Bills Sign WR Josh Palmer 3-$36M

[FireChans]

8 hours ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

We get it. Folks wanted a guy who was already a #1, and hopefully a true #1 like Metcalf. Those guys are too expensive for Beane's plan.

 

And many will say, "Well, then it's a bad plan, we need a #1." But we don't.

 

We were a terrific offense last year. Terrific, with the receivers we had. But pretty much an average defense. That's where we need most of the work.

 

Palmer is an upgrade, with the kind of ability to get deep that we don't have now, and the ability to get separation that we don't have enough of. He's a good move.

 

And we were never going to spend megabucks on a receiver this year. Too many needs on defense, particularly the need to develop a serious pass rush.

 

 

 

 

Do you think we have seriously upgraded the pass rush this offseason thus far? It feels more like maintaining what we had last year with a new role player sprinkled in.

 

I get not overpaying for a WR to get a difference maker on defense. I don’t get not doing either

 

[JohnNord]

30 minutes ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

Fans forget,we had a top 2 offense last year and Josh was the dang MVP!

 

What we NEED is defense!  But Palmer does the main thing we need and that is get separation. 

Great post.

This is true and possibly a reason why the Bills don’t need to take a big swing and pay DK Metcalf $33M a season.  
 

But also the team needs to upgrade Josh’s weapons as well to make his life easier.  The playoffs has come down to a top pass catcher coming up small in a big moment.  There were other times when the lack of ability at WR was on full display.  
 

I think the WR is looking decent but would like a rookie drafted drafted in R1/R2 that isn’t a Keon Coleman.  

[Mr. WEO]

And the Lord sayeth "I will raise an army of WR3s!"

[MrEpsYtown]

31 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

And the Lord sayeth "I will raise an army of WR3s!"

 

That reminds me, I wonder what Josh reed is up to these days. 

Edited 15 hours ago by MrEpsYtown

[Fan in Chicago]

2 hours ago, Pete said:

My #1 FA target signed by the Bills.  We needed veteran X WR who could separate, run route tree, and take top of the defense.

 

Palmer

Samuel

Shakir

Coleman 

 

That’s a solid 4, especially if Keon can put it together.

 

I would like to add one more WR with for first 3 picks.

Samuel hasn't shown much. Injuries are part of the game and I dont think we should bank on the hope that he will be injury free and contribute in any big fashion. Also, too early to tell if Coleman can show progress. Coleman is seemingly putting in the offseason work, which is good, but whether it translates to on-field success remains to be seen. 

In short, we have two proven WRs and two who are questionable in their ability to contribute significantly. We need at least one, maybe two more additions. 

[WEATHER DOT COM]

11 hours ago, NoSaint said:

honestly, kind of an enigma. 
 

not blazing and I don’t think an exceptional route runner but lots of separation. Lots of space and a good qb but minimal production 

 

it’s in the past made me think of Gabe Davis as a noteworthy deep threat somehow despite moving like a cruise ship, not being a high point guy and not being particularly qb friendly. 
 

just doesn’t really add up? 
 

 

 

11 hours ago, WEATHER DOT COM said:

A good separator who is a bad route runner is likely out of position often. He’s separating away from the defender, but not where the QB expects him to be.

This leads to a lot of missed throws. 
 

Curious if his catch per target percentage was above or below league average? 

 

checked this morning… FWIW

 

Average catch rate in 2024 for WRs was 60.5%. 
 

Palmer’s was 60%
 

About as close to average as he could get 

[NoSaint]

5 minutes ago, WEATHER DOT COM said:

 

checked this morning… FWIW

 

Average catch rate in 2024 for WRs was 60.5%. 
 

Palmer’s was 60%
 

About as close to average as he could get 

only other thing that pops to mind if digging there is targets per route run? Ie he is open but not getting thrown to because he’s off location? 
 

im not advocating that’s the answer for the anomaly in the numbers, but sharing another idea for your rabbit hole 

[Cash]

1 hour ago, Pete said:

FF players- buy Josh low, and he might morph into #1 WR with big numbers 

I doubt it. Palmer will likely never have as good an opportunity as he did last year, and he put up 580 yards and 1 TD. I think he can (will?) put up better numbers for us, but if he had #1 talent I think we would’ve seen it last year. 
 

I’m pretty whelmed by this signing, which is to say in the middle. Here’s what I like:

-He’s 25 and could still have his career year ahead of him

-He seems to mostly play X - this should let Coleman play Z and help 2 positions

I’m still totally on board with drafting a receiver early if that’s the best value. 

[MikePJ76]

there is a guy who called wgr this morning and whined and now called sal and is whining.

 

he said palmer is not big then sal asked if he thought diggs was bigg and the guy said yes.

 

this is a friendly reminder don't bother arguing with people.  Most have no idea what is going on with the team they root for.

 

 

[Einstein's Dog]

10 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

Nah, what's the point? Another WR that plays better from the slot, he's injury prone and is entering his age 32 season, and he'll probably be fairly expensive. They need to keep one roster spot available so they can draft someone relatively high and keep the pipeline going. If they miss out on a WR in the draft, sign a band-aid option after. Would it be a huge surprise if Cooper is still sitting around unsigned at that point? Lockett? Hopkins? I'll add one of these over the hill stopgaps if and only if it becomes absolutely necessary. Hopefully it won't.

I disagree.  The point of adding a C Kupp is having a top tier WR in the room.  Kupp would provide insurance at the slot and the boundary- I'm in the minority that feels our Shakir backup position is extremely weak.  The Bills would be able to have Kupp do less snaps, decreasing his injury concerns.  

 

The idea of drafting someone for a significant role is foolhardy IMO.  Seems like you couldn't expect anything more than Coleman level production out of the rookie, and that simply is not good enough.  2025 is a year when the #1 seed is within the grasp.  You're thinking some Coleman-like rookie over C Kupp?  C'mon.

 

So a veteran it is.  I prefer C Kupp over DHop or A Cooper.  The overall 2025 WR room will be better on paper if they add a veteran WR (who is the equal of the 2024 A Cooper addition) to go along with the addition of Palmer.   This would have fully onboarded vet WR > A Cooper, and Palmer > Hollins.

 

The FO needs to get the veteran WR before the season this time.  Should not wait until 5-6 weeks into the season, there is no Diggs debacle and the FO should know the Bills are fighting for the #1 seed right from the start.   Get Kupp and I'll forgive them for the DK miss.

[HappyDays]

5 minutes ago, Einstein's Dog said:

I disagree.  The point of adding a C Kupp is having a top tier WR in the room.  Kupp would provide insurance at the slot and the boundary- I'm in the minority that feels our Shakir backup position is extremely weak.  The Bills would be able to have Kupp do less snaps, decreasing his injury concerns.  

 

The idea of drafting someone for a significant role is foolhardy IMO.  Seems like you couldn't expect anything more than Coleman level production out of the rookie, and that simply is not good enough.  2025 is a year when the #1 seed is within the grasp.  You're thinking some Coleman-like rookie over C Kupp?  C'mon.

 

So a veteran it is.  I prefer C Kupp over DHop or A Cooper.  The overall 2025 WR room will be better on paper if they add a veteran WR (who is the equal of the 2024 A Cooper addition) to go along with the addition of Palmer.   This would have fully onboarded vet WR > A Cooper, and Palmer > Hollins.

 

The FO needs to get the veteran WR before the season this time.  Should not wait until 5-6 weeks into the season, there is no Diggs debacle and the FO should know the Bills are fighting for the #1 seed right from the start.   Get Kupp and I'll forgive them for the DK miss.

 

Kupp is not that guy anymore though. He is still a solid player, but definitely no longer a top tier WR. If we had added him instead of Palmer I would have been okay with that but honestly I'm happier with the younger option who is a traditional outside WR. I mean really, who is the last 30+ year old player we signed that ended up being worth the cost?

 

Unfortunately there is no true #1 WR walking through the door. Metcalf was the only chance we had. With that opportunity gone, we need to add in the draft and hope for the best.

[LABILLBACKER]

10 hours ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

his “36M”  is not what his actual $$$  will be against our cap. 

So enlighten me on exactly how long he will play and how much we will actually pay him off the cap?

[H2o]

15 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

So enlighten me on exactly how long he will play and how much we will actually pay him off the cap?

Well, we are on the hook for at least $18M over 3 years. That averages out to $6M per. If we structured it any way otherwise, it will add more to the cap numbers early on or later down the road, depending on said structure. The initial reports are always from agents trying to make it look like they got their client some eye-popping sum of $$$. 

[Einstein's Dog]

11 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

Kupp is not that guy anymore though. He is still a solid player, but definitely no longer a top tier WR. If we had added him instead of Palmer I would have been okay with that but honestly I'm happier with the younger option who is a traditional outside WR. I mean really, who is the last 30+ year old player we signed that ended up being worth the cost?

 

Unfortunately there is no true #1 WR walking through the door. Metcalf was the only chance we had. With that opportunity gone, we need to add in the draft and hope for the best.

To me, you're advocating doing the equivalent of what would have been adding T Franklin last year instead of A Cooper.  A mistake for that year.  And for 2025 we need to field as good of a team as possible right from the start because the #1 seed is there for the taking.

 

Receivers routinely play past 30, C Kupp played injured last year.  Kupp is more than solid- great attitude, great culture fit and great backup insurance to Shakir.  There are other veterans that are also better than rookies - DHop/A Cooper, but I'm hoping the FO takes a shot at Kupp.

 

Lets not forgo "good" because we didn't get "great".  Right now the WR room for 2025 is worse than 2024, and adding a rookie doesn't change that.  We have the cap space - I know the defense needs work but lets try to continue taking steps forward with the offense.  This shouldn't be another "retool" year.

[PrimeTime101]

He has done NOTHING to prove that he can be a true #2 WR in this league.. Because of that, that contract is to much. 

 

and and for christ sakes.. can we get someone with some speed please? 4:51 ... come on...  

[HappyDays]

19 minutes ago, Einstein's Dog said:

To me, you're advocating doing the equivalent of what would have been adding T Franklin last year instead of A Cooper. 

 

The options just aren't as good this year. Last offseason was a prime opportunity to add to the room and Beane instead did the bare minimum. But you can't compound that mistake by making desperate moves in a weaker offseason and leave yourself with no flexibility in the draft.

 

You know I'm the biggest advocate on here of adding WR talent. I'm extremely disappointed that we didn't give up what was needed for Metcalf. But with Higgins franchised Metcalf was the only big investment worth making. So it is what it is. I just disagree with your assessment on Kupp. He doesn't give the WR room what it needs and since we're only keeping 5 WRs that would mean it was guaranteed we wouldn't draft a WR with an early pick. 

[Bangarang]

4 hours ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

Fans forget,we had a top 2 offense last year and Josh was the dang MVP!

 

What we NEED is defense!  But Palmer does the main thing we need and that is get separation. 

 

Josh won MVP because he carried a team that didn't have a ton of talent to 13 wins. 

 

The sentiment before the season started was he lost too many weapons and Josh as well as the team overall were expected to have a down year.

 

Why do you think Beane traded for Cooper? It certainly wasn't because the offense was humming. 

 

If the plan is to add a complimentary piece in Palmer and hope for a huge leap from Keon then I think that's asking A LOT of Josh again. 

[Mat68]

1 hour ago, Einstein's Dog said:

I disagree.  The point of adding a C Kupp is having a top tier WR in the room.  Kupp would provide insurance at the slot and the boundary- I'm in the minority that feels our Shakir backup position is extremely weak.  The Bills would be able to have Kupp do less snaps, decreasing his injury concerns.  

 

The idea of drafting someone for a significant role is foolhardy IMO.  Seems like you couldn't expect anything more than Coleman level production out of the rookie, and that simply is not good enough.  2025 is a year when the #1 seed is within the grasp.  You're thinking some Coleman-like rookie over C Kupp?  C'mon.

 

So a veteran it is.  I prefer C Kupp over DHop or A Cooper.  The overall 2025 WR room will be better on paper if they add a veteran WR (who is the equal of the 2024 A Cooper addition) to go along with the addition of Palmer.   This would have fully onboarded vet WR > A Cooper, and Palmer > Hollins.

 

The FO needs to get the veteran WR before the season this time.  Should not wait until 5-6 weeks into the season, there is no Diggs debacle and the FO should know the Bills are fighting for the #1 seed right from the start.   Get Kupp and I'll forgive them for the DK miss.

At this stage.  Kupp, Dhop, Copper even Adams imo are names.  2025 Palmer is as good as any of them outside looking at the analytics and efficiency ratings.  He has been successful where the Bills offense has been lacking.  He is 25 and entering his prime.  Dont hate it. 

5 minutes ago, Bangarang said:

 

Josh won MVP because he carried a team that didn't have a ton of talent to 13 wins. 

 

The sentiment before the season started was he lost too many weapons and Josh as well as the team overall were expected to have a down year.

 

Why do you think Beane traded for Cooper? It certainly wasn't because the offense was humming. 

 

If the plan is to add a complimentary piece in Palmer and hope for a huge leap from Keon then I think that's asking A LOT of Josh again. 

 

Big jump for Coleman?  No.  Offering more for the offense than what Hollins brought?  Yes.  Coleman and Hollins accounted for 950 plus yards and 10 plus Tds.  If Coleman does 80% of that I'm happy.  I think that is also realistic projection 750 and 8?  That would be a very good year. 

[Back2Buff]

27 minutes ago, PrimeTime101 said:

He has done NOTHING to prove that he can be a true #2 WR in this league.. Because of that, that contract is to much. 

 

and and for christ sakes.. can we get someone with some speed please? 4:51 ... come on...  

 

His contract is one of a number 3 WR.

[SoonerBillsFan]

24 minutes ago, Bangarang said:

 

Josh won MVP because he carried a team that didn't have a ton of talent to 13 wins. 

 

The sentiment before the season started was he lost too many weapons and Josh as well as the team overall were expected to have a down year.

 

Why do you think Beane traded for Cooper? It certainly wasn't because the offense was humming. 

 

If the plan is to add a complimentary piece in Palmer and hope for a huge leap from Keon then I think that's asking A LOT of Josh again. 

We have 2 spots at WR open. I doubt we are done.