Reggie Gilliam signs 2 yr, up to 5.2 mil extension

[Logic]

Those who have an issue with Reggie Gilliam must have missed the part of last season where his being inserted into the lineup at the expense of an extra WR diversified the Bills’ offense, allowed it to keep opposing defenses more off balance, and helped to resuscitate it from its moribund state.

 

He plays FB, TE3, short yardage back, and all four special teams.

 

He’s a glue guy. He’s the type of player every roster needs. He does lots of dirty work. He’s not a star, but fullbacks rarely are.

 

He’ll continue to be a big part of the Bills’ team success, and when the full details of his deal come out, they will likely reveal that he’s making peanuts.

 

Good job by the Bills rewarding a key piece of the roster. 

Edited August 7, 2022 by Logic

[Ethan in Cleveland]

3 minutes ago, JGMcD2 said:

 

Well then, I don't really understand your original point?

 

 

My original point is I would not have Gilliam on the team at all. Therefore any cap space he took up could be used elsewhere as would the roster spot. I agree with you, that whatever cap space he does take up probably is not that significant. 

[K D]

They were running a lot of 2 TE's and power I on Fri.  Dorsey installing some plays from the U i see

 

My only gripe would be that it seems like a lot to pay for a FB, you would think he would be on the league min

[YoloinOhio]

 

[Logic]

4 minutes ago, KDIGGZ said:

They were running a lot of 2 TE's and power I on Fri.  Dorsey installing some plays from the U i see

 

My only gripe would be that it seems like a lot to pay for a FB, you would think he would be on the league min

 

Im not sure how many times this needs to be said:

 

When a deal is first announced, the numbers are coming from the player’s agent, who makes it sound as good as possible with language like “up to” x amount of $$$.

 

You must always, ALWAYS wait for the real details of the contract to come out, which almost ALWAYS look very different than the initial announcement.

[Rocky Landing]

9 minutes ago, Don Otreply said:

It would appear that in this case, you are on the outside looking in, so to speak, although I saw it as obvious, many here don’t understand that the offensive scheme was going to change with the Dorsey signing to the OC position , lots of small changes have been made, yet many don’t see it, and many who do see it don’t understand why, the offensive game is going through another change league wide, the teams that don’t see it are going to be playing catch up for a while. Its going to be an exciting season, teams are scrambling for versatility in their players, some coaches will be better than others at implementing schemes to utilize this concept, those that do it right will have in a sense caught lighting in a bottle… (everybody is a threat to score points) 

 

Go Bills !!!

I have felt that the signing of Saffold, the early attempted signing of McKissic, and then Johnson, the hiring of Kromer, and the drafting of Cook shows that they are committed to improving the run game. I'm also of the opinion that that commitment began before the end of the 2021 season.

 

Good point also about versatility, and I think Beane, and McD have always felt that way about versatility. I had never really thought about it in terms of "everybody is a threat to score points" -- even Big Tommy Doyle!

[Ethan in Cleveland]

2 minutes ago, Logic said:

Those who have an issue with Reggie Gilliam must have missed the part of last season where his being inserted into the lineup at the expense of an extra WR diversified the Bills’ offense, allowed it to keep opposing defenses more off balance, and helped to resuscitate it from its moribund state.

 

He plays FB, TE3, short yardage back, and all four special teams.

 

He’s a glue guy. He’s the type of player every roster needs. He does lots of dirty work. He’s not a star, but fullbacks rarely are.

 

He’ll continue to be a big part of the Bills’ team success, and when the full details of his deal come out, it will likely reveal that he’s making peanuts.

 

Good job by the Bills rewarding a key piece of the roster. 

3 rushes for a total of 3 yards in 2021. Very short distance indeed.

I agree they should be in less four and five WR sets. However I would do that with a single RB and two TEs with Knox and Howard. 

We are talking about the final 3 spots on the roster, so I'm not going to sweat it much. Like I said elsewhere I would have used his roster spot to keep an extra OL. I am steadfast in my belief McD overvalues special teams guys, but in Gilliam's defense he does more for the offense than Kumerow and Jones. 

[JerseyBills]

34 minutes ago, Roundybout said:

Love it. Pretty versatile guy and cheap too.

he doesn’t play traditional fullback, he can do a bunch of stuff. Think of him like a hybrid TE/RB.

Ya he's a nice piece to have.  I saw him opening up a few holes in the scrimmage. He must be having an excellent camp

[JGMcD2]

10 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

My original point is I would not have Gilliam on the team at all. Therefore any cap space he took up could be used elsewhere as would the roster spot. I agree with you, that whatever cap space he does take up probably is not that significant. 

He’s not inhibiting us from keeping an extra OL or DB? 
 

They’re likely keeping Knox/Howard/Gilliam as the three “TE” and release Sweeney to open a spot. 
 

Not all that different than Knox/Howard/Sweeney but you actually get use out of Gilliam in multiple places. 
 

Unless you want to do just Knox/Howard? It’s a similar roster spot allocation to last year. 

[Shaw66]

11 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

In theory you are correct. But no DC in the NFL gives a fart where Gilliam lines up.

McDermott should care about the mess of an o-line they have right now more than his special teams. 

You overestimate the value of talent and underestimate the value of scheme.   

 

Except for the real stars in the league, the top 10 at every position, the rest of the players in the league succeed by being good athletes, working hard, and doing their jobs.   

 

DCs worry about two different things.  With a star, they worry about the guy, because the guy can attack you from any place on the field.  And they worry about formation, because formation dictates what places on the field the offense can attack.   When Singletary is on the field, the DC knows something about formation before they every break the huddle.   Yes, Singletary might split out wide once in a while, but no one things he's going to hurt them out there.   With Knox in the huddle, they know something about formation.   

 

But with Gilliam in the huddle, they know a lot less about formation, so the defense is often forced to play their base defense, which works more or less against everything.  So, now the Bills know they're in base defense, and then they line up Gilliam in a spot that creates an advantage against the base defense.   This creates uncertainty, maybe an audible by the defense.  

 

Gilliam doesn't have to be a star to create that problem.  He just has to be smart running patterns and catch the ball consistently.  He just needs to be able take handoffs and not fumble and run to the point of attack.  

 

Gilliam doesn't create value by being great at one thing - he creates value by being adequate at a lot of things.  

[mrags]

3 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

You overestimate the value of talent and underestimate the value of scheme.   

 

Except for the real stars in the league, the top 10 at every position, the rest of the players in the league succeed by being good athletes, working hard, and doing their jobs.   

 

DCs worry about two different things.  With a star, they worry about the guy, because the guy can attack you from any place on the field.  And they worry about formation, because formation dictates what places on the field the offense can attack.   When Singletary is on the field, the DC knows something about formation before they every break the huddle.   Yes, Singletary might split out wide once in a while, but no one things he's going to hurt them out there.   With Knox in the huddle, they know something about formation.   

 

But with Gilliam in the huddle, they know a lot less about formation, so the defense is often forced to play their base defense, which works more or less against everything.  So, now the Bills know they're in base defense, and then they line up Gilliam in a spot that creates an advantage against the base defense.   This creates uncertainty, maybe an audible by the defense.  

 

Gilliam doesn't have to be a star to create that problem.  He just has to be smart running patterns and catch the ball consistently.  He just needs to be able take handoffs and not fumble and run to the point of attack.  

 

Gilliam doesn't create value by being great at one thing - he creates value by being adequate at a lot of things.  

Don’t bother. Most of the haters will never allow themselves to understand it. 

[BearNorth]

Gilliam also blocked SIX kicks in college, so it's likely that every opposing special teams coach is giving him extra attention when he lines up on the kick or punt block team.  Nice tool to have in the tool kit.

 

[Fan in Chicago]

He must have a different or enhanced role in a Dorsey offense for his contract to be extended early. 

 

Third TE spot between Howard and Sweeney will be interesting. Considering the lack of news on Howard through camp, my guess is that he is a goner

[billybrew1]

1 hour ago, Ethan in Portland said:

I just don't see the value for the position. Nor do I see him being that good at FB to warrant anything but league minimum.  

Maybe we will see more this year. I would not carry a FB and would either use Moss or a backup TE at FB if it was needed.

Like others said another overpay for special teams. I would have rather seen that money used on a veteran CB.

So you like to allow other teams to score TDs on kick-off returns and punt returns; is that it?

[NoSaint]

3 hours ago, Steel City Mafia said:

 

 

well, he made it clear who his source was, which means the value is a total question mark and any real reaction are kind of pointless.

[HOUSE]

Secretly training at corner 

[BADOLBILZ]

12 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

 

well, he made it clear who his source was, which means the value is a total question mark and any real reaction are kind of pointless.

 

 

Yeah I couldn't care less about Reggie Gilliam being on the team but the agent is going to fluff the sh*t out of those numbers.    I suspect there are some incentives in that figure which would seem to be extremely unlikely to be met based on past results but it dangles a carrot for the player.   

[TPS]

14 minutes ago, HOUSE said:

Secretly training at corner 

Oh, I thought it was safety given some are concerned about how Poyer feels about it. 

[Mattymafia]

FULLBACK!

[mushypeaches]

This is a move that WINNING teams make -

 

Reward your consistent performers and solid citizens, no matter their draft position

Value special teams and roster versatility

Have veterans in the room to help guide newer players and keep building the team culture

 

Anyone who's B&Ming about the dollars or the fact that players like Gilliam don't have value to teams beyond the pure stats isn't seeing the big picture

 

And also, this helps us to not have to burn a roster spot on a TE3.  That adds value too