  
 

Our pass rush is going to improve how?  Letting Addison and Butler go and signing one FA pass rusher.  Everything else stays the same.  
 

I hope we have a better plan to improve the OL and DL.  I don’t think this bridges the gap

 

I think the best chance we have is to draft Najee Harris (if he's there) and then take the best G/C available in Round 2.  

 

We'd have a legit RB1 and the hopes that a healthy Cody Ford and the Draft Pick will provide the run blocking we need on the interior.

 

I don't see how we're keeping Brown AND signing a FA TE worth anything...  I'd cut Brown and sign a FA TE.  

 

On the DL, getting Star back and allowing Oliver to play his true position should help the interior rush.   

 

I would absolutely cut Butler, Jefferson and Addison to use that money on Ngakoue, Dupree or someone.  

 

Hughes - Star - Oliver - Ngakoue is much, much better than what he had this past year and at least gives us a chance at getting home with 4. 

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

24 minutes ago, NewEra said:

Yeah.  To his credit, I don’t know how much flexibility we have in order to make big changes.  I can’t stand it when people say we should add JJ Watt, Derrick Henry, Lavonte David and resign all of our priortiy FAs.  At least he didn’t go overboard with additions.  That’s the worst.

 

that said, all I see here is draft a RB in rd 1 and some interior OL mid rounds that can start in the future, but not next year, sign a FA pass rusher along with a vet TE.   Not terrible, but certainly not enough imo

 

I think going into the covid year - you wanted cohesion.  They made some changes along the dline, and added a couple pieces on oline - but you didn't want to make these sweeping wholesale changes across the team.  

[Process]

We need 3 new starters in the front 7. And not JAGs, guys that will actually make an impact. 

 

Need a TE. I think we cut Brown and will need a WR. 

 

We have way too many needs to take a RB rd 1. And you should never ever be doing that anyways. 

[BuffaloRebound]

Offense -

   1. re-sign Williams at OT.  
   2. Get Josh a legit TE, cough Gronk cough 

Those are the big ticket items.  Rest should be cheap and relatively easy like bringing in a low priced vet RB who has power and size.  Draft an interior OL in the first 3 rounds 

  3.  Get Brown and Morse to take pay-cuts 

 

Defense - needs a bigger overhaul 

  1.   Sign Shaq Barrett

  2. Find a way to bring back J Phillips.  Doubt Arizona wants to pay him $10m next year.  
  3.  Draft a LB with pick 30

  4.  Cut Hyde and sign Jordan Whitehead to an offer sheet.  I’d give up a 2nd round pick for him.  Dude is a heat seeking missile who was that defense’s manhood. 
  5.  I’d bring in Sherman at CB on a Norman type 1 year deal.  
  6.  Let Wallace and Milano walk.

  7.  Cut whomever you need to on the DL to make the numbers work except Hughes and the guys on rookie deals.  

 

Edited February 8, 2021 by BuffaloRebound

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

1 hour ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Too vague?

What is your plan?

Too expensive.  They need dollars

The will need rookies and UDFA to play Special teams.  

 

1 hour ago, Ethan in Portland said:

I get your point and it has validity.  But cutting Brown weakens the one spot on the team you said needed no improvement.  For one more year they can afford Brown assuming you spend on Williams at RT and let Milano go.  Judging how they opted to play an injured Brown over a healthy McKenzie suggests the staff also feels Brown is valuable.

They have the Kid from Oregon State to be the fifth or sixth guy

Thanx. That is the balance I was going for.  Reasonable choices.  I can totally see going with Moss and Singletary again for one more year and spending all draft picks on OL/DL/LB/TE.

 

 

Actually that's one spot I kind of ignored in my initial response.  I think Williams played great this season at RT.  What worries me just a little bit, is he one of these guys that played great because he was in a contract year?  He was fantastic this year WRT pass blocking, but wondering how well he is at run blocking.  McD was with him in Carolina, so he should know what makes him tick, but that does make me a little nervous in signing him.

 

It's OK to have some rookies and UNFA at ST which they already had this year, but I do feel they need the couple of more ST aces.  The problem the Bills had is they had Roberts, Matakevich, and Jones who were ST standouts, but basically didn't play anywhere else (think there may have been a 4th player I'm leaving out?).  Would the drop off from Roberts to McKenzie for a return man be that bad as he also can more contribute at the WR spot too.  Gilliam was also a ST ace to a lesser degree, but he now has a year experience under his belt and he also did contribute on the field so maybe he replaces Jones.  May need to find a couple more good backups, but who also play ST too as that reduces roster spots, but will plan to use them on the actual playing field either offensively or defensively.  Could be the 3 players the Bills have are no different in number of roster slots that most teams carry as never looked that closely, but certainly seems like a lot for no help elsewhere.

[oldmanfan]

I cut pretty much all guys on the D line that can be cut outside of Hughes, and focus on getting speed rushers in here.  If the game yesterday told us anything (and which we should have known already) is that you beat teams like KC by relentless QB pressure with your front four. We don't have guys that can do that.  I think Milano will get more money than we can pay, so let him go and give that spot to Lee (a former first round pick, may have been miscast as a Jet), or let Phillips have that spot (young, faster).  Or draft a guy if you see a good one in round 1 or 2.    I definitely resign Marlowe as he is a good third safety.  I keep Jackson as my CB#2, keep Wallace and Johnson.  I look for a big space eating DT to pair with Star when he comes back.   And I bring Luke Kuechly in to mentor Edmunds this coming offseason and preseason.  Edmunds has all the physical tools but still needs tutoring on how to read plays.  Kuechly was the best ever doing that in the McD schemes.  

 

On offense, my priority is to resign Williams at RT.    I would probably keep Feliciano and let Morse go.  I think our run game was better with Feliciano at C, and Morse is one concussion away from never playing again. If Boettger want to stay on a small contract I keep him, otherwise he is nothing special.  So I'll need a G in the draft as Ford plays one spot.  Get a big nasty in here for one of the G spots in the draft.  Since McD emphasized they need more speed, I would try to restructure Brown and I'd bring McKenzie back and figure out better ways to use him.  I look to sign a FA TE, maybe the kid from Tennessee. Or I think about telling Duke to get in the weight room and put on another 20 pounds or so and give him a shot at TE.  Again, yesterday and the entire season (the last several season really) show the importance of an athletic TE; we don't have one.  Has to be a main priority.   I look for a faster RB either as a cap cut or on day 3 of the draft.  I think there will be a lot of cap casualties so I think we can fill some positions with vets that get let go and will be amenable to playing on one of the 4 teams in the conference championship games.  

 

And then coaching.  McD and Beane talk about how the entire organization is evaluated on a daily basis.  Last night showed the idea of passive D doesn't cut it against the team we have to beat to make the dance.  I think Sean and Leslie need to rethink their approach, commit to a more attacking aggressive D, and then get players who fit.