Free Agents we like for the 2025 Bills?

[Kirby Jackson]

56 minutes ago, D. L. Hot-Flamethrower said:

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/player/market-value/_/id/25231/josh-sweat

 

How do all you experts out there feel about Josh Sweat? I didn't know much about him until he performed so well in the SB. He certainly seems to fill a need, and at 27 yrs old and 18.8/yr he less expensive than Myles Garrett would be. Thoughts?

I think Sweat is good and a decent upgrade. At the same time, I have ZERO concern about cost or the cap situation in 2031 (or whatever). Jeremy White was talking about it this morning and I couldn’t agree more. Don’t settle. Don’t worry about cost. Don’t worry about dead money 6 or 7 years from now. None of that matters. Push all of your chips in. Go get Garrett. Go get more than Garrett. No reason to settle on anything. 

[SectionC3]

2 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I think I'd tend to go slightly higher up to market at safety and slightly lower down the market at corner.... and Slayton is a meh for me. It's Hollywood Brown or a swing at Dyami Brown / Tutu Atwell as buy low options. Otherwise I like the plan.

I'm with you on Hollywood.  I'll add this nugget on Slayton.  I have a hunch that he's a good team guy, and a very coachable player.  When you see the head coach's little guy wearing a Slayton jersey, it's probably a good sign.  

[NewEra]

4 hours ago, Magox said:

DT - DJ Jones and Tier Tart -  FA acquisitions and use one of your premium draft picks and another mid to late rounder on DT's

Release - Daquan

Let everyone else walk except Oliver and Carter

 

DJ Jones should come in somewhere around $8M AAV - really good run stuffer who can push the pocket and Tier Tart who will be a lot cheaper

 

DE - No FA acquisitions - Swing for fences for either Garrett or Crosby - Assuming you can't get them - Use one of your three premium picks on a DE

 

Release Von

 

Keep Smoot

 

Safety - Justin Simmons will play the role that they are lacking, will add experience, should be relatively cheap around $5M - Draft another with mid to late rounder

 

CB - FA pickup DJ Reed, or Chavarious Ward - one of those two, based off the coaching additions it appears Bills will be employing more man to man schemes and they would be a fit - They need to get a higher end CB.  Draft one with a mid to late rounder

 

Trade Elam for whatever you can get.  

 

WR - Either Slayton or Hollywood Brown - someone who has speed and can stretch defenses, it would need to be under $10M AAV - Use one of your premium draft choices on a WR who can separate.

 

 

Sounds about right!

[GETTOTHE50]

10 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

I think Sweat is good and a decent upgrade. At the same time, I have ZERO concern about cost or the cap situation in 2031 (or whatever). Jeremy White was talking about it this morning and I couldn’t agree more. Don’t settle. Don’t worry about cost. Don’t worry about dead money 6 or 7 years from now. None of that matters. Push all of your chips in. Go get Garrett. Go get more than Garrett. No reason to settle on anything. 

Agreed. It’s time to go all in and atleast one Super Bowl 

[Einstein]

14 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

I think Sweat is good and a decent upgrade. At the same time, I have ZERO concern about cost or the cap situation in 2031 (or whatever). Jeremy White was talking about it this morning and I couldn’t agree more. Don’t settle. Don’t worry about cost. Don’t worry about dead money 6 or 7 years from now. None of that matters. Push all of your chips in. Go get Garrett. Go get more than Garrett. No reason to settle on anything. 

 

This.

[billsfan89]

Not going to pretend to know each free agent but I would like to see the following Bills players brought back while also seeing the Bills address the following positions via free agency (trades not included). 

 

Key Re-signings 

 

• Mack Hollins - Dude is a great "vibe" but also on the field is a very good WR5 and ST ace. He's older at age 32 but I think he's got one more year in him and the team needs his vibe and productivity. Shouldn't be crazy expensive. 
• Ty Johnson- Even if there was no instability around James Cook Ty is an elite third down back and at soon to be age 28 he's got another good year in him. Also shouldn't be crazy expensive. 
• Demar Hamlin- I know fans may want an upgrade here. But I think having the trio of Rapp/Hamlin/Bishop is a solid place to start the safety room while adding in a draft pick in round 4ish range to supplement the development and depth seems like a good and not too costly move to solidify a unit. Hamlin also shouldn't cost a lot and he can play special teams if Bishop displaces him. 

Positions that could/should be addressed via free agency 

• Corner- The top free agent corner in DJ Reed might be too far out the Bills price range and Douglas might be too old for the Bills to bring back. It might make more sense to go with a player a few years young. 
• Run Stuffing DT- Bills got gashed up the middle consistently in the ground game at times. D. Jones is no longer the anchor he once was (although he could still be a positive but needs to be more of a role player). The Bills if they are insistent on playing Nickle heavily need to replace Austin Johnson with a massive run stuffing NT. Having D. Jones take the place of Austin Johnson as a rotational NT and then brining in a true elite run stuffer to play next to Oliver consistently. 
• Veteran Depth LB- Bills always seem to need LB's. Milano is older and injury prone. Bernard and Williams are smaller players who play fast thus more vulnerable to injuries. Spector and Ulo aren't bad back of the depth chart players but the Bills should invest in a decent depth LB whose a bit more proven. 

Now the Bills will still have holes trying to find and elite pass rusher and a true boundary WR1. But I don't see the Bills having the cap capital or finding the fits to address those needs in free agency. 

 

If you looked at the pass rusher situation in free agency there's not that war daddy type pass rusher on the market (there rarely is). The top guys are Mack whose still good but no quite what he once was, Hasson Reddick who was once an elite pass rusher but is a bit older at age 31 and coming off a messy season, and Josh Sweat who while a good player is not a consistently dominant pass rusher and is likely to be overpaid esp after that Super Bowl performance. 

 

At WR the Bills may have the chance to bring back Cooper that's probably unlikely. The other top options are Tee Higgins who I think will likely get tagged and will be too costly and Chris Godwin who I think Tampa Bay will retain. So I don't see the Bills getting a massive difference maker at WR. 

 

Bills are likely going to have to dip into the draft/trade market to get the difference makers they need at those positions. But they can at the very least solidify the depth and 2-3 other starting caliber needs they have in free agency. 

[PromoTheRobot]

I just read that we don't want good players on the Bills.

[frostbitmic]

My FA X-Mas list ...

 

Justin Simmons - FS - Falcons ... Spotrac has him at $5.8M per on a 3 yr contract ... He is 31

 

Jeff Okudah - CB - Texans ... Spotrac has him at $5M per. He's been hurt a lot but was an overall #3 pick in the draft so there is or was talent there. He's only 26 and maybe McDermott could coach him up. Then again, in McD's Defense he might just get killed. A high risk signing to be sure but could be high reward and his contract could be worked to protect the Bills. Best to draft a CB early as well.

 

Tershawn Wharton - DL - Chiefs ... Figure about 3 years and $22.5M = $7.5 per year. He's either a big DE or smaller DT but signing him helps us and hurts the Chiefs. I think Wharton lined up outside next to Oliver could be very disruptive.

 

  Zach Ertz - Just because we have our chance.

[SoTier]

9 hours ago, NastyNateSoldiers said:

Ntm Monos was player personnel guy basically in charge of free agents and I think he did a great job at that. 

 

I'm one of few here that truly believe if Whaley front office was paired with Mcd we would've already won a couple Superbowls. 2017 off-season was the best we had in the Mcd era and Whaley and his staff was in charge of finding those talents that we ended up signing and drafting. Maybe Mcd made the decision like some will say here but there's no doubt who gave him the shopping list so to speak. 

 

Up until recently we were still living off that off-season with players like Tre, Dawkins, Milano , Poyer & Hyde all these guys have been to the pro bowl and some on all pro teams if not all of them if I'm not mistaken. These players were the difference makers on this team . 

 

 

 

I don't know if the Bills would have won any SBs with Whaley as GM but I think that they might have a stronger roster.  Whaley knew talent.  As a GM, he was never totally in charge because he reported to Russ Brandon, who was dedicated to maximizing profits rather winning football games.  Whaley was continually forced to scramble to fill holes when Brandon decided the Bills couldn't "afford" to pay one good player after another.  

 

When he was fired after the 2017 draft, there was a lot of speculation that Whaley wanted to draft Mahomes at #10 and clashed with McDermott over that.  McDermott won, and Whaley was gone.   Beane -- and McDermott -- lucked out when Brandon was forced to resign in 2018 because of complaints that he was sexually harassing female employees of the Sabres.

 

[NastyNateSoldiers]

11 hours ago, SoTier said:

 

I don't know if the Bills would have won any SBs with Whaley as GM but I think that they might have a stronger roster.  Whaley knew talent.  As a GM, he was never totally in charge because he reported to Russ Brandon, who was dedicated to maximizing profits rather winning football games.  Whaley was continually forced to scramble to fill holes when Brandon decided the Bills couldn't "afford" to pay one good player after another.  

 

When he was fired after the 2017 draft, there was a lot of speculation that Whaley wanted to draft Mahomes at #10 and clashed with McDermott over that.  McDermott won, and Whaley was gone.   Beane -- and McDermott -- lucked out when Brandon was forced to resign in 2018 because of complaints that he was sexually harassing female employees of the Sabres.

 

I'm really surprised Whaley never got another chance to be GM for another team. He never really got the full control of this team like u said. He wasn't the one that made the Rex hire neither was he the GM when Ej was drafted. 

 

The point is Beane is not a great talent evaluator and he's making the same mistakes other administrations made that he critized them for like putting us in Cap trouble. He's drafted 4 pro bowl players in 7 drafts that's horrible. Maybe Beane should hire his old boss Dave Gettleman to run the draft for him or at least as a consultant. 

[EmotionallyUnstable]

Wonder if a guy like Azeez Ojulari could be had to help amp up the pass rush, or if they like Solomon enough in that “rush specialist” role we saw Von in this last year.

 

Giants connection. Minimal deal. Injury risks but high upside and ability to get to the passer in 2nd/3rd and longs 

[Warriorspikes51]

3 minutes ago, EmotionallyUnstable said:

Wonder if a guy like Azeez Ojulari could be had to help amp up the pass rush, or if they like Solomon enough in that “rush specialist” role we saw Von in this last year.

 

Giants connection. Minimal deal. Injury risks but high upside and ability to get to the passer in 2nd/3rd and longs 

brilliant idea and a potential huge reward if he continues getting better here. I’m in

[billsfan89]

On 2/20/2025 at 5:30 PM, SoTier said:

 

I don't know if the Bills would have won any SBs with Whaley as GM but I think that they might have a stronger roster.  Whaley knew talent.  As a GM, he was never totally in charge because he reported to Russ Brandon, who was dedicated to maximizing profits rather winning football games.  Whaley was continually forced to scramble to fill holes when Brandon decided the Bills couldn't "afford" to pay one good player after another.  

 

When he was fired after the 2017 draft, there was a lot of speculation that Whaley wanted to draft Mahomes at #10 and clashed with McDermott over that.  McDermott won, and Whaley was gone.   Beane -- and McDermott -- lucked out when Brandon was forced to resign in 2018 because of complaints that he was sexually harassing female employees of the Sabres.

 

 

Whaley was pretty bad at drafting which has nothing to do with money. Also when Pegula took over in 2015/16 the money was not an issue so Whaley wasn't hampered by that his whole time. Whaley took over as GM after the 2013 draft. His drafts from 2014-2017 were pretty bad outside of 2017 which had input in from McD. His drafts from 2014-2016 were bad. Sammy Watkins at a massive trade up cost was not really a good pick only other player that turned up as a starter form that draft was Preston Brown who was a marginal starter in that time period. 2015 Ronald Darby was a solid pick but the rest of the draft amounted to nothing. 2016 produced very little Shaq Lawson was the only player who ended up sticking around. 

 

Whaley was OK on free agency and trades and maybe in 2014 and he was hampered by Ralph/Brandon but if you really think Whaley would have produced a better roster than Beane I think you are basing that on some bias you have against Beane as opposed to observing reality. 

Edited 7 hours ago by billsfan89

[That's No Moon]

With a new ST coach coming in I look forward to pissing away some money on this year's Tyler Matakevich, Casey Toohill, Siran Neal, etc 

[The Jokeman]

One name that has speed and gets good separation I haven't heard mentioned yet is Tutu Atwell. Granted he is a slot guy but could also be in mix as return man too. Obviously not a #2 but maybe a #5 WR if want to use higher picks else where.