Bills Offseason Moves

Definitely not opposed to the whole Alex Smith idea, but I don't think he would consider being a stop-gap guy. I wouldn't want to give up any picks for him, so it would have to come with the Niners cutting him, and not looking to trade him. If we were to sign him at 2/16 range, it would benefit us a ton, I don't think he goes for that. Nassib, Glennon, and Wilson, IF THEY ARE IN THE 2ND ROUND (or later), is ok with me. I've heard reports that Marrone doesn't want Nassib, which I think is ridiculous. Why wouldn't you want the guy you've been coaching the last 4 years? Just doesn't make sense to me. Wish list at 8:

Assuming (never a good thing) Geno Smith, Star Lotulelei, Damontre Moore, Luke Joeckel, Jarvis Jones, Bjoern Werner are gone in no particular order. Seems to be a fairly consisten consensus top 6. Wouldn't want Geno anyways, the other 5 all would be great fits. 

1) Dion Jordan DE Oregon - kid is a beast, will get pressure off the edge no matter who picks him up.
2) Dee Milliner CB Alabama - you can never have enough good corners. Especially not enough of Milliner's ability. Far and away best CB in draft.
3) Eric Fisher OT Central Michigan - I'm not a fan of taking small school guys, but he's unbelievable. Would allow us to move Glenn to a more natural fit at RT
4) Alec Ogletree LB Georgia - Just has a nose for the ball, will help our porous run D
5) Manti Te'o - We all know his situation. I'm on his side, I'm a believer in what he's saying. Kid makes plays, thats what matters to me.


Look out for Chance Warmack, G, Alabama, and Kenny Vaccaro, S, Texas if for some reason we don't re-up with Byrd and Levitre...which would be idiotic. 
 

if for some reason we don't re-up with Byrd and Levitre...which would be idiotic.

Agreed, that would be idiotic.  The Bills have done a much better job of resigning their own compared to a few years ago.  Andy Levitre, I believe, genuinely likes being a Bill.  I expect him to resign without too much difficulty.  Byrd, on the other hand, appears to be highly motivated to get max. dollars - for him, I expect the team may need to use the franchise tag.  Regardless, I expect that both will be on the roster this year.

Does the team want to resign McKelvin?  As a CB he is not going to be in high demand.  There are few better returnmen; I know it's relatively easy to replace players in this position.  My preference is that he resigns at a price that reflects his return prowess, but if he wants to be paid like a quality CB then - well, we'll see you later.  The team needs more defensive backfield help and Dee Milliner may be the BAP once the eighth pick of the draft rolls around.

As things stand now, I want the Bills to find a way to get Dion Jordan and a QB in the second or third round.

After some cuts and players available for trade etc the Bills have some more options. I have heard the Vikings are looking to trade Percy Harvin I would love the Bills to explore a trade for him he is explosive and on field exactly what the Bills need. Some of the Jets players recently cut or soon to be free agents that played under Pettine might be brought in to help install his system who would you like to brought in.

i dont think harvin is what we need... i would like better a Mike Wallace type of player, but a what cost?

and yes the calvinpace-bartscott duo can help a lot this year, maybe 2
 

Mike Wallace has lost some value since last offseason but I think someone still over pays for him. Don't see it being the Bills. I don't think they will get any of the bigger names this year. For QB I was thinking if either were available trading for Nick Foles or Kirk Cousins might be good options both had some moments and were rookies last year so could be the teams QB of the future.

I think Pace and Scott could be on the Bills radar especially with the release of Nick Barnett, I think LaRon Landry could be in play as well due to George Wilson getting released today. I could see the Bills going for a hard hitting SS to replace Wilson as that is the type of player who fits Pettine's MO.


Who else do you see the Bills releasing? I could see Chris Kelsay and Spencer Johnson going also. 


 

what about fitzpatrick, mcgee, troup, merriman, morrison

I am sure McGee restructured his deal but could be a casualty, Merriman is a FA, Troup is possible but most analysts are saying it would not be sensible for the Bills to cut Fitz with the amount of due to the cap even by cutting him. Morrison is likely gone as well.

Fitzpatrick is not going to get cut; it would still be too much of a cap hit.  It is, however, very likely that the Bills will try to renegotiate his contract.  With no other QB's, (other than B. Smith, if he counts as a QB), on the roster, the team cannot start from ground-zero.  Fitz will never be better than a slightly sub-500 QB, but he is better than nothing.

The team will almost certainly draft a QB.  I hope that they wait until the second or even third round.  They are also going to need to bring in at least one FA.  Fitz is a smart game-manager; he would be an almost ideal back-up.  I think all the QB's will be given a real shot at competing for the starting job.  If Fitz wins that competition... well, it is never too early in Buffalo to start talking about next year.

I'm not concerned with trading a draft pick for Alex Smith. Being concerned about this assumes the Bills would have actually made an intelligent pick with it and we all know that's not going to happen so it's really like giving up nothing.

Smith could work in this system. As more of a game manager type (although he and others see it differently) he could thrive with a Bills offense that will have multiple elite RB options and should have a decent O-line. Get another legit threat besides Stevie and finally a TE and the Bills O could be dangerous.

So now the Bills have released George Wilson and Nick Barnett to create cap space. A defense that is already horrifying just created more holes that they will surely try to replace with cheaper and better alternatives. Cheaper doesn't usually equal better. But it can if you have brilliant minds making personnel decisions...

i think that if they bring some of the Jets players its gonna be a good thing to teach the new system to the players..

Eric Winston is a player who the Bills should target, he was just released by the Chiefs. The Raiders are rumoured to be releasing Rolando McClain who would be a great for at ILB for the Bills. I know he has had some off field issues but he is a good player and has potential to be even better.

In his draft year I would have loved it if McClain had fallen to the Bills.  Now, I guess we were lucky he did not.  After his troubles in Oakland he will either learn from it and mature, or he'll soon be a former NFL player.  The Chargers are going to release Takeo Spikes.  Takeo had very nice things to say about his experience in Buffalo.  With or without McClain, the Bills are going to need veteran leadership at LB.  Perhaps they'll make a run at both of these players.

McClain for me makes the most sense. #he is solid to good already and has the potential to be very good. He is young enough and has the talent that make it worth taking a shot at him. He and Sheppard would form a good pairing in the middle of the Bills D.

Signing McKelvin long-term at $5MM per makes a lot of sense.  He's getting paid back-up CB money and he's a great return man.  The team could choose to carry two QB's on the roster and look at B. Smith as an emergency third-stringer.  If he does not show more accuracy between now and the end of training camp he could be gone just as easily.

McKelvin is too old to be called a project, (even if he weren't a first round pick).  On the other hand, he has not had the most stellar defensive coaching.  It will be interesting to see if Pettine can coach more out of him; if he starts to show lofty draft pick performance, then this contract will be a steal.  I do not expect this from McKelvin, but it is worth noting.

I was mildly surprised that the Bills cut Fitz outright.  His cap hit will not give them any more money towards potential FA's.  If they had waited until June they could have spread the hit out saving $7MM from this year's cap.  Fitz got a lot more mileage, (and money!), out of his NFL career than most Harvard grads.  I would not mind if the team were to bring him back to fight for the back-up role at a much reduced cost.

Back-up to whom?

The Bills are such morons. Anyone excited by Fitz being cut is prematurely celebrating. What is the master plan they now have to fill another gaping hole on the roster they just created?

In THIS draft, what is more likely...the Bills outsmart everyone and choose a gem in a lowly-rated QB class that becomes the franchise QB for the future? Or they go early and add another stupid pick to the QB bust scrap heap that keeps growing bigger? My $$$, and I'd bet big, is on the latter.

Cutting Fitz was a business decision because the Bills can suk with or without him.  They'll be grooming a rookie QB this year.  Expect the team to play below the lofty level that they've shown this decade.

Losing Levitre is worse, because he was a very dependable OL.  Now we need to be concerned - again - about getting the O-line to gel with each other.  2013 is the lost season before the draft.

does the Bills r waiting for the players to be free to make a move or what?, it looks that they want the first pick of the 2014 draft...
thanks buddy 

I sure hope they aren't waiting for that. Players might contact the Broncos to see about playing for them, but nobody (that's actually good and wants to win) is going to seek out the Bills.