The Way Too Early Offseason Armchair GM Thread

[Ball'n]

Like most bills fans, I can barely comprehend what happened last night and the complete choke from a play calling perspective with 13 seconds left in the game to allow KC the chance to sneak back into the game and ultimately win in the end will haunt me for a long time. In an effort to deflect in a different direction, what does everyone expect for the Offseason? For purposes of this conversation I'm speaking strictly player moves and not factoring in coaching changes. 

 

The Bills have $9.5 million in projected cap space for 2022 and their biggest ways to save cap space include cutting center Mitch Morse ($7.5m), Daryl Williams ($5.3m), and Cole Beasley ($6m). Key free agents include Emmanuel Sanders, Mario Addison, Jerry Hughes, Levi Wallace, Isaiah Mckenzie, Mitchell Trubiski, and Harrison Philips (Bates is a restricted free agent so I assume he will be back). 

 

Obviously we can't resign everyone with such a limited amount of cap space and will have limited chances for key upgrades as well.  So what are the biggest needs? I'd say d-line (defensive end primarily), and then potentially cornerback, wide reciever, and o-line (center/guard but Spencer Brown isn't surefire from my perspective either) depending on who they cut and bring back. I suspect Harrison Phillips will be back which is why I did not list defensive tackle and hope Hughes is back on a team friendly one-year deal (and that we see huge progression from our rookie ends) but who knows. 

 

Honestly, our needs look a lot like last year's but with less cap space to resign and pick up free agents... I get what all the Bills players are saying when they mention the team will look different next year. 

[CaptnCoke11]

No need to cut Mitch Morse.  He’s playing really well.  That would create a huge hole that doesn’t need to happen.  D.  Williams I’d ask to maybe restructure but definitely is a release candidate.  Beasley I’d put in the same boat as Williams.  Love to have him back but he’ll need to be extended or restructure to save some money.  Also a long term extension with Diggs could free up some space as well.  

[Warcodered]

1 minute ago, Ball'n said:

Like most bills fans, I can barely comprehend what happened last night and the complete choke from a play calling perspective with 13 seconds left in the game to allow KC the chance to sneak back into the game and ultimately win in the end will haunt me for a long time. In an effort to deflect in a different direction, what does everyone expect for the Offseason? For purposes of this conversation I'm speaking strictly player moves and not factoring in coaching changes. 

 

The Bills have $9.5 million in projected cap space for 2022 and their biggest ways to save cap space include cutting center Mitch Morse ($7.5m), Daryl Williams ($5.3m), and Cole Beasley ($6m). Key free agents include Emmanuel Sanders, Mario Addison, Jerry Hughes, Levi Wallace, Isaiah Mckenzie, Mitchell Trubiski, and Harrison Philips (Bates is a restricted free agent so I assume he will be back). 

 

Obviously we can't resign everyone with such a limited amount of cap space and will have limited chances for key upgrades as well.  So what are the biggest needs? I'd say d-line (defensive end primarily), and then potentially cornerback, wide reciever, and o-line (center/guard but Spencer Brown isn't surefire from my perspective either) depending on who they cut and bring back. I suspect Harrison Phillips will be back which is why I did not list defensive tackle and hope Hughes is back on a team friendly one-year deal (and that we see huge progression from our rookie ends) but who knows. 

 

Honestly, our needs look a lot like last year's but with less cap space to resign and pick up free agents... I get what all the Bills players are saying when they mention the team will look different next year. 

I'd be surprised if these guys are still here.

[Ball'n]

10 minutes ago, CaptnCoke11 said:

No need to cut Mitch Morse.  He’s playing really well.  That would create a huge hole that doesn’t need to happen.  D.  Williams I’d ask to maybe restructure but definitely is a release candidate.  Beasley I’d put in the same boat as Williams.  Love to have him back but he’ll need to be extended or restructure to save some money.  Also a long term extension with Diggs could free up some space as well.  

Thanks for bringing up a Diggs extension, I forgot about how that could free up some much needed cap space for us. 

 

Realizing you don't want to sacrifice too much future leverage, I'd personally like to trade for a top end pass rusher, not sure how the bills get one otherwise. I realize that game was ours for the taking but look at the impacts Von Miller and Melvin Ingram have had. 

[lookylookyherecomescookie]

      Don't put a dime onto the defensive side of the ball. With the current rules and officiating, and the emergence of QB's such as Mahomes, Allen, possibly Burrow, Herbert, and who knows who else will appear, who have great arms, legs, and heads , defense is becoming irrelevant.   Belicheck with a good defense was helpless against us.  Our "#1" defense was helpless against Mahomes.   K.C. beat us with their very mediocre defense because of their offense. 

          It used to be good offense wins games, defense wins championships.  No more.  A topflight qb will generally beat a topflight defense.  If your defense isn't going to win games for you, might as well have a mediocre one (K.C.), and put your $ and draft resources into protecting and enhancing your most important player. Do everything you can to build and improve and solidify the O-line.

      It will help Josh, prolong his career, make your rb's and wide receivers better. With rare exceptions, defense just doesn't matter. If you don't believe this, show me one bills game this year that the defense won for us. I can't find one

[TheyCallMeAndy]

Cutting Bease (6), Star (1.5), Klein (5.1), and Mongo (3.4) opens up 15.9 million.

 

Williams and Morse are good, I wouldn’t cut either of them.

 

Perhaps Poyer and Hyde will restructure to help the team out. 

[MWK]

Replace Daboll with Dorsey, assuming that he leaves. Leslie won’t get fired or leave, but he should.

 

Cut Beasley, Klein, Feliciano, Williams, Matakevich, Haack. That gets us to 33 million in space. Restructuring Dawkins, Diggs, and White gets us to 52 million in space, if that is something we choose to do. Pray Star retires, because cutting him only saves 1.5 million. I’d keep Morse, he’s a solid center. Let Hughes, Addison, Butler walk. Re-sign Phillips, Wallace, and McKenzie. Bates will be back as an RFA. Let everyone else who is a free agent walk.

 

Sign/Draft 2 starting level defensive linemen, a starting WR (I love Christian Kirk), one offensive line starter, offensive line competition, a linebacker or two, a running back to compliment Singletary, and a second tight end. I would also look at guys who get cut like we usually do, like Sanders this year. Trade moss and cody ford for a football apiece. Profit.

Edited January 25, 2022 by MWK

[Mark Vader]

2 hours ago, Ball'n said:

Like most bills fans, I can barely comprehend what happened last night and the complete choke from a play calling perspective with 13 seconds left in the game to allow KC the chance to sneak back into the game and ultimately win in the end will haunt me for a long time. In an effort to deflect in a different direction, what does everyone expect for the Offseason? For purposes of this conversation I'm speaking strictly player moves and not factoring in coaching changes. 

 

The Bills have $9.5 million in projected cap space for 2022 and their biggest ways to save cap space include cutting center Mitch Morse ($7.5m), Daryl Williams ($5.3m), and Cole Beasley ($6m). Key free agents include Emmanuel Sanders, Mario Addison, Jerry Hughes, Levi Wallace, Isaiah Mckenzie, Mitchell Trubiski, and Harrison Philips (Bates is a restricted free agent so I assume he will be back). 

 

Obviously we can't resign everyone with such a limited amount of cap space and will have limited chances for key upgrades as well.  So what are the biggest needs? I'd say d-line (defensive end primarily), and then potentially cornerback, wide reciever, and o-line (center/guard but Spencer Brown isn't surefire from my perspective either) depending on who they cut and bring back. I suspect Harrison Phillips will be back which is why I did not list defensive tackle and hope Hughes is back on a team friendly one-year deal (and that we see huge progression from our rookie ends) but who knows. 

 

Honestly, our needs look a lot like last year's but with less cap space to resign and pick up free agents... I get what all the Bills players are saying when they mention the team will look different next year. 

Why cut Daryl Williams, he's been great at Guard. They should cut Jon Feliciano and restructure Williams.

[Big Blitz]

44 minutes ago, lookylookyherecomescookie said:

      Don't put a dime onto the defensive side of the ball. With the current rules and officiating, and the emergence of QB's such as Mahomes, Allen, possibly Burrow, Herbert, and who knows who else will appear, who have great arms, legs, and heads , defense is becoming irrelevant.   

 

 

Not irrelevant.  We just suck at the worst spot possible on D.

 

You need a front 4 that can get home.

 

 

The 49ers, Rams, and Chiefs can all get home with their front.  

 

My God the Bengals played the seeding perfectly.  But good luck in KC fellas.  Jones is going to have 5 sacks and Mahomes is not gonna Tannehill.  

[Ball'n]

1 minute ago, Mark Vader said:

Why cut Daryl Williams, he's been great at Guard. They should cut Jon Feliciano and restructure Williams.

Just to be clear, I'm not recommending they cut Williams. I was moreso listing some of the bigger cap savings they could achieve. I especially would want to keep Williams if Mitch does in fact retire. Other savings include Klein and Feliciano. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/cap/ is the best resource for this that I am aware of.  Personally I'm all for on-line depth and would prefer to keep Feliciano but also understand cap savings are a premium and most will likely prefer that he is cut or restructured if willing. 

[ngbills]

Good as gone:

Beas $6M, Klein $5.2M, Feliciano $3.5M

 

That gets us to $25M in space.

Ford and Matakevich could get another $4M; D Williams would get another $5.5M. 

 

Restrux ?

Diggs, White, Dawkins can each get $5M plus in cap dollars with restrux. 

 

So without doing a ton we could be sitting at anywhere from $25M to $50M in cap space. 

 

That should be enough to bring in a few good players. 

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

1 hour ago, TheyCallMeAndy said:

Cutting Bease (6), Star (1.5), Klein (5.1), and Mongo (3.4) opens up 15.9 million.

 

Williams and Morse are good, I wouldn’t cut either of them.

 

Perhaps Poyer and Hyde will restructure to help the team out. 

 

1 hour ago, MWK said:

Replace Daboll with Dorsey, assuming that he leaves. Leslie won’t get fired or leave, but he should.

 

Cut Beasley, Klein, Feliciano, Williams, Matakevich, Haack. That gets us to 33 million in space. Restructuring Dawkins, Diggs, and White gets us to 52 million in space, if that is something we choose to do. Pray Star retires, because cutting him only saves 1.5 million. I’d keep Morse, he’s a solid center. Let Hughes, Addison, Butler walk. Re-sign Phillips, Wallace, and McKenzie. Bates will be back as an RFA. Let everyone else who is a free agent walk.

 

Sign/Draft 2 starting level defensive linemen, a starting WR (I love Christian Kirk), one offensive line starter, offensive line competition, a linebacker or two, a running back to compliment Singletary, and a second tight end. I would also look at guys who get cut like we usually do, like Sanders this year. Trade moss and cody ford for a football apiece. Profit.

 

Not sure cutting Star is worth it with a $7.7 Mil cap hit.  Think even if he retires hit is the same unless he's one of the very few NFL players thta elects to give back money he's already been given. 

 

Signing Edmunds to long term deal also frees up money.  I know many here want him cut, but that's a $12.7 mil cap hit so not going to happen.  Likely option unless thye can find a team to trade him to would be sign him to deal.

 

I'd try and resign Phillips, Bates, Wallace, Obada, McKenzie, and maybe Zimmer