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

[FireChans]

1 minute ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:

So Epenesa, Rousseau, Miller (Boogie Basham) are now DTs? 

 

2018 - Harrison Phillips (3rd)

2019 - Ed Oliver (1st)

2020 - None

2021 - None

2022 - None

2023 - None

2024 - Dewayne Carter (3rd)

 

55 Picks in the Beane era, 3/55, 5.4% have gone to DT. 

 

You are forgetting that glorious Stat Loutoto contract where they may have been the only team bidding on him and somehow still dramatically overpaid.

43 minutes ago, SoTier said:

 

No team can afford to pay a true franchise QB not on a rookie contract and give him a top quality OL and good RBs and good WRs at the same time ... unless they're willing to skimp on the defense. 

No team except the Eagles

Edited Tuesday at 06:35 PM by FireChans

[Straight Hucklebuck]

3 minutes ago, FireChans said:

You are forgetting that glorious Stat Loutoto contract where they may have been the only team bidding on him and somehow still dramatically overpaid.

No team except the Eagles

Oh there has been a constant parade of low end Free Agents here - we all know the names. 

 

 

[sven233]

Garrett is the obvious choice.  But a true run stuffing DT is also a huge need on the line.  So, that needs to be figured out as well.  But I am still of the opinion that at least 1, probably 2, outside WRs are needed desperately on this team.  Metcalf is a fun idea, but my new favorite rumor out there is the potential availability of Olave.  While the injuries are a bit scary, the dude is an elite route runner that can beat man coverage and stretch the field.  If healthy, he is perfect for our offense and maybe he can be had for less than Metcalf. 

[RyanC883]

Garrett.  PFFs number 1 player last year, our biggest need, instantly helps fix the entire D.  There is no DE in the draft that looks year 1 ready, and we are in win-now mode.  After Garrett, Crosby.  I think we can fill DTs and secondary in the draft and secondary with 2nd tier FAs.  

 

i'm not sure these guys qualify as "elite" but they are almost there, at WR: K. Allen and Slayton.   

[Einstein's Dog]

When you don't factor in cost it seems easy to me:  Garrett, Crosby, then DK.  

 

This exercise gets a lot harder when put up against the draft/price considerations.  Garrett is universally coveted as a top 10 player and will be really expensive while DK has a smaller amount of teams clamoring for his services and should come significantly cheaper.  And to me, DK is an incredible fit to the Bills as they want this new physical option.  DK along with this 6 OL and Knox and Hollins is a tough task for most defenses in January in Buffalo in single digit temps.

 

If it is presented as Garrett + Tut Atwell or DK Metcalf + K Mack + J Holland, then my preferences change. 

 

 

[Royale with Cheese]

1 hour ago, Low Positive said:

But that's not the only thing. Trey Hendrickson led the league in sacks and Cincinnati put up elite offensive production, but the Bengals missed the playoffs because their coverage was so bad. It all has to come together. 

 

Bengals also missed the playoffs because they didn't have a very good offensive line that couldn't protect Burrow.

But yes, the didn't have much talent and a bad DC.  They need more.  We are closer on defense than the Bengals are.

[chongli]

10 hours ago, Mister Defense said:

 

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

 

 

Hsy, no problem and thanks for the explanation. 

 

Two things:

 

1. You can always edit your poll options, AFAIK, to add or delete choices, as the thread discussions goes on.

 

2. Next time that you decide to make a poll, just start a post, but in the drop down box on top where it says "content", drop it down and choose the option "poll". Voila! Then just fill out the question and options.

 

Edited Wednesday at 12:00 AM by chongli

[nosejob]

19 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

 

Bengals also missed the playoffs because they didn't have a very good offensive line that couldn't protect Burrow.

But yes, the didn't have much talent and a bad DC.  They need more.  We are closer on defense than the Bengals are.

I don't think he was bad at all....maybe after losing D.J. Reader and a veteran  2ndary?

[Royale with Cheese]

4 minutes ago, nosejob said:

I don't think he was bad at all....maybe after losing D.J. Reader and a veteran  2ndary?

 

Over the course of 6 years with the Bengals, he was pretty poor.  They were in the top 20 in defensive scoring just twice in 6 years under Lou.

[TFBillsfan]

4 hours ago, Don Otreply said:

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, 

Didn’t we say this last year heading into the draft! 🤷‍♂️

[Low Positive]

Just now, Royale with Cheese said:

 

Over the course of 6 years with the Bengals, he was pretty poor.  They were in the top 20 in defensive scoring just twice in 6 years under Lou.

Buffalo fans have a high opinion of him because he was particularly good at scheming against Josh Allen for some reason. Although all those games were against Ken Dorsey's offense so that may have had something to do with it.

[Don Otreply]

7 minutes ago, TFBillsfan said:

Didn’t we say this last year heading into the draft! 🤷‍♂️

Yup, and we still need that, on top of a new defense, 😁👍

[Mister Defense]

3 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 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.  

 

A good explanation of an important aspect of complimentary football.  Here, the offense feeds off the success of the defense.

 

On the other side of the coin, the defense feeds off the offense.. So as Buffalo's offense gets better, and it will if Brady is the real deal, the defense will naturally get better. For example, they will be playing with a lead even more, which is very positive for a defense.

 

So in  the end if the Bills get one high impact player in the off season, I will be satisfied that the team itself is better overall. You make the point that a great player on one side of the ball makes the other side better, which is usually true. This should ease all of our minds if our guy is not the one. 

 

Any of the top three choices so far would do that for a team, in my estimation.

 

 

 

 

[nosejob]

2 hours ago, Royale with Cheese said:

 

Over the course of 6 years with the Bengals, he was pretty poor.  They were in the top 20 in defensive scoring just twice in 6 years under Lou.

Well I wouldn't bet on a huge turn around for them this year. Lou always had our number.

[Straight Hucklebuck]

5 hours ago, Low Positive said:

Buffalo fans have a high opinion of him because he was particularly good at scheming against Josh Allen for some reason. Although all those games were against Ken Dorsey's offense so that may have had something to do with it.

Yeah and Gabe Davis was the #2 with Isaiah McKenzie as the #3. 

[Mister Defense]

7 hours ago, chongli said:

 

Hsy, no problem and thanks for the explanation. 

 

Two things:

 

1. You can always edit your poll options, AFAIK, to add or delete choices, as the thread discussions goes on.

 

2. Next time that you decide to make a poll, just start a post, but in the drop down box on top where it says "content", drop it down and choose the option "poll". Voila! Then just fill out the question and options.

 

 

 

Thanks a lot, I appreciate it. Have wanted to do some over the years, but too lazy to find out how. It seems pretty easy from your directions so now I can do one!

 

But sometimes when there are polls people are less likely to explain their views.  I kept thinking of different reasons, pro and con, for the high end free agent options. I wanted info and analysis that helped me make a more informed decision.

 

Obviously Beane and the Bills' leaders get most of their ideas from this forum, so there's no room for error.

 

 

 

 

[wppete]

1. Garrett

2. Crosby

3. Parsons

[Thurman#1]

On 3/4/2025 at 8:19 AM, MrEpsYtown said:

It’s Garrett all day. He gets the team over the hump in my opinion.

 

 

Yup, Garrett.

 

Trey Hendrickson after that, probably. Third, maybe Crosby.

 

No thanks to the expensive WRs. Bring us in a #2.

[Thurman#1]

14 hours ago, FireChans said:

You are forgetting that glorious Stat Loutoto contract where they may have been the only team bidding on him and somehow still dramatically overpaid.

 

 

 

Star did a very good job his first years here. 

 

Then COVID hit and he skipped the year, came back without getting vaccinated, started great in camp and for a game or two, but caught COVID, missed a lot of the season and after he came back, was never even close to the same.

 

But his first year here our YPA in run defense dropped like a stone. And stayed down during his second year here. And soared again when he took the year off. 

 

2017 24th (w/out Star)

2018 9th  (w/ Star)

2019  13th (w/ Star)

2020  26th (Star opts out because of COVID)

 

He was never much of a pass rusher, but he was a very good space eater for those first couple of years.

 

 

Edited Wednesday at 09:11 AM by Thurman#1

[Thurman#1]

16 hours ago, Luka said:

 

You aren't going to build a secondary that can hold up for 6 seconds in coverage. And I don't agree that he wants the other team to run the ball, some of our most memorable losses this regime have been against teams that have absolutely hammered us on the ground.

 

Benford's ceiling is Taron's replacement. He does not posses the elite athletic traits to play CB1 and it showed in the playoffs. For as much flak as Elam was getting, people were clearing missing Benford constantly a step or two behind his man. 

 

Controlling the line of scrimmage isn't a fantasy, it's how you win football games at every single level. This team can not do that currently on defense. An elite edge rusher is the answer to this problem. Takes pressure off of Groot and Oliver. Add in an elite interior lineman in the 1st round and the defense would be a night and day difference from last season. Philly was merely yet another example of an excellent front 4 winning football games.

 

 

Benford's ceiling is one of the top four or five CBs in the league. He can absolutely play CB1. The D played very well the first couple of games of the playoffs, and so did Benford. Against KC, he was coming back from a concussion during the Ravens game and then suffered another in-game injury. This meant he only played 18% of the snaps. And it was mostly after he left that the Chiefs offense took off. Elam was in for most of that game.

 

Agreed, though, that a big DL move would be the biggest one-transaction step-up we could take.

 

But Rasul or Rasul's replacement will be a major concern this season, and wouldn't be suprised to see them making a reasonably big move at safety, though even after the combine I doubt it will be in Round one.