Free Agency (Defense/Special Teams)
Signing: DE Ronald Blair, LB De’Vondre Campbell, CB James Bradberry
On the other side of the ball, the Buffalo Bills don’t have many glaring needs but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t attempt to upgrade. The primary focus for this front office should be to find a pass rusher. The perfect addition would have been Yannick Ngakoue, however it appears the Jaguars will be using the franchise tag and the Bills would need to trade draft picks to add him.
Since the Bills were able to bring back Shaq Lawson, the Bills could elect to go with a pass rusher with more upside like San Francisco 49ers’ defensive end Ronald Blair. The 2016 fifth round pick hasn’t seen much playing time at a position that already includes Arik Armstead, Nick Bosa and Dee Ford. However, he has been productive in limited snaps and has 13.5 sacks in four seasons with the 49ers.
Another focus for the Bills front office will be to address the hole at linebacker with the retirement of Lorenzo Alexander. This isn’t necessarily a pressing need because the Bills have spent a majority of time in nickel and utilized the speed of Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano to cover sideline to sideline. However, a player like De’Vondre Campbell makes sense as he likely won’t command a big contract but has significant experience playing in the Atlanta Falcons defense.
The last addition on defense is cornerback James Bradberry. It wouldn’t be surprising if Bradberry was the highest paid free agent the Bills sign this offseason but the upgrade at cornerback is a necessary one. The team has gotten by the past few years with Levi Wallace and this past season with Kevin Johnson, however this is the season they should add a permanent solution at the position opposite Tre’Davious White.
Bradberry has experience playing in Sean McDermott’s defense and knows the head coach well from their time in Carolina. It should be an easy transition to this defense and he should excel as the cornerback expected to shut down the second option on opposing offenses.
The last free agent the Bills should sign is kicker Greg Zuerlein to replace Stephen Hauschka. The Los Angeles Rams kicker has been one of the best in the league the past few years and has a powerful leg that could get the job done in Western New York weather.