At this stage, what would you consider a successful Free Agency prior to the draft?

[Warriorspikes51]

Absolutely Not. This team needs multiple impact players

[Chaos]

Signing Deonte Hardy. Check.  On to the draft we go. 

[RichRiderBills]

I would say first thing is filling the glaring gaps. Second try to improve fix areas of 2ndary weakness, and lastly to get better depth. 

 

I thought getting better for the Bills meant getting saavy tough maulers on the Oline. 

 

Oline is currently worse. We got a mid level finesse blocker, who may or may not pan out. Tons of depth holes along the 2nd string...and no improvement to other weaker starters, or guys with questionable injury history.

 

I knew it was going to be tough to get better at QB2. We got slightly worse. 

 

I also hoped that "addressing gaps" would be w some younger players, not older players or mid level players who have never been the guy you want/ hope them to be. 

 

Because we've not clearly filled those needs, we will likely have to draft the same positions in the draft. 

 

Harty is kind of in an awkward place for me. We need more WRs but still need that slot guy, still need a big WR. 

Edited March 16, 2023 by RichRiderBills

[appoo]

1 hour ago, ScottLaw said:

Like a 33 year old safety or special teams priority players? 
 

Yea… give me a good offensive line.

There’s a massive area between Bad (where the Bills were) to above average (say the chiefs) to great (Eagles)

[BringBackFergy]

2 hours ago, Wizard said:

Resign Special Teams/Cheap Backup Process Guys: Check 

 

Resign Poyer: Surprising Check

 

Sign an average OL: Check

 

Sign a cheap backup QB: Check

 

To Sign List

Bobby Wagner, LB

Trade for Jeudy or M Evans

 

Wish List

Seamulo or Risner

 

For me, A successful free agency has to include at least one of the 5 players mentioned from the To Sign or Wish List to get the 2nd receiver, a stronger OL, or a MLB before the draft.

 

 

So you were the kid that wanted the Atari console AND the Lite Brite from Santa. 
 

Be happy with a pair of socks and a pack of Gatorgum. 

[appoo]

Bottom line - I’m paying Allen 40M to play and make better an average OLine and giving him game breaker weapons. That’s where the money should go on O

[Airseven]

Free agency was not successful. 
 

Curious still if Beane can swing an impactful trade.

[John from Riverside]

2 hours ago, Wizard said:

Resign Special Teams/Cheap Backup Process Guys: Check 

 

Resign Poyer: Surprising Check

 

Sign an average OL: Check

 

Sign a cheap backup QB: Check

 

To Sign List

Bobby Wagner, LB

Trade for Jeudy or M Evans

 

Wish List

Seamulo or Risner

 

For me, A successful free agency has to include at least one of the 5 players mentioned from the To Sign or Wish List to get the 2nd receiver, a stronger OL, or a MLB before the draft.

 

 

Look at the percentile of pass blocking on that lineman and say that he’s average

I’m not upset with the players that we have brought in so far far from it
 

But it has been kind of a bla free agency

 

I expected this we don’t have a lot of money to spend

 

Expect for additions to start coming through the draft, and you’ll be less disappointed

[Chaos]

Just now, John from Riverside said:

Look at the percentile of pass blocking on that lineman and say that he’s average

If you mean McGovern, he is  clearly an above average pass blocker.  And he is clearly a below average run blocker.  He grades out to average overall.  Personally I value pass block more than run blocking, because the Bills offense is entirely 100% dependent on Josh Allen. I think he is a good signing. But overall he is average. 

[Wizard]

Strong pass blocker but average guard overall.

[John from Riverside]

4 minutes ago, Wizard said:

Strong pass blocker but average guard overall.

This is where you need to do a little bit of critical thinking
 

He’s not a strong pass blocker. He’s one of the best pass blockers doesn’t allow sacks doesn’t take penalties.

 

What do we do on this offense?  We pass the ball a ton.
 

Not only was it a great pick up but we got him for about $3 million less than what the other guards were going for

 

Look less at the name on the back of the jersey and more at the attributes

Edited March 17, 2023 by John from Riverside

[Milanos Milano]

10 minutes ago, Airseven said:

Free agency was not successful. 
 

Curious still if Beane can swing an impactful trade.

Landing a WR 1B or star RB or it’s a bust for me. 

[Adam727]

I'm sure this answer will be unpopular.  I want to see Beane unload cap $$.  Beane has backloaded contracts so much that Allen/Miller/Diggs will be counting almost $110 million against the cap in two years.  I liked the Allen restructure, but didn't like the other two as much.  The Bills also have 6-10mil/year in cap space used up by void years every year between now and 2027.  Between restructured/backloaded contracts and void years the Bills will have almost a $20 mil cap space disadvantage vs most teams each year for almost the next half decade.  And we're already 10 mil over next year's cap before accounting for Poyer, the draft, or the ~20 players we're going to need to sign.  The current team is essentially being paid for on a credit card w/ future cap space.  

 

I thought it was smart to let Edmunds walk for $18mil/year, but not if we're going to pay $18mil/year to Hines/Neal/Matakevich/Settle/Harty type players instead.  Those were luxuries I think the Bills should have gone without this year and are not the players I want the Bills to mess up their future cap space for.

 

I would trade Oliver, cut McKenzie, cut Neal because those are the only contracts left on the entire roster the Bills can actually get out of.  Re-sign Phillips/Shaq/Klein if any of them will sign cheap 1 yr deals.  Then go into the draft targeting O-line/LB/Safety and roll whatever money we can over to next year.  Beane was brilliant with the cap his first few years here but I think it's a mistake to keep doubling down on going all in when Josh Allen alone is going to likely keep us competitive for a decade+

 

I'm glad Beane addressed the O-line, and I'm glad Poyer is back, but otherwise not a fan of the $$ given out this offseason and hope not to see much more.  

Edited March 17, 2023 by Adam727

[Chaos]

1 minute ago, Adam727 said:

liked the Allen restructure, but didn't like the other two as much

All restructures are wizardry.  Aren't you paying attention in class?

[John from Riverside]

2 hours ago, ScottLaw said:

Like a 33 year old safety or special teams priority players? 
 

Yea… give me a good offensive line.

We’re going to be happy with McGovern. I just hope that we’re not done there.

5 minutes ago, Adam727 said:

I'm sure this answer will be unpopular.  I want to see Beane unload cap $$.  Beane has backloaded contracts so much that Allen/Miller/Diggs will be counting almost $110 million against the cap in two years.  I liked the Allen restructure, but didn't like the other two as much.  The Bills also have 6-10mil/year in cap space used up by void years every year between now and 2027.  Between restructured/backloaded contracts and void years the Bills will have almost a $20 mil cap space disadvantage vs most teams each year for almost the next half decade.  And we're already 10 mil over next year's cap before accounting for Poyer, the draft, or the ~20 players we're going to need to sign.  The current team is essentially being paid for on a credit card w/ future cap space.  

 

I thought it was smart to let Edmunds walk for $18mil/year, but not if we're going to pay $18mil/year to Hines/Neal/Matakevich/Settle/Harty type players instead.  Those were luxuries I think the Bills should have gone without this year and are not the players I want the Bills to mess up their future cap space for.

 

I would trade Oliver, cut McKenzie, cut Neal because those are the only contracts left on the entire roster the Bills can actually get out of.  Re-sign Phillips/Shaq/Klein if any of them will sign cheap 1 yr deals.  Then go into the draft targeting O-line/LB/Safety and roll whatever money we can over to next year.  Beane was brilliant with the cap his first few years here but I think it's a mistake to keep doubling down on going all in when Josh Allen alone is going to likely keep us competitive for a decade+

 

I'm glad Beane addressed the O-line, and I'm glad Poyer is back, but otherwise not a fan of the $$ given out this offseason and hope not to see much more.  

The cap continues to go up

 

Of course, what we are all hoping for is the draft picks hit as we go along here

 

What would be really nice is if some of these late round picks ended up becoming players take a guy like Spector 

[SCBills]

I’m concerned that we may be sitting there at 27 watching another run on WR’s before we pick.  
 

Then who knows who’s available in RD2. 
 

I still think we need a legit WR2.  Not sure Diggs - Davis - Shakir - Harty is a WR room worthy of a Super Bowl contender.  It’s basically Diggs + 3 WR’s that we hope make a jump. 
 

If we keep pick 27, I’d also like to be able to spend that on OL, as there should be a top tier IOL or good Tackle prospect available there.  
 

At the very least … get Allen a weapon.  If that’s Henry or something out of left field, I’ll take it.  
 

In summary …

 

-A weapon to help Allen

 

-An upgrade at EDGE or Wagner

 

Not sure we have the money to do both of those things unless an unexpected cut or player trade happens. 

[BillsFanForever19]

I can understand *hoping* for one of those guys. But saying it's not successful unless we do is kind of ridiculous.

 

Given that we went into this being 18+ million over the cap and having 24 players with their deals up - simply getting back Poyer and filling as many holes as possible with players who have even the potential to be an upgrade from who they're replacing is a massive success.

 

I didn't see a situation where we wouldn't regress given where we were at. Expecting multiple big name signings was always ridiculous.

Edited March 17, 2023 by BillsFanForever19

[Adam727]

2 minutes ago, John from Riverside said:

 

The cap continues to go up

 

Of course, what we are all hoping for is the draft picks hit as we go along here

 

What would be really nice is if some of these late round picks ended up becoming players take a guy like Spector 

 

I suspect this is Beane's thinking also.  $20mil in cap space today is almost ~9% of the roster, in a few years maybe it'll be closer to 6-7% as cap numbers rise.  But I still think he's been reckless with the cap lately which is going to affect our ability to sign/re-sign impactful free agents in the future.  Also it's tougher for rookies to stand out when the Bills are paying out high contracts to the players ahead of them.  Hines/Matakevich/Settle are examples of players I'd rather have seen later round draft picks come in and try to replace w/ the hopes the team hit on 1 or 2.    

[Slack_in_MA]

12 minutes ago, Adam727 said:

I'm sure this answer will be unpopular.  I want to see Beane unload cap $$.  Beane has backloaded contracts so much that Allen/Miller/Diggs will be counting almost $110 million against the cap in two years.  I liked the Allen restructure, but didn't like the other two as much.  The Bills also have 6-10mil/year in cap space used up by void years every year between now and 2027.  Between restructured/backloaded contracts and void years the Bills will have almost a $20 mil cap space disadvantage vs most teams each year for almost the next half decade.  And we're already 10 mil over next year's cap before accounting for Poyer, the draft, or the ~20 players we're going to need to sign.  The current team is essentially being paid for on a credit card w/ future cap space.  

 

I thought it was smart to let Edmunds walk for $18mil/year, but not if we're going to pay $18mil/year to Hines/Neal/Matakevich/Settle/Harty type players instead.  Those were luxuries I think the Bills should have gone without this year and are not the players I want the Bills to mess up their future cap space for.

 

I would trade Oliver, cut McKenzie, cut Neal because those are the only contracts left on the entire roster the Bills can actually get out of.  Re-sign Phillips/Shaq/Klein if any of them will sign cheap 1 yr deals.  Then go into the draft targeting O-line/LB/Safety and roll whatever money we can over to next year.  Beane was brilliant with the cap his first few years here but I think it's a mistake to keep doubling down on going all in when Josh Allen alone is going to likely keep us competitive for a decade+

 

I'm glad Beane addressed the O-line, and I'm glad Poyer is back, but otherwise not a fan of the $$ given out this offseason and hope not to see much more.  

An interesting, lucid take. 

[Chaos]

1 minute ago, SCBills said:

I’m concerned that we may be sitting there at 27 watching another run on WR’s before we pick

There are no WR's that are sure things in this draft.  There are a bunch of guys who do have a chance to be WR1s.  Some of those guys will be around in rds 3, 4 and 5. Again, not sure things, but legit lottery tickets.