WVUFootball29 Posted December 24, 2006 Share Posted December 24, 2006 2007 Offseason plan Well I know the Bills season is still far from over, but it never hurts to look ahead to next year, especially when you are stuck at work with nothing better to do. So here’s what I’m thinking as an offseason plan for the Bills. Free Agents by position: RB: First things first, let’s resign A-Train. He played well for us this year and deserves a new contract. Also, I’d like to try and tag Michael Turner, but since he is a RFA I wouldn’t want to give up more than maybe a 5th round pick for him, if anything at all. Other than that there isn’t much too look at in the FA RB market. If all else fails, ink Shaud Williams to a 1 year deal. WR: I have to agree with a lot of other TBDer’s here and say Drew Bennett would be a great pickup. We need a receiver with some size opposite of Lee Evans to balance out the passing attack. At 6’5 206 Bennett can do just that. However, if we cannot pickup Bennett, I’d like to take a look at Ernest Wilford from Jacksonville. Wilford at 6’4 218 could also help bring some possession and big target ability to our WR corps. However, he is a RFA so we’d probably have to part with a day 2 pick. Mike Furrey (6’ 206) from the Lions is another guy I’d like to take a look at. He has 77 receptions for 877 yards on a team with a reputation for a horrible passing game. TE: Take a shot at Daniel Graham, if for nothing else, to get him away from Brady and the Pats. Other than that, I’m not really impressed with the TE market this season. OL: Steinbach and Womack, both FA at LG would be a nice upgrade over Mike Gandy. Gandy could then slide over to RG or stick around to provide depth. Kris Dielman from SD could be a good fit as well at G. DE: Patrick Kerney makes this list, just for the fun of it. I doubt Atlanta will let him even test the market. I wouldn’t mind taking a look at Charles Grant who has made a bit of a resurgence this year. However, I don’t think DE is a major concern right now. DT: Robaire Smith tops my list for DTs. At 6’4 328 he had been playing DE in a 3-4 in Houston. He’s got some speed and size and would fit nicely into our DT rotation. Other than that, the DT market is a bit thin for my taste. LB: Resigning Fletcher is a top priority this offseason, even though he is on the wrong side of 30. If we cannot or do not resign Fletcher, I like to see us pursue Kawika Mitchell from KC. Mitchell (27, 6’1, 253) has 95 tackles 1.5 sacks and 3 safeties for the Chiefs this year and would be a nice replacement for Fletcher. On the outside, I’d prefer to bring in some rookies or developmental prospects for depth. CB: Resign Clements. The past few weeks have changed my mind about Nate and if he can stay fired up and play the way he has lately he truly can be a top corner in this league. Personally, I like for us to sign him before he hits the market. If we cannot resign Nate, Asante Samuel tops my list, but he is going to have a hefty pricetag this year. If we do resign Nate, I wouldn’t mind taking a look at David Macklin from Arizona for some depth. S: I think we are pretty solid at this position right now, but I wouldn’t mind some added FS depth. 2007 Draft While I’m not going to look for specific players at this point, here’s the kind of draft I’d like to see: 1st round: OG, OT, WR, Defense I think Guard is our top OL priority followed by RT. If we cannot get a 1st round quality OL with our 1st pick, I’d like to go after a big WR. Should there be no 1st quality picks at these positions for our pick DL or CB is the way to go. 2nd round: DL, CB, LB, WR, RB, OL 3rd round: WR, DB, TE, RB, OL 4th round: DB, LB, DL, WR 5th round: Best Value Defensive Skill position 6th round: Best Value Offensive Skill position 7th round: Best Value That’s my current take on our offseason necessities and this point in time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFLstyle Posted December 24, 2006 Share Posted December 24, 2006 you didn't even mention TE Eric Johnson, he's a UFA, San Fran 49ers. Great receiving tight end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HudsonValleyBillsFan Posted December 24, 2006 Share Posted December 24, 2006 I dont think you are putting enough emphasis on our need to beef up the middle of the defensive line. I have very few complaints about the offensive line in the past few weeks. Losman's improved play and the O. line shuffles have made me feel better about the line we have. I'm not saying its great and couldnt use improvement. But i think our top priority for the offseason should be a run stuffer in the middle of the defense. If we can't find a top on in FA then our first round draft pick should be spent on that. Our poor run defense is my biggest concern with this team right now. We should have never let pat williams go. 2007 Offseason plan Well I know the Bills season is still far from over, but it never hurts to look ahead to next year, especially when you are stuck at work with nothing better to do. So here’s what I’m thinking as an offseason plan for the Bills. Free Agents by position: RB: First things first, let’s resign A-Train. He played well for us this year and deserves a new contract. Also, I’d like to try and tag Michael Turner, but since he is a RFA I wouldn’t want to give up more than maybe a 5th round pick for him, if anything at all. Other than that there isn’t much too look at in the FA RB market. If all else fails, ink Shaud Williams to a 1 year deal. WR: I have to agree with a lot of other TBDer’s here and say Drew Bennett would be a great pickup. We need a receiver with some size opposite of Lee Evans to balance out the passing attack. At 6’5 206 Bennett can do just that. However, if we cannot pickup Bennett, I’d like to take a look at Ernest Wilford from Jacksonville. Wilford at 6’4 218 could also help bring some possession and big target ability to our WR corps. However, he is a RFA so we’d probably have to part with a day 2 pick. Mike Furrey (6’ 206) from the Lions is another guy I’d like to take a look at. He has 77 receptions for 877 yards on a team with a reputation for a horrible passing game. TE: Take a shot at Daniel Graham, if for nothing else, to get him away from Brady and the Pats. Other than that, I’m not really impressed with the TE market this season. OL: Steinbach and Womack, both FA at LG would be a nice upgrade over Mike Gandy. Gandy could then slide over to RG or stick around to provide depth. Kris Dielman from SD could be a good fit as well at G. DE: Patrick Kerney makes this list, just for the fun of it. I doubt Atlanta will let him even test the market. I wouldn’t mind taking a look at Charles Grant who has made a bit of a resurgence this year. However, I don’t think DE is a major concern right now. DT: Robaire Smith tops my list for DTs. At 6’4 328 he had been playing DE in a 3-4 in Houston. He’s got some speed and size and would fit nicely into our DT rotation. Other than that, the DT market is a bit thin for my taste. LB: Resigning Fletcher is a top priority this offseason, even though he is on the wrong side of 30. If we cannot or do not resign Fletcher, I like to see us pursue Kawika Mitchell from KC. Mitchell (27, 6’1, 253) has 95 tackles 1.5 sacks and 3 safeties for the Chiefs this year and would be a nice replacement for Fletcher. On the outside, I’d prefer to bring in some rookies or developmental prospects for depth. CB: Resign Clements. The past few weeks have changed my mind about Nate and if he can stay fired up and play the way he has lately he truly can be a top corner in this league. Personally, I like for us to sign him before he hits the market. If we cannot resign Nate, Asante Samuel tops my list, but he is going to have a hefty pricetag this year. If we do resign Nate, I wouldn’t mind taking a look at David Macklin from Arizona for some depth. S: I think we are pretty solid at this position right now, but I wouldn’t mind some added FS depth. 2007 Draft While I’m not going to look for specific players at this point, here’s the kind of draft I’d like to see: 1st round: OG, OT, WR, Defense I think Guard is our top OL priority followed by RT. If we cannot get a 1st round quality OL with our 1st pick, I’d like to go after a big WR. Should there be no 1st quality picks at these positions for our pick DL or CB is the way to go. 2nd round: DL, CB, LB, WR, RB, OL 3rd round: WR, DB, TE, RB, OL 4th round: DB, LB, DL, WR 5th round: Best Value Defensive Skill position 6th round: Best Value Offensive Skill position 7th round: Best Value That’s my current take on our offseason necessities and this point in time. 875873[/snapback] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WVUFootball29 Posted December 24, 2006 Author Share Posted December 24, 2006 I dont think you are putting enough emphasis on our need to beef up the middle of the defensive line. I have very few complaints about the offensive line in the past few weeks. Losman's improved play and the O. line shuffles have made me feel better about the line we have. I'm not saying its great and couldnt use improvement. But i think our top priority for the offseason should be a run stuffer in the middle of the defense. If we can't find a top on in FA then our first round draft pick should be spent on that. Our poor run defense is my biggest concern with this team right now. We should have never let pat williams go. 875876[/snapback] I see where you are coming from, but I think McCargo being back next year will be just as good as spending another first round pick on the DL. Second or third round will be just as good in this case. I agree the new look OL is playing much better, but...we still arent moving the ball on the ground with any regularity and sacks since the realignment are still about the same. While I like the line as it is, I still would like to add some road graders and depth. As for Eric Johnson, San Fran isn't going to let him slip away, especially with Vernon Davis going down early this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Jokeman Posted December 24, 2006 Share Posted December 24, 2006 2007 Offseason plan Well I know the Bills season is still far from over, but it never hurts to look ahead to next year, especially when you are stuck at work with nothing better to do. So here’s what I’m thinking as an offseason plan for the Bills. You've brought up quite a bit of RFAs to sign. Let's not forget that we tried to sign 2 last offseason and got denied when their original teams matched our offers so to think their easy pickings isn't the case. Not only that but if we do sign them often there's compensation involved. Case in point Michael Turner was originally a 5th Round pick and that be the very least we'd likely have to give up for him which we don't have right now do to the Hargrove trade. Wilford, while I like him, would cost at least a 4th Rounder and am sure Jacksonville would match an offer he gets being he's their best WR. Graham would be a great signing but Robert Royal's showed some things the last few weeks with his ability to find the end zone. I also think Johnson will be available as Vernon Davis is back to playing and as mentioned can't see the 49ers trying to retain him. OGs: I have a short list that includes: Vince Manuwai, Kris Dielman Montrae Holland, Sean Mahan, Cosey Coleman and Andre Gurode in no particular order. DEs: I'd love to re-sign Kelsay but think he'll be lost in the shuffle to retain Clements, Fletcher and Lindell. I'd love Charles Grant but he'll likley get a bigger deal then Kelsay and not someone we could afford. One guy I have my eye on is Chris Cooper, who is similar to Denney in that can line up at DT too and probably best as a rotation player. DTs: Smith actually was cut by Houston and back in Tennessee playing DT. He's not a bad player and warrants some consideration but with Kyle Williams showing he can fill in at spots think a guy like Ian Scott would cost less and is younger and a better fit. LBs: I think Kawika Mitchell be a fine replacement for Fletcher but think we'd miss Fletcher's leadership and Mitchell might be one of the more heavily pursued LBs in free agency with his youth. CBs: Nate's my #1 priority this offseason if we lose him I think it's a forgone conclusion we'll be taking a CB in the 1st Round of the draft. I agree with most of your draft feelings except us having a 5th Rounder again because of the Hargrove trade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill from NYC Posted December 24, 2006 Share Posted December 24, 2006 Just curious Jokeman.....why would your list of OGs NOT include Steinbach? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Jokeman Posted December 24, 2006 Share Posted December 24, 2006 Just curious Jokeman.....why would your list of OGs NOT include Steinbach? 875981[/snapback] Money as I think Steinbach's a great player, I was calling for us to draft him when we instead went with Willis, I just don't think we'd spend the money to acquire him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill from NYC Posted December 24, 2006 Share Posted December 24, 2006 Money as I think Steinbach's a great player, I was calling for us to draft him when we instead went with Willis, I just don't think we'd spend the money to acquire him. 875982[/snapback] If you are correct, this is a real shame. A left side of Peters and Steinbach has the potential to be as good as anything we have ever seen in Buffalo imo. Btw, I think that WE were calling for TD to draft Steinbach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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