FA and draft needs? Shoot your shot.

[thunderingsquid]

I looked around and saw scattered comments on team needs so thought I'd start a more comprehensive thread.

 

What do you all think our team needs are in FA and the draft?

I'm with Aaron Quinn of Cover 1 and on Team Protect Josh.  I think G and competition for T are our biggest needs right now.

 

On the list in order after that IMHO are WR, Edge, RB.  I'm not interested in S, I think Benford will step in for Poyer and I think we will tag Edmunds. 

 

Let me know your thoughts and btw I am a big proponent of the Draft Network, get a premium subscription and start beta testing the mock draft machine tonight! 

 

[ROCBillsBeliever]

Let's not forget that we do still have Tommy Doyle, under contract. He's coming off an ACL, from the hot Phin debacle, so he should be ready to go for the season opener. We had started using him in the "eligible OL" / blocking TE role, a bit, prior to his injury. Cheap, in the system, athletic freak, has hands... Just an under-the-radar guy that should be noted, in the conversation. 

[Billl]

LB franchise tag is going to be around $20,000,000.  Don’t think that’s going to be an option.

[Big Blitz]

1. Center

2. Safety (if Poyer leaves)

3. DT (if we trade Oliver - if not scratch from list but I’m shopping him) 

4. WR

5. OG (the new center if drafted plays Guard until Mitch is done).  

 

I think making those positions the off season priority lines up with how you build an elite team.   
 

The fact they happen to be our biggest needs now after 6 years of this regime is gross.   
 

 

 

Center absolutely has to be priority number 1 - especially if that guy can play Guard.  
 

For the record I think Mitch will be back.  Still want a Center.  

[LABILLBACKER]

1.  RT, Brown needs to be a backup only.

 

2. RG, Bates will be replacing Saffold at LG so we'll need RG who can transition to C when Morse leaves.

 

3. WR2, not going to be Davis or Shakir.  Josh deserves better with Diggs approaching 30. 

 

Other areas of need include power RB, S,  DT, TE2. 

[Mark Vader]

My wish list.

 

Free Agency:

OL Issac Seamolu

OL Dalton Risner

WR DJ Chark

RB Samaje Perine

 

I don't think signing these players is that difficult to do and will not hurt our salary cap.

 

Draft:

S Antonio Johnson or Jordan Battle

OL John Michael Schmitz or Olusegun Oluwatimi & Steve Avila or Andrew Vorhees

WR Rashee Rice or Cedric Tillman or Zay Flowers or Rakim Jarrett

DL Mike Morris

 

We will need a Safety, if that means using our first pick on one, so be it.

Offensive Guard & Center is more of a dire need than Offensive Tackle.

[PrimeTime101]

42 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

1.  RT, Brown needs to be a backup only.

 

2. RG, Bates will be replacing Saffold at LG so we'll need RG who can transition to C when Morse leaves.

 

3. WR2, not going to be Davis or Shakir.  Josh deserves better with Diggs approaching 30. 

 

Other areas of need include power RB, S,  DT, TE2. 

THIS! everything is secondary after this. With a strong RT and RG + a true #2? we be in the SB right now.

[John from Riverside]

We need to bring in one quality guard, and draft one higher than the fifth round
 

The first round pick needs to be a right tackle so that we can move Spencer to the swing tackle role

 

The second round pick needs to be an offensive weapon of some kind, preferably a wide receiver and we need to take two in the draft

 

In the later rounds, we need to find that bruiser running back to go along with cook

 

 

[LABILLBACKER]

21 minutes ago, PrimeTime101 said:

THIS! everything is secondary after this. With a strong RT and RG + a true #2? we be in the SB right now.

These are the 3 biggest positional changes that need to be made immediately. We only have 6 picks and even with a ton of contract restructuring, Beane will be lucky to squeeze out 18-20M to play with in FA.  The first 3 picks need to be any combination of one WR, one G/C and one RT.

[John from Riverside]

52 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

These are the 3 biggest positional changes that need to be made immediately. We only have 6 picks and even with a ton of contract restructuring, Beane will be lucky to squeeze out 18-20M to play with in FA.  The first 3 picks need to be any combination of one WR, one G/C and one RT.

Draft another press man corner to go along with Elam
 

No more 8 yards off the ball *****

[Pete]

1-LG

2-WR2

3-RB when Motor leaves

4-S- when Poyer leaves

5-Edge

6-LB if Edmunds leaves

 

Beane has his work cut out.  Fix both lines, offense, and secondaey

[NastyNateSoldiers]

5 hours ago, Mark Vader said:

My wish list.

 

Free Agency:

OL Issac Seamolu

OL Dalton Risner

WR DJ Chark

RB Samaje Perine

 

I don't think signing these players is that difficult to do and will not hurt our salary cap.

 

Draft:

S Antonio Johnson or Jordan Battle

OL John Michael Schmitz or Olusegun Oluwatimi & Steve Avila or Andrew Vorhees

WR Rashee Rice or Cedric Tillman or Zay Flowers or Rakim Jarrett

DL Mike Morris

 

We will need a Safety, if that means using our first pick on one, so be it.

Offensive Guard & Center is more of a dire need than Offensive Tackle.

 G - Ben Powers 4yrs 40 mil

RB- Saquon Barkley 4yrs 50mil 

WR- Darius Slayton 2yrs 12mil 

SS - Chauncey Gardner Johnson 4yrs 40mil 

 

i know we have cap issues but we can open some space with turning cash to bonuses for Allen, Dawkins , Tre & Diggs . We can also sign these guys with little impact to the 2023 cap . The rest of the roster can be filled with the draft and dust settle free agents. 

[PBF81]

I have no idea how we can't go almost entirely OL on Days 1 & 2 (Rounds 1-3) 

 

On Beane's watch we've only drafted OL-men twice on days 1/2, Ford, who sucked and is gone, and Brown, probably not far behind.  So in five Beane drafts we have Brown to show for our efforts in rounds 1-3.  SMH  

 

Then of course we follow it up with stocking our OL with 1-2 year free agent signees on the cheap.  It's the exact opposite of Belichick's approach, which was make sure your lines are great and chinse on the rest.  

 

I mean what are we going to wait for, Allen to suffer a complete knee injury, or a hip, shoulder, etc., then say "we need to beef up the OL."  Honestly, any half-witted fan seems to understand this better than our multi-million dollar GM and HC.  

 

I'd probably take a chance that Patterson (C) is there late in round 2, grab the best OT or OG in late round 1.   I'd probably grab another OG/OT in round 3, or a TE that can block.  Morse isn't long for the team anymore, Dawkins is our only above-average OL-man.  He's only under contract for two more seasons.  What, we're going to wait until our OL completely sucks rhino breasts before we make a move.  

 

Beane obviously doesn't know how to draft for the Front-7.  8 of his 15 day 1/2 picks have been in the F7, including trade-up Oliver and Edmnds, and look what we have to show for it.  Not a ringer in the bunch.  I expect him to take another DE/OLB early tho, hey, why not, it's just a video game to him apparently.  

 

 

 

 

Edited February 7, 2023 by PBF81

[John from Riverside]

1 minute ago, PBF81 said:

I have no idea how we can't go almost entirely OL on Days 1 & 2 (Rounds 1-3) 

 

On Beane's watch we've only drafted OL-men twice on days 1/2, Ford, who sucked and is gone, and Brown, probably not far behind.  So in five Beane drafts we have Brown to show for our efforts in rounds 1-3.  SMH  

 

Then of course we follow it up with stocking our OL with 1-2 year free agent signees on the cheap.  It's the exact opposite of Belichick's approach, which was make sure your lines are great and chinse on the rest.  

 

I mean what are we going to wait for, Allen to suffer a complete knee injury, or a hip, shoulder, etc., then say "we need to beef up the OL."  Honestly, any half-witted fan seems to understand this better than our multi-million dollar GM and HC.  

 

I'd probably take a chance that Patterson (C) is there late in round 2, grab the best OT or OG in late round 1.   I'd probably grab another OG/OT in round 3, or a TE that can block.  Morse isn't long for the team anymore, Dawkins is our only above-average OL-man.  He's only under contract for two more seasons.  What, we're going to wait until our OL completely sucks rhino breasts before we make a move.  

 

 

It’s not our only need
We definitely need to go offense of line high though at least once, and then later in the draft

Good practice is usually to bring in a quality vet to go along with a quality draft pick

I’m not convinced that Spencer is the long-term outlook at right tackle either. I’m not convinced that we shouldn’t go right tackle with the 27th pick and then someone like Ben Powers in free agency

[PBF81]

Just now, John from Riverside said:

It’s not our only need
We definitely need to go offense of line high though at least once, and then later in the draft

Good practice is usually to bring in a quality vet to go along with a quality draft pick

I’m not convinced that Spencer is the long-term outlook at right tackle either. I’m not convinced that we shouldn’t go right tackle with the 27th pick and then someone like Ben Powers in free agency

 

It's our primary one, and B, the one that's gotten the least attention on this team on Beane's watch, yet, arguably the most important given that we have Allen.  Allen's gotten lucky so far.  That luck's not going to hold out for 6 or 7 more seasons like that. 

[John from Riverside]

29 minutes ago, NastyNateSoldiers said:

 G - Ben Powers 4yrs 40 mil

RB- Saquon Barkley 4yrs 50mil 

WR- Darius Slayton 2yrs 12mil 

SS - Chauncey Gardner Johnson 4yrs 40mil 

 

i know we have cap issues but we can open some space with turning cash to bonuses for Allen, Dawkins , Tre & Diggs . We can also sign these guys with little impact to the 2023 cap . The rest of the roster can be filled with the draft and dust settle free agents. 

for those dreaming that being is just going to turn every contract on the team into signing bonus and kick the can down the road. I think this is going to be a boring and dismal off-season for you. You cannot keep doing that.

 

We are going to probably do a couple of contracts to get under the cap and we won’t be players in day one of free agency. I will be shocked and pleasantly surprised if we get one quality day one guy in free agency help is going to have to come to the draft now because draft picks are on quality control contracts and guys that we have picked last year we’re gonna have to step up and take bigger roles on the team. This is what happens when you start paying a franchise QB. 

Just now, PBF81 said:

 

It's our primary one, and B, the one that's gotten the least attention on this team on Beane's watch, yet, arguably the most important given that we have Allen.  Allen's gotten lucky so far.  That luck's not going to hold out for 6 or 7 more seasons like that. 

More QBs are getting hurt in the pocket then out of it so that really isn’t the issue. The issue is we can’t run the ball consistently and Josh doesn’t have time to throw consistently.

[NastyNateSoldiers]

21 minutes ago, John from Riverside said:

for those dreaming that being is just going to turn every contract on the team into signing bonus and kick the can down the road. I think this is going to be a boring and dismal off-season for you. You cannot keep doing that.

 

We are going to probably do a couple of contracts to get under the cap and we won’t be players in day one of free agency. I will be shocked and pleasantly surprised if we get one quality day one guy in free agency help is going to have to come to the draft now because draft picks are on quality control contracts and guys that we have picked last year we’re gonna have to step up and take bigger roles on the team. This is what happens when you start paying a franchise QB. 

More QBs are getting hurt in the pocket then out of it so that really isn’t the issue. The issue is we can’t run the ball consistently and Josh doesn’t have time to throw consistently.

If I was the Bills I won’t waste any years while I have Allen keep kicking the can down the road like the Saints until Allen is a shell of himself. 

[PBF81]

17 minutes ago, John from Riverside said:

More QBs are getting hurt in the pocket then out of it so that really isn’t the issue. The issue is we can’t run the ball consistently and Josh doesn’t have time to throw consistently.

 

Not a bad point in a vacuum I suppose, but Allen gets hammered more than most QBs in the pocket, and, that's why he has to run/scramble often, because there is no pocket.  

 

Either way, here are the facts to date on Beane's drafts: 

 

He's poured almost everything into the D, but it sucks in the playoffs.  

 

Most of his draft picks on days 1 & 2 have been in the Front-7 and he still hasn't produced an impact player there.  How many more resources are we going to expend doing that.  

 

He's swung and missed on 3 day 1/2 RBs, same there.  Nothing better than average if even that.  

 

No WRs on days 1/2 and only the two OL-men I'd mentioned, Ford and Brown.  

 

In short, I think that a lot of people are going to be banging their heads against a wall if he goes DE/DT/LB/RB again, despite the fact that due to his inability to draft well all of those needs still exist.  

 

I like your plan of OT in round 1.  I would strongly suggest that if Patterson is there in round 2 that they take him.  They won't, so we're both pissing into the wind.  LOL  All we can do is watch anyway.  I suppose it's fun to play GM tho.  I wish I had a fraction of the paycheck that comes with it tho.  LOL 

 

 

[NastyNateSoldiers]

Just now, NastyNateSoldiers said:

If I was the Bills I won’t waste any years while I have Allen keep kicking the can down the road like the Saints until Allen is a shell of himself. 

Plus the cap is about to go up drastically in the coming yrs and some of these guys will be no longer on the team. Draft to replace Dawkins and Tre . Mof we can open up 30mil in cap space just by trading 

Morse

Tre 

Oliver

[oldmanfan]

The offensive line.  And hope the young guys start playing better on the D line.  Football is won up front.  Always has been, always will be.