Bills rumored to be interested in Edge Rusher Preston Smith (per Tony Pauline - Sportskeeda)

[Negan]

Dumpster diving again. Beane's other specialty. His first specialty is drafting first round busts.

[H2o]

As long as he's just a vet minimum, rotational guy. Sure. He'd be an upgrade over Smoot. He isn't any sort of impact player at this point though, obviously. 

[oldmanfan]

It is not an either/or, black or white thing.   You can be interested in a vet like this guy AND still go after a guy like a Bosa.

[SoonerBillsFan]

2 hours ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

Beane being Beane. This is a Leonard Floyd type move. People are going to hate and he’s older, but Preston Smith is a solid move if they get him on the cheap. A great rotational pass rusher who I think could put up 8-10 sacks. From what I’ve read, he is very solid against the run as well. This move also wouldn’t warrant out a trade for Garret/Crosby either. 

I agree. IF this guy isn't considered a starter and wants to come in and get us those 8-10 sacks as a specialist, then it's a great move.

[Sweats]

Why are we still dumpster diving?!?

[oldmanfan]

Just now, Sweats said:

Why are we still dumpster diving?!?

It’s called depth.  And it is not either/or.

[BuffaloRebound]

I’m for as many bites of the apple as possible.  This defense needs 2 impact players each in the secondary and D Line.  We have enough McDermott specials who are backup level guys that play a lot because they know a complicated defense.  Time to take some swings at greatness.  Bosa and Alexander are former All Pro’s still in their 20’s.  I’d take a shot on them if price is right.  Then i’d use my draft picks to move up and get one of the elite 300lb+ DT’s and one of the physical freak elite safeties.  McBeane will still have 4th, 5th and 6th rounders to fill out the bottom of the roster which is their drafting strength.  

Bosa, Oliver, 1st round rookie DT, Rousseau with Solomon, Epenesa, Preston Smith, Carter, and a vet DT could be an upper tier D line.  Then a secondary with Benford, Alexander, Taron, Rapp, Starks, Bishop would be a huge upgrade.  

[uticaclub]

Checks all the boxes

[Thurman#1]

17 hours ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

Yup. Makes sense. 

 

But whenever we hear ahead of time the BIlls are in on a player most of the time we don't sign that player. Reports like this are usually overblown agent driven "tips" to help create a market. 

 

 

I hear you, but I wouldn't go that far.

 

Plenty of the time when we hear they are in on a guy if they don't get him it's likely because someone else was willing to pay a bit more. But yeah, sometimes it's smoke. Other times it's the agent but he's being honest, the Bills did contact him but they couldn't find common ground. And there've been plenty of times when we hear about it and then it happens.

 

We heard about David Edwards rumors before it happened. And if I remember correctly Trent Sherfield as well. And Kyle Allen.

 

Again, you're right in that we also hear every year about interest when guys then sign elsewhere. But that doesn't prove we didn't have interest. Maybe it's just we weren't willing to pay as much as the next organization.

 

 

Edited 19 hours ago by Thurman#1

[klos63]

17 hours ago, Victory Formation said:

Preston Smith? Really? This class is deep at DL, I don’t understand..

If they want,  they can sign him and still draft DL.

[frostbitmic]

When it comes down to DE the question is, do they cut Von or keep him ? .. According to some on here towards the end of last season, Von was back to normal and just waiting for the playoffs to turn it on, maybe he'll turn it on this year 😆.

 

I guess my question is what is the cost of keeping him vs the cost of pre and post June 1st dead cap hits for dumping him ?

[Thurman#1]

1 hour ago, H2o said:

As long as he's just a vet minimum, rotational guy. Sure. He'd be an upgrade over Smoot. He isn't any sort of impact player at this point though, obviously. 

 

 

Doubt he's going to be vet minimum, but also won't be a top 40 or 50 EDGE in AAV probably. Could well be a rotational guy.

 

They'll need to take a look at last year's film and see if he's fallen off and what he still appears to be capable of doing.

Edited 19 hours ago by Thurman#1

[Thurman#1]

11 minutes ago, frostbitmic said:

When it comes down to DE the question is, do they cut Von or keep him ? .. According to some on here towards the end of last season, Von was back to normal and just waiting for the playoffs to turn it on, maybe he'll turn it on this year 😆.

 

I guess my question is what is the cost of keeping him vs the cost of pre and post June 1st dead cap hits for dumping him ?

 

 

IMO they don't keep him unless he cuts us a major discount, which he could easily be willing to do.

 

Pre and post June 1st end up costing the same amount, though more gets kicked down the road if they wait, which they don't always want to do. Look at them taking all of Diggs' dead money against last year's cap.

 

Cutting Von would save only $2M, and it would leave us with $15M in dead cap whether they want to take all of that this year or spread it over two. If they can work out a discount instead it's likely quite a bit better for both sides. Unless he's completely washed, in which case you might as well cut him now. That doesn't appear to be the case, though, but he's also not even the Von from his first year here in Buffalo before the injury. Still probably one of our two best pass rushers, not that that's saying a whole lot.

Edited 19 hours ago by Thurman#1

[BuffaloBillyG]

40 minutes ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

I hear you, but I wouldn't go that far.

 

Plenty of the time when we hear they are in on a guy if they don't get him it's likely because someone else was willing to pay a bit more. But yeah, sometimes it's smoke. Other times it's the agent but he's being honest, the Bills did contact him but they couldn't find common ground. And there've been plenty of times when we hear about it and then it happens.

 

We heard about David Edwards rumors before it happened. And if I remember correctly Trent Sherfield as well. And Kyle Allen.

 

Again, you're right in that we also hear every year about interest when guys then sign elsewhere. But that doesn't prove we didn't have interest. Maybe it's just we weren't willing to pay as much as the next organization.

 

 

We hear there was contact made without context. Who contacted? Was it Beane or a normal lower level person? Was it directly about a certain player or was it just a routine "touch base" call all teams make. Why did they contact? Was it for the player specifically or was it to gauge the market on what a guy at that position and skill level was looking for to see what the average market will be?

 

For example to that last one, say the Bills are wanting to sign a guy like Smith. They aren't going to just call Smith. They will wisely do some "comparison shopping" and see where his value falls. So much goes into getting a player signed. And yes, like you said...perhaps the Bills have been in on some of those we hear of and been out bid. Or the player wanted to play closer to home. Or had a better opportunity for snaps or any of a million other reasons that come up.

[DrDawkinstein]

1 hour ago, oldmanfan said:

It’s called depth.  And it is not either/or.

 

Right? Its literally what Beane does every single offseason to address our positions of need. 

 

1. Sign some journeyman-type guys

2. Sign 1 decent FA

3. Let the draft come to him and address our needs without having to panic

 

The one year that didnt work out was when we had to panic-pick Elam because CBs are tough to get in FA and White's injury made an even bigger roster hole than we already had.

[Nelius]

12 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

Right? Its literally what Beane does every single offseason to address our positions of need. 

 

 

It’s what every competent GM has done for decades. It’s what works.
 

Maddenheads here seem to think that there is a stable of far more competent GM’s (who?) that only make giant splash plays, and then I don’t know, snorkel in Aruba or something until the Lombardi’s roll in. It’s ridiculous, unrealistic thinking.

[Process]

Why not just bring back Smoot? He's a couple years younger. 

[GASabresIUFan]

Can people hold their “I hate Beane” comments until he actually makes a move or 2? 

PS: When was the last time a rumored deal or signing actually happened this early in the process?

 

Edited 18 hours ago by GASabresIUFan

[Nelius]

1 minute ago, GASabresIUFan said:

Can people hold their “I hate Beane” comments until he actually makes a move or 2? 
 

 

We haven’t even hit peak yet, that’s usually before draft. Off-season is when the Mountain Dew swilling randos from other boards thrive.

[GASabresIUFan]

1 minute ago, Nelius said:

We haven’t even hit peak yet, that’s usually before draft. Off-season is when the Mountain Dew swilling randos from other boards thrive.

It’s actually kind of funny.  Someone posts a story that Beane has kicked the tires on some random player and all the haters come out to criticize how stupid Beane is for even considering such a player, how that player will suddenly become an immediate starter and set the team back.  
 

No one is questioning that Beane needs to fix the defense, but why don’t we wait and see what he does before barbecuing the guy.  It’s not like he built 7 playoff teams in 8 years or something. Oh wait he has!