Which high end free agent player or possible trade candidate do you most want right now?

[LABILLBACKER]

Either Crosby or Metcalf.  What they could do for our Defense / Offense would be invaluable. Garrett just seems too costly and out of reach.  Probably 0% chance we could land both?

[Straight Hucklebuck]

43 minutes ago, ShakAttack said:

I’m not sure if a WR1 changes the outcome of the Chiefs game (and anyway our offense had seized momentum in the 2nd half until the refs botched the 4th and 1 call)

 

but I’m positive Myles Garrett changes the outcome. 
 

We are literally back to where we were 3 years ago knowing we were an elite pass rusher away from taking the next step in the playoffs, and honestly, Von Miller was panning out until the ACL injury.  Well, Myles Garrett is at least 3 times better and 4-5 years younger (I’m guessing) than Von was when we got him.  
 

So, it’s really a no brainer, but I also don’t think we will pull it off. Too much demand. He’s the best defender in the NFL…

I think we’re getting too comfortable with this idea the offense is good to go, just run it back.

 

WR1 is a hole on this team, WR2 is a problem as well. 

 

The defense was a sieve against Baltimore and Kansas City. 
 

But as bad as the defense played - they turned over the Chiefs on the botched snap, and then forced two punts in the second half.

 

And that’s where that game looked like all the Bills Playoffs losses - Allen with nowhere to go with the ball, no playmakers. 
 

Amari Cooper was closer to 4.72 than the 4.42 he ran in 2015. 
 

Offensive team speed is a problem - has been the entire Josh Allen career. 

[Dablitzkrieg]

IMO, you go all in for Garrett.   He puts the Bills over the top.  He would improve everything on the DL

[Straight Hucklebuck]

10 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Either Crosby or Metcalf.  What they could do for our Defense / Offense would be invaluable. Garrett just seems too costly and out of reach.  Probably 0% chance we could land both?

How are the Bills supposed to afford two $30M contracts - let alone outbid the rest of the league with the resources it would take to acquire both? 

[LABILLBACKER]

26 minutes ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:

How are the Bills supposed to afford two $30M contracts - let alone outbid the rest of the league with the resources it would take to acquire both? 

That's where the word "or" and 0% chance comes in.  Plus I'm not paying either anything over 24M.  

[HappyDays]

5 hours ago, Royale with Cheese said:

Myles Garrett puts us in the top 5 in defensive scoring and 3rd down defense.  Someone like Ed Oliver will get close to 10 sacks if Garrett is collapsing the pocket on the outside.

 

That would be a big leap. We ranked 12th and 30th respectively in opponent PPG and 3rd down percentage last year. Personally I'm not convinced we're one player away - even the best defender in the NFL - from being a top 5 defense.

 

Adding Metcalf puts us in real contention to be the very best offense in the NFL especially if we could bring him in while adding one more good WR and convincing Cook to come back one more year. That could be the caliber of offense that makes defense practically irrelevant. Just make some baseline improvements on that side of the ball with the goal of making it average. Historic offense with an average defense is a legit championship contender.

 

Edited Tuesday at 06:19 AM by HappyDays

[SoTier]

12 hours ago, njbuff said:

I get why most Bills fans want Garrett, but does he move the needle to the necessary point it needs to be for the Bills to win the SB?

 

Yes.  If the Bills didn't win a SB with Garrett on the roster and healthy, it  wouldn't be because of the defense. 

 

11 hours ago, njbuff said:

Even at the EXPENSE price??

 

I think I’m with you guys on all of this, but if it blows up in the Bills faces, they will not have any future picks to do anything about it.

 

Carpe diem.  

 

9 hours ago, Victory Formation said:

Part of me wants Myles Garrett but another part of me would be highly upset, hypothetically speaking if a stud DE goes off the board where we’re picking at #30.

 

If there's a stud DE at #30, it will probably take him 2 or 3 years to develop.  Stud DEs/EDGE rushers usually go in the top ten spots of the draft, frequently in the top 5.  Abdul Carter is likely to go #1 overall ... like Miles Garrett and Bruce Smith.   The Bills aren't likely to be a position to draft at the top of the draft in the foreseeable future.

[BarleyNY]

8 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

I doubt there's going to be a stud like TJ Watt or somebody like that available at pick #30.

 

Edited Tuesday at 01:10 PM by BarleyNY

[chongli]

This should have been a poll.

[Mister Defense]

7 hours ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:

I think we’re getting too comfortable with this idea the offense is good to go, just run it back.

 

WR1 is a hole on this team, WR2 is a problem as well. 

 

The defense was a sieve against Baltimore and Kansas City. 
 

But as bad as the defense played - they turned over the Chiefs on the botched snap, and then forced two punts in the second half.

 

And that’s where that game looked like all the Bills Playoffs losses - Allen with nowhere to go with the ball, no playmakers. 
 

Amari Cooper was closer to 4.72 than the 4.42 he ran in 2015. 
 

Offensive team speed is a problem - has been the entire Josh Allen career. 

 

yes to all, and it is about time that Allen has the O-Line, running game and wide receivers, all at the same time, that a great quarterback and offense needs to rise to their ultimate potential.

 

A great thing about Metcalf is that he would keep this young offense young, meaning they would get better and better as they progress. 

 

Right now I believe all of their offensive starters are 28 or younger, with the most 27 or younger.  Dawkins is the only starter 30 years old.

 

Now is the time to take the next step with this offense, and then focus like a laser on D-tackle, lineman, and defensive backs.

 

 

 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

13 hours ago, Free Speech said:

Remove EDGE from the equation. Jevon Holland. Taylor Rapp saves $3M as a post-June 1st cut with only $666K in dead cap the next two years (correct me if my cap analysis is wrong). Holland is not even 25 - three years younger than Rapp - and coming off a down year. He'll still get paid, but I would call it a fair possibility. 

I would put money on the bills signing Holland. Makes too much sense.

[Mister Defense]

3 minutes ago, chongli said:

This should have been a poll.

 

Was thinking of that, but did not want to narrow it down to the players only I thought would be suggested. For example, I definitely would not have put Jevon Holland on here.  I wanted to see what the broad range of ideas, possibilities were.

 

(Plus, I don't know how to do a poll!)

 

[Alphadawg7]

11 hours ago, Mister Defense said:

 

I agree the offense is very good.  But Allen deserves better weapons than he has.  If the Bills had a great wideout last year, they win that playoff game against the Chiefs. Yes they had Diggs, but he looked and acted like he could care less.

 

This year if the Bills had a go to receiver who could open things up more in the intermediate and long range, the Bills would have been much harder to beat. The Chiefs could do so much more on defense without having to be overly concerned with those routes, though Hollins burned them a few times.

 

I agree that the defense needs much more work, but now think finishing the offense first with Metcalf makes more sense.  And then using all that they have this year, and probably some of next year's capital, to nail the defense, including some very good free agents/trades.

 

Then, they may have an historically good offense and a much improved defense, a good combo, enough to put them over the top.

 

 

 

I get where you coming from, but the defense is by far the bigger issue.  I mean we fielded the 16th greatest offense in NFL history in 2024.  Asking them to be much better to carry a team that can't defensively do anything right is asking your QB to always be perfect...and also the refs.  When your defense keeps giving up points, even something as simple as a bad or missed call by a ref can completely swing the game.  I look at it as a boxing title fight...don't leave the fight in the hands of the judges, and if you want to beat the champ you need to really beat the champ.  Keeping it close is putting too much of the outcome in the hands of luck, perfection, etc.  

 

More importantly - The Bills are giving up an average of 35 points PPG to the Chiefs in playoff losses, and of those 4 losses, the Chiefs went on to lose the very next week 3 of those times where that same Chiefs offense averaged just 17 PPG in those losses.  

 

Now lets look at what you are asking of the offense and what we would be asking of the defense...if we invest more into the offense in hopes of scoring more...you are asking for more scoring drives.  Well we already score a lot, so that means drives where we punted or turned the ball over.  Most, if not all, of those drives would require a lot more successful plays in those drives for them to turn into scoring drives.  So not only are you asking the offense to convert the first down, you are asking the offense to continue the drive into a score.  Sure, its possible that could be one big play, but most likely you are talking about a series of plays, especially in this style of offense. 

 

However, on defense, we need one guy who can make just literally one more play (or whose presence allows another player to make the play) in an entire game that allows the defense to hold on 3rd down instead of giving up a first and letting the drive continue into a score.  Just one more defensive play on a drive that forces the Chiefs off the field instead of surrendering another score would swing our last 3 losses to the Chiefs into wins.  Now imagine that they were able to get off the field on 3rd and force a punt instead of surrending another long scoring drive twice in one game.  You are talking about literally 2 plays in an entire game that take 2 scores off the board, not to mention, get our offense back on the field with momentum and chance to score again.  

 

So, for me its much easier to envision the impact of an elite defensive player having a higher chance of affecting the game then asking the 16th best offense in NFL history to keep trying to be perfect while also hoping the refs don't also screw up and swing a close game like they also did this year.  

 

And don't get me wrong, I would be excited for Metcalf if he wound up here.  But, for this team, its struggles against KC...the elite defender is a no brainer first choice if you have to choose between the two.  I mean Myles is a top 10 player in the league...DK isn't even top 10 at his own position.  

Edited Tuesday at 01:40 PM by Alphadawg7

[Royale with Cheese]

9 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

That would be a big leap. We ranked 12th and 30th respectively in opponent PPG and 3rd down percentage last year. Personally I'm not convinced we're one player away - even the best defender in the NFL - from being a top 5 defense.

 

Adding Metcalf puts us in real contention to be the very best offense in the NFL especially if we could bring him in while adding one more good WR and convincing Cook to come back one more year. That could be the caliber of offense that makes defense practically irrelevant. Just make some baseline improvements on that side of the ball with the goal of making it average. Historic offense with an average defense is a legit championship contender.

 

 

We've been up there in defensive scoring and 3rd down defense several years in this regime.  A pass rush changes everything.  The QB, the people who protect the QB and the people who get after the QB are the only positions that go #1 overall.  It's been that way since 1996, Keyshawn Johnson was the last player selected #1 overall that wasn't a QB, OL or DL.  That's the value of these positions and Myles Garrett can single handily improve everyone on the DL.  We have talent on defense, we're just weak up front.

[Don Otreply]

10 hours ago, Dablitzkrieg said:

IMO, you go all in for Garrett.   He puts the Bills over the top.  He would improve everything on the DL

That’s all well and good, but we absolutely need a wideout with speed and separation skills to make defenses stop plugging up the middle of the field, etc etc, 

[transplantbillsfan]

It's Garrett, but a different part of me would prefer Hendrickson so we can keep our 1st and at least 1 of our 2nds.

 

I think part of my ideal offseason is starting to land on still very good but not insanely expensive pass rusher and some combination of 320+ LB, WR, & CB with our first 3 picks.

 

Also wondering if we don't go for Mack in FA. Optics won't be great because of age but he's still awesome.

 

If we traded for Henderson and then got Matthew Golden in the 1st, Alfred Collins with our 2nd and a CB next, I'd be pretty darn excited.

 

Or maybe instead we should get a CB with our 2nd and Jordan Phillips with our next pick just fir consistency.

 

It's still Garrett, though.

[Straight Hucklebuck]

2 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

I get where you coming from, but the defense is by far the bigger issue.  I mean we fielded the 16th greatest offense in NFL history in 2024.  Asking them to be much better to carry a team that can't defensively do anything right is asking your QB to always be perfect...and also the refs.  When your defense keeps giving up points, even something as simple as a bad or missed call by a ref can completely swing the game.  I look at it as a boxing title fight...don't leave the fight in the hands of the judges, and if you want to beat the champ you need to really beat the champ.  Keeping it close is putting too much of the outcome in the hands of luck, perfection, etc.  

 

More importantly - The Bills are giving up an average of 35 points PPG to the Chiefs in playoff losses, and of those 4 losses, the Chiefs went on to lose the very next week 3 of those times where that same Chiefs offense averaged just 17 PPG in those losses.  

 

Now lets look at what you are asking of the offense and what we would be asking of the defense...if we invest more into the offense in hopes of scoring more...you are asking for more scoring drives.  Well we already score a lot, so that means drives where we punted or turned the ball over.  Most, if not all, of those drives would require a lot more successful plays in those drives for them to turn into scoring drives.  So not only are you asking the offense to convert the first down, you are asking the offense to continue the drive into a score.  Sure, its possible that could be one big play, but most likely you are talking about a series of plays, especially in this style of offense. 

 

However, on defense, we need one guy who can make just literally one more play (or whose presence allows another player to make the play) in an entire game that allows the defense to hold on 3rd down instead of giving up a first and letting the drive continue into a score.  Just one more defensive play on a drive that forces the Chiefs off the field instead of surrendering another score would swing our last 3 losses to the Chiefs into wins.  Now imagine that they were able to get off the field on 3rd and force a punt instead of surrending another long scoring drive twice in one game.  You are talking about literally 2 plays in an entire game that take 2 scores off the board, not to mention, get our offense back on the field with momentum and chance to score again.  

 

So, for me its much easier to envision the impact of an elite defensive player having a higher chance of affecting the game then asking the 16th best offense in NFL history to keep trying to be perfect while also hoping the refs don't also screw up and swing a close game like they also did this year.  

 

And don't get me wrong, I would be excited for Metcalf if he wound up here.  But, for this team, its struggles against KC...the elite defender is a no brainer first choice if you have to choose between the two.  I mean Myles is a top 10 player in the league...DK isn't even top 10 at his own position.  

Beane has skimped on DT for years and it bit the Bills again. 

 

The athletic disadvantage at Safety during the Ravens and Chiefs games was a problem. 

 

#2 corner has been a consistent thorn in the side going back Levi Wallace, compounded by Tre White's injuries and Elam being a bust.  

 

And ever since Von, Rousseau, Epenesa and Basham this team has been weak at DE as well. 

 

But WR has also been underwhelming in terms of the investment this GM has put towards the position. 

 

No need to rehash the names, but 8 WRs drafted in 7 years, average selection is 5th Round. 

 

And we know the Free Agents - Beasley was good for two seasons, John Brown was good for one season, and so Beane largely hangs his hat on the Stefon Diggs trade. 

 

 

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 04:23 PM by Straight Hucklebuck

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

15 hours ago, Mister Defense said:

I am surprised more here, and overall, seem much less interested in Crosby, who would likely be my 2nd choice after Metcalf.  

 

Two fewer years in the league than Garrett, two years younger, and similar sack #s, though he missed games last season, QB hits, and TFLs.  Seems like he would be a lot cheaper ($ and trade wise) possibly as well-?

 

Either way, Garrett or Crosby would likely have a significant effect on the rest of the defense, enabling players like Oliver, Rousseau, and the linebackers to have career years. I think in a less direct manner, Metcalf would do the same for Coleman and the receivers.

 

Crosby over Garrett all day.

[Luka]

The Bills have been the #1 offense in the league since 2020. I repeat, the Bills have been the #1 offense in the LEAGUE since 2020. When you average 30 points a game and you're still losing games, I'll give you one guess what the issue is... 

 

Myles Garrett or Maxx Crosby is the only answer to this question. Another receiver solves nothing. We are at the point of diminishing returns on offense. We have the best player in the league on offense. But you can not guarantee he will have the ball last every time we are in a close game. The defense has to be able to win. That starts with pressure on the opposing QB. Pressure creates mistakes. Pressure reduces the amount of time in coverage. It can cover up what would otherwise be glaring issues in the back 7. 

 

The personnel issues going on on the defensive side of the ball currently are frankly embarrassing. No #1 corner, no edge rusher. Those are fundamental to any defensive scheme, McDermott needs to realize that. 

[Alphadawg7]

12 minutes ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:

Beane has skimped on DT for years and it bit the Bills again. 

 

The athletic disadvantage at Safety during the Ravens and Chiefs games was a problem. 

 

#2 corner has been a consistent thorn in the side going back Levi Wallace, compounded by Tre White's injuries and Elam being a bust.  

 

And ever since Von, Rousseau, Epenesa and Basham this team has been weak at DE as well. 

 

But WR has also been underwhelming in terms of the investment this GM has put towards the position. 

 

No need to rehash the names, but 8 WRs drafted in 7 years, average selection is 5th Round. 

 

And we know the Free Agents - Beasley was good for two seasons, John Brown was good for one season, and so Beane largely hangs his hat on the Stefon Diggs trade. 

 

 

 

 

 

You are ignoring the context when referencing drafting WR's.  Beane used a 1st and 4th to get Diggs, we had Cole who was in his prime and one of the best slots in the NFL while here.  Early on they nabbed Davis who began contributing as a rookie to go along with the Vets they had along side Diggs.  That is all very important context when referencing all those late round picks at WR.  The only guys they drafted with the intent to potentially be a significant contributor as a receiver were Davis, Shakir, and Keon.  All went on to be starters.  

 

But none of this matters in terms of the discussion on what the bigger issue about getting over the hump has been...which is without question the defense, and its not even debatable if I am being honest.  Getting an impact player on the defense that can help the defense just get off the field one or tow more times a game on 3rd down would significantly change the outcome of all our playoff exits.  Even just making one more play to get off the field on 3rd down instead of allowing a scoring drive would have swung our last 3 KC losses.  

 

And every time our defense gets off the field, our offense goes back on it with a chance to score.  So by improving the defense you are going to help the offense.  We need an impact player who is capable of affecting just one or two more plays a game and this team beats KC by double digits each of the last 3 losses.