Buffalo Bills The offseason begins — NFL draft Apr. 24-26

[ValJamesDuex]

I like top 3 a lot. I like Jonas Sanker and Caldwell too, although, I can’t see the logic in double dipping for two noses. Don’t like Royals. Depth at RB and TE makes sense.

Sanker is a very good Special teams guy as well apparently.

I would also expect a double dip at corner.

 

[ValJamesDuex]

Interesting note from SalC this morning on wgr, the Bill's are still paying Tre White a dead cap money from when they released him originally of 4.1M from his previous contract, so this resigning could be just for a additional 2M+ plus on top of that number.

Sal also believes they will wait at least a round or to two take a corner at the draft, but that could be him blowing smoke as well.

 

[Jim Bob]

Using our top pick on Revel would make me very uneasy

With the signings of Dane Jackson and Tre White, I wonder if they have more of an appetite for a CB like Revel or Morrison that might require a redshirt rookie year to recover from injury.

 

[Jim Bob]

Interesting note from SalC this morning on wgr, the Bill's are still paying Tre White a dead cap money from when they released him originally of 4.1M from his precious contract, so this resigning could be just for a additional 2M+ plus on top of that number.

Sal also believes they will wait at least a round or to two take a corner at the draft, but that could be him blowing smoke as well.

They aren't paying him with the dead cap. Dead cap is just previously paid bonus money that had yet to hit the salary cap accelerating.

That does not effect the value of the new contract at all.

With the way the agent leaked the signing numbers, I bet he gets a base salary of around $2M with "up to" $4.8M of not likely to be earned bonuses that allow him to get the $6.8M total number if he is CB2 for 17 games and plays well in that role.

 

[Jim Bob]

 

[Krieger Bot]

That is curious, but understandable IMO. We've got Groot and Bosa to start. Epenesa is solid depth as the 3rd in the rotation. Hoecht will be used all over the place, but IMO will be most utilized at edge on passing downs. Solomon showed flashes last year.

It wouldn't shock me in the least if the Bills are much more comfortable with the DEs than fans are.

Agreed. I don't see edge as a particularly big need. To start the year, they have Rousseau at LE and Bosa/Epenesa in a time share at RE. When Hoecht comes back, RE becomes a timeshare between him and Bosa, with Epenesa mopping up whatever snaps are left/filling in for injuries. That's a good edge room. At most, they could use a guy to eat a few snaps while Hoecht is out/others are injured. But that's just a depth guy, not a first round pick. Honestly, given the more significant needs at CB, DI, and S, I wouldn't really like an edge in the second round either, unless someone falls that they really love.

To come at it a bit differently, I feel the similarly about our edge and WR rooms. Both groups could probably use a mid-round body who offers a skillset they don't already have. But for me to invest one of our first three picks in the position, it would have to be because someone fell that I really love.

 

[Jim Bob]

Agreed. I don't see edge as a particularly big need. To start the year, they have Rousseau at LE and Bosa/Epenesa in a time share at RE. When Hoecht comes back, RE becomes a timeshare between him and Bosa, with Epenesa mopping up whatever snaps are left/filling in for injuries. That's a good edge room. At most, they could use a guy to eat a few snaps while Hoecht is out/others are injured. But that's just a depth guy, not a first round pick. Honestly, given the more significant needs at CB, DI, and S, I wouldn't really like an edge in the second round either, unless someone falls that they really love.

To come at it a bit differently, I feel the similarly about our edge and WR rooms. Both groups could probably use a mid-round body who offers a skillset they don't already have. But for me to invest one of our first three picks in the position, it would have to be because someone fell that I really love.

DE is a need because both Bosa and Epenesa are in the last year of their deals plus the Hoecht suspension.

I doubt Epenesa gets a third contract and Bosa is likely on the Leonard Floyd path where he prices himself out of Buffalo if things go well.

Add in that the Bills have shown serious interest in Landon Jackson and some other day 1/2 DEs, I think they view DE as more of a need than WR and probably safety.

 

[ValJamesDuex]

Jameson Williams and George Pickens could be available for trade.

 

[Krieger Bot]

DE is a need because both Bosa and Epenesa are in the last year of their deals plus the Hoecht suspension.

I doubt Epenesa gets a third contract and Bosa is likely on the Leonard Floyd path where he prices himself out of Buffalo if things go well.

Add in that the Bills have shown serious interest in Landon Jackson and some other day 1/2 DEs, I think they view DE as more of a need than WR and probably safety.

I can't speak for what's going through Brandon Beane's mind. But at least to me, "edge is a need because maybe it will be a need next year" isn't a particularly compelling argument. Lots of things could be needs next year. Dion could tear his ACL, causing OT to shoot up our collective draft boards. Palmer could flop in our system, putting WR back at the top of the list. But I wouldn't be rushing out to put either of those positions at the top of our needs list either.

 

[ValJamesDuex]

They aren't paying him with the dead cap. Dead cap is just previously paid bonus money that had yet to hit the salary cap accelerating.

That does not effect the value of the new contract at all.

With the way the agent leaked the signing numbers, I bet he gets a base salary of around $2M with "up to" $4.8M of not likely to be earned bonuses that allow him to get the $6.8M total number if he is CB2 for 17 games and plays well in that role.

I think Sal was looking at it virtually not analytically of what the total money will be in the end.

 

[Jim Bob]

I can't speak for what's going through Brandon Beane's mind. But at least to me, "edge is a need because maybe it will be a need next year" isn't a particularly compelling argument. Lots of things could be needs next year. Dion could tear his ACL, causing OT to shoot up our collective draft boards. Palmer could flop in our system, putting WR back at the top of the list. But I wouldn't be rushing out to put either of those positions at the top of our needs list either.

But, they think that way.

Examples A & B: drafting Bernard and Williams on day 2 when they weren't going to really play until year 2.

 

[kirby11]

Jameson Williams and George Pickens could be available for trade.

I don't think they'll make a move for him, but I'd love JaMo as a take the top off the defense guy. The WR room desperately needs someone with true deep speed to complement the guys they already have

 

[TehDoak]

Man, I know he probably isn't going to play a ton, but its great to have Tre back. Just a genuine good dude who wants to play and win in Buffalo.

 

[TehDoak]

I don't think they'll make a move for him, but I'd love JaMo as a take the top off the defense guy. The WR room desperately needs someone with true deep speed to complement the guys they already have

I'd love Jamo as well....but my question is: Why in the world is Detroit trading him? Why not just option into his 5th year and run out the contract?

I'm curious if the off the field stuff is a bigger issue than they are letting on. At the very least they could play out this year unless they are getting some massive return, which doesn't seem like they are.

 

[Jim Bob]

 

[Digable5]

The bolded understates some of the problems we had in coverage last year IMO. I think we all know the problems were on the defensive side of the ball, not the offensive side (when you take out garbage time and Week 18, the offense was 1st in EPA/play, 2nd in success rate, and 7th in PFF grade, while the defense was 16th in EPA/play, 23rd in success rate, and 28th in PFF grade).

More specifically, I would argue, we struggled against the pass, not the run (the run defense was 4th in EPA/play and 9th in success rate, while the pass defense was 28th in both EPA/play and success rate).

And I would further argue that our problems actually had more to do with coverage than pass rush. Most of our pass rush stats were pretty good (8th in hurry rate, 13th in knockdown percentage, 10th in pressure percentage, and 9th in PFF pass rush grade, all while 27th in blitz percentage). But our coverage unit got shredded (31st in PFF coverage grade, with a woeful 37.7). We also made some pretty significant upgrades to our DL in free agency, while we've pretty much stood pat in the secondary.

Given all of that, I'd like to see them find a way to use 2 of their top 3 picks on guys to help the coverage unit. Particularly in the second round, where there's a bunch of good DBs.

I don’t think the numbers have enough context. Our offense likely forced many of our opponents to abandon the run for the pass because they were playing catchup.

There were plenty of games, Baltimore in particular, where the run defense was not up to the challenge.

The pass coverage certainly needs to be improved, but injury, inexperience and poor scheme fit make up for a lot of the failures in my opinion. And what makes coverage easier is a great pass rush. There is a limit to how long even the best CBs can cover a player. The only way to reduce that time is to pressure the QB to get rid of the ball earlier than they are ready for.

White and Jackson are upgrades on Elam and Ingram that were forced into action when Benford and Douglas were injured. And, with Douglas losing a step, White me be an upgrade on him next year. Not to mention we all hope that Bishop will improve with his experience in the system and the NFL.

 

[ValJamesDuex]

Beane

 

[brian_griffin]

If we take a DT in round 1 he better need two seats in the plane into town. It’s like some big mystery they can’t solve at this point. Get a fat motherf***er and plop him in the middle of the f***ing line already. I don’t want to hear about fitting McDermott’s D…McDermott’s D has been the problem every year when the playoffs come. Fat. f***ing. Guy.

Who has hacked Ace's account and is impersonating him?
I thought the problem was the offense lacking a deep speed threat to score in the final closing seconds of a KC / Mahomes vs. Bills / Allen shootout?

I remember this board hating the Josh Allen pick (you know who you are Josh Rosen fans), and the pick being booed at the Bill's Field House. Just throwing that out there this time of the year

His Holiness Pope Francis absolved me from my sin of coveting the wrong Josh. My sin is not reinstated now that he has passed on to our Heavenly Father.

 

[Der Jaeger]

I wonder if McDermott might see White as a back-up at cornerback and safety?

 

[ValJamesDuex]

I wonder if McDermott might see White as a back-up at cornerback and safety?

Interesting, was not mentioned by Beane today (see two posts above) but Beane did say Trey will contend to be a starter at the other CB spot.

That might eat into any Cam Lewis playing time as well who they like in his hybrid role

 

[WeDislikeEich]

LMFAO!

Ah man, I would love to see that one on beyond blue & red. lol

 

[Husko]

With the signings of Dane Jackson and Tre White, I wonder if they have more of an appetite for a CB like Revel or Morrison that might require a redshirt rookie year to recover from injury.

Totally fine with a player like that at the end of the second. Not with our top pick, personally

 

[WeDislikeEich]

Man, I know he probably isn't going to play a ton, but its great to have Tre back. Just a genuine good dude who wants to play and win in Buffalo.

That was great. I am rooting so f’n hard for him to make the team. I love Tre.
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anyone so happy to be back in Buffalo and I mean that sincerely (not a pot shot at Buffalo).

It would be so amazing if he could lock down that other starting CB role. I don’t think it’s crazy to believe he might look better this season than last, being in year 2 post injury.

 

[Der Jaeger]

If Tre White is only here for more goaltending videos, then he's a good signing.

 

[TehDoak]

If Tre White is only here for more goaltending videos, then he's a good signing.

Hopefully he doesn't realize part of his contract is having to attend every sabres game as the EBUG.