Could OJ Howard be on the trade block?

[T master]

I feel moving on from him would be in the best interest for the team & it's future . Beans & company do such a great job in their drafting & FA that to keep a younger player that has a higher upside for less money seems to be the way to go .

 

The Bills TE room has plenty of talent even with out Howard & if Beane can get a draft pick of r him & free up some cap i'd say go for it because the others in the room can do as good i feel & be more cost effective & maybe even a bit more hungry to prove them selves .

[LABILLBACKER]

16 hours ago, jkeerie said:

On One Bills Live today they had Greg Cosell in who analyzed the tape of the Bronco game.  He said that Howard was excellent in the blocking game in addition to his TD catch.

I just don't get this confused love for Sweeney or Morris? They're nothing special other than Jags. Let Howard play out his 1 yr contract and see if he can slip into the endzone a few times. If someone is willing to give us a 4th then maybe?

[Matt_In_NH]

I think he is on the bubble...but if someone is willing to trade  for him....

[extrahammer]

I think at this point it's unlikely Howard is traded. The Athletic writer jumped the gun on that. 

[C.Biscuit97]

Definitely biased because I thought he was going to be great in the nfl but I’d rather take a chance on him getting to 75% of the player he was in college than moving him for like a 7th rounder. Potential doesn’t mean anything in the nfl but he is the most physically talented number 2 TE in the nfl. Plus, he seems like a great dude to have in the lockerroom. 

[mrags]

1 hour ago, LABILLBACKER said:

I just don't get this confused love for Sweeney or Morris? They're nothing special other than Jags. Let Howard play out his 1 yr contract and see if he can slip into the endzone a few times. If someone is willing to give us a 4th then maybe?

I like Morris quite a bit but 100% in Sweeney. They are both JAGs really. But Morris might actually have some upside. Sweeney will never be anything more than JAG. The terrible thing is, up until a few years ago, he’d be a guy that we would be excited about as a starter. 

[Don Otreply]

Of players that may get traded, Howard is, imo, among the least likely to be traded, in which he is better than who he is competing against for the position. But hey, what do I know, it’s not like I had lunch with Beane and McDermott and they asked my opinion, 😁

[Beck Water]

1 hour ago, LABILLBACKER said:

I just don't get this confused love for Sweeney or Morris? They're nothing special other than Jags. Let Howard play out his 1 yr contract and see if he can slip into the endzone a few times. If someone is willing to give us a 4th then maybe?

 

I dunno about "confused love" for Sweeney and Morris.

 

I think many of us were hoping that OJ Howard would be a clear upgrade from Sweeney or Morris. 

And by all reports, that has not been the case in training camp. 

 

 

[Beck Water]

28 minutes ago, mrags said:

I like Morris quite a bit but 100% in Sweeney. They are both JAGs really. But Morris might actually have some upside. Sweeney will never be anything more than JAG. The terrible thing is, up until a few years ago, he’d be a guy that we would be excited about as a starter. 

 

I share your assessment about Sweeney.  I had hopes for him last season and he squibbed, and nothing he's done during the open part of training camp showed different.  I think he's a guy who can get things done against the #2s and #3s of the NFL, but comes up small when the Bills need him most against top players. 

 

The Bills moved on from Lee Smith in the hopes Sweeney was ready to take on some of his blocking role, but that worked so well the Bills wound up filling that role last season by bringing in Tommy Doyle or Ryan Bates.

 

I like what I've seen of Morris, but I believe he's a converted WR.  He's 2"-4" shorter than the other TE.  The Bills have him listed at 252, but I dunno.  So the question is again with Morris is, can he block in line, and can he block in space?  I don't think it's a size thing so much as a brain thing.  Does he have the mindset for it?

27 minutes ago, Don Otreply said:

Of players that may get traded, Howard is, imo, among the least likely to be traded, in which he is better than who he is competing against for the position. But hey, what do I know, it’s not like I had lunch with Beane and McDermott and they asked my opinion, 😁

 

The thing is, if he's better than Morris and Sweeney, why are they starting with the 1's while Howard runs with the 2's and 3's?  Why are we hearing about plays Sweeney and Morris made in training camp/practice but not Howard?  When asked about him, the Bills beat reporters say "nothing to report"

 

That said, he may be a better blocker - I'm not sure the beat reporters pay attention to that so much, so ....

[Don Otreply]

8 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

I share your assessment about Sweeney.  I had hopes for him last season and he squibbed, and nothing he's done during the open part of training camp showed different.  I think he's a guy who can get things done against the #2s and #3s of the NFL, but comes up small when the Bills need him most against top players. 

 

The Bills moved on from Lee Smith in the hopes Sweeney was ready to take on some of his blocking role, but that worked so well the Bills wound up filling that role last season by bringing in Tommy Doyle or Ryan Bates.

 

I like what I've seen of Morris, but I believe he's a converted WR.  He's 2"-4" shorter than the other TE.  The Bills have him listed at 252, but I dunno.  So the question is again with Morris is, can he block in line, and can he block in space?  I don't think it's a size thing so much as a brain thing.  Does he have the mindset for it?

 

The thing is, if he's better than Morris and Sweeney, why are they starting with the 1's while Howard runs with the 2's and 3's?  Why are we hearing about plays Sweeney and Morris made in training camp/practice but not Howard?  When asked about him, the Bills beat reporters say "nothing to report"

 

That said, he may be a better blocker - I'm not sure the beat reporters pay attention to that so much, so ....

It comes down to two things 1) three million in total dead money, vs 2) can either Morris or Sweeney perform better overall than Howard, that’s the question, Sweeney has been mediocre at best, and Morris can’t get off the practice squad, so ask yourself the question , ‘what would you do” if it was your decision…,

 

Go Bills!!!

[Warriorspikes51]

Howard can likely make more impact by only being on the field in the redzone than Sweeney will make all season.  I'd keep Morris if we want a 3rd TE and look to trade Sweeney to the Giants. Morris looks good blocking and may be underrated as a pass catcher 

Edited August 23, 2022 by Warriorspikes51

[freddyjj]

It looks doubtful imho.  OBD seems to be leaning towards 2QBs, 5RB/FB, 7 WR, 8 OL and 3TEs.  

[mrags]

34 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

I share your assessment about Sweeney.  I had hopes for him last season and he squibbed, and nothing he's done during the open part of training camp showed different.  I think he's a guy who can get things done against the #2s and #3s of the NFL, but comes up small when the Bills need him most against top players. 

 

The Bills moved on from Lee Smith in the hopes Sweeney was ready to take on some of his blocking role, but that worked so well the Bills wound up filling that role last season by bringing in Tommy Doyle or Ryan Bates.

 

I like what I've seen of Morris, but I believe he's a converted WR.  He's 2"-4" shorter than the other TE.  The Bills have him listed at 252, but I dunno.  So the question is again with Morris is, can he block in line, and can he block in space?  I don't think it's a size thing so much as a brain thing.  Does he have the mindset for it?

 

The thing is, if he's better than Morris and Sweeney, why are they starting with the 1's while Howard runs with the 2's and 3's?  Why are we hearing about plays Sweeney and Morris made in training camp/practice but not Howard?  When asked about him, the Bills beat reporters say "nothing to report"

 

That said, he may be a better blocker - I'm not sure the beat reporters pay attention to that so much, so ....

Yeah I had high hopes for Sweeney also. Unfortunately it hasn’t worked out. Some setbacks for him didn’t help. 
 

id take my chances with having an actual OL out there as an eligible receiver over having Sweeney at this point also. 

15 minutes ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

Howard can likely make more impact by only being on the field in the redzone than Sweeney will make all season.  I'd keep Morris if we want a 3rd TE and look to trade Sweeney to the Giants. Morris looks good blocking and may be underrated as a pass catcher 

This x1,000,000. He will likely draw coverage and if he doesn’t, I like the idea of having a tall, go up and get it guy who is by far the tallest pass catcher in the field. 
 

id feel more comfortable with keeping Knox and Howard and having Gilliam as the 3rd man on game days. He also plays FB and is a special teamer as well. Someone that actually gets use out of multiple positions. He will dress almost every single game. 
 

you can probably stash at least one of Sweeney and Morris on the PS. 

[Beck Water]

21 hours ago, mrags said:

Yeah I had high hopes for Sweeney also. Unfortunately it hasn’t worked out. Some setbacks for him didn’t help.

 

In some ways it's kinda like this is year 2 for him but, it's actually year 4

 

I could just be jaded because I'd really really like to see the Bills upgrade at TE, but I just don't think we did.  Maybe I'm too negative about Howard because I hoped he'd be That Guy.

 

21 hours ago, mrags said:

id feel more comfortable with keeping Knox and Howard and having Gilliam as the 3rd man on game days. He also plays FB and is a special teamer as well. Someone that actually gets use out of multiple positions. He will dress almost every single game. 

 

Gilliam will most definitely dress every single game he's not on injury report.  He did last year (16/17 games). 

 

21 hours ago, mrags said:

you can probably stash at least one of Sweeney and Morris on the PS. 

 

I'm thinking Morris would be an easy PS stash.  I don't think we'd have teams lining up to grab Sweeney, but I think the rules are more restrictive again about how many experienced players can be stashed.  PS rules still make my head hurt, but I think Sweeney counts as 2 accrued seasons for PS purposes.

[ddaryl]

2 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

In some ways it's kinda like this is year 2 for him but, it's actually year 4

 

I could just be jaded because I'd really really like to see the Bills upgrade at TE, but I just don't think we did.  Maybe I'm too negative about Howard because I hoped he'd be That Guy.

 

I've already chalked it up as a priority heading into the offseason next year

But I think Howard is staying because Sweeney hasn't shown much, Morris can be stashed on the PS and hopefully he can do what Sweeney couldn't, get better

[Bob Chandler's Hands]

If they want to go with Sweeney and Morris if they can trade Howard it's less about what they get back than it is clearing $2M off the salary cap (or something like that) which would be dead money if they cut him.  That additional money can be used to sign a street FA, make a mid-season trade for a more expensive veteran, or just rolled into next year when they need to resign several key guys. 

 

[Beck Water]

3 hours ago, Bob Chandler's Hands said:

If they want to go with Sweeney and Morris if they can trade Howard it's less about what they get back than it is clearing $2M off the salary cap (or something like that) which would be dead money if they cut him.  That additional money can be used to sign a street FA, make a mid-season trade for a more expensive veteran, or just rolled into next year when they need to resign several key guys. 

 

 

Just a note that if they trade Howard and his $1.95M salary, but keep Sweeney on the roster, he adds $0.895M so the net gain is only ~$1M

 

Edit: I missed that Howard's $.255M roster bonus is a per-game, so it's actually $2.25M savings on a trade, less whatever salary the player who replaces him carries.

Edited August 24, 2022 by Beck Water

[frostbitmic]

If they trade Howard and Knox gets hurt, who do you start at TE or do you just forget about that part of your offense ?

[Airseven]

I don't think you could get anything for him. Health may be the issue, not scheme/fit/etc. 

1 hour ago, frostbitmic said:

If they trade Howard and Knox gets hurt, who do you start at TE or do you just forget about that part of your offense ?

 

Sweeney

[JDubya76]

15 minutes ago, Airseven said:

Sweeney

So nobody