2016 Buffalo Bills Offseason: Pass Or Fail?
By Dennis Moody
Offensive Tackle – Fail
Yes the Bills handled the Cordy Glenn situation masterfully by giving him the franchise tag at first and then negotiating a deal with Glenn that pays him like one of the best in the league over the length of the deal but also lowers his salary cap hit by $7.5 million for the Bills this season. However, the team has many uncertainties surrounding the right tackle spot and they did nothing to address that need. Even if Seantrel Henderson can return, it’s not likely it would be by the beginning of the season. Jordan Mills right now is expected to start on the right side of the line and he was very inconsistent last year for the team. The Bills other right tackle Cyrus Kouandjio has battled chronic knee issues his entire career and so the team is extremely weak at this position. They definitely deserve a failing grade for their lack of action addressing their offensive tackle needs during the offseason.
Offensive Guard – Pass
It may seem weird they are receiving a passing grade when they did nothing to improve the position in the offseason. The Bills were able to resign Richie Incognito to lock down the left guard spot. At right guard the play of rookie John Miller was shaky at times but it was his first season and he should continue to improve the longer he is in the league. The Bills had limited resources in both salary cap space and with draft picks and they just couldn’t afford to do anything else to address this position. It’s not even their biggest position of need on the offensive line where the right tackle spot is much more a question mark. They are just going to have to hope that Miller improves in his second year. They get a passing grade because they were able to keep Incognito and they focused their limited resources of money and draft picks on bigger positions of need.
Next: 2016 Buffalo Bills: Reasons for Optimism and Pessimism
Overall – Pass
The Bills ultimately passed the test at most of the positions that they needed to upgrade this offseason. That’s impressive considering how creative they had to be with the salary cap in order to make it all happen. The team should have a lot more cap space to work with next offseason which should make their jobs a little easier. While the offseason wasn’t a perfect success the executives at One Bills Drive did a good job at doing the best they could for the team with scarce resources.