Buffalo Bills: Focus is on keeping their own free agents this offseason
Last offseason, the Buffalo Bills made a big splash by trading for wide receiver Stefon Diggs. There is no question that the Bills won that deal as Diggs led the league in receptions and receiving yards this year.
This offseason could be different for the Bills as they try to win another AFC East division title. On Wednesday, Brandon Beane was asked about how to get this team past teams like Kansas City Chiefs.
The Bills general manager said that they will need to draft well but they are also at the point where they need to start to retain their players.
"“We are getting to that point where now we don’t have to go out and add pieces from free agency. We’ve got to see how many of the guys that we can retain and we’ll fill in here and there some holes but I would not anticipate any blockbuster moves of you know Stefon Diggs type or some of the moves we made the year before in free agency it’s really going to be plugging some holes depending on who we lose.”"
Last year, the Bills didn’t have many key players who were unrestricted free agents with the most notable players being Jordan Phillips and Shaq Lawson. However, this season the Bills have 15 unrestricted free agents and this group is headlined by outside linebacker Matt Milano.
However, he isn’t the only important part of this team as the Bills also have two starters on their offensive line as unrestricted free agents in Jon Feliciano and Daryl Williams.
On top of those two players, the front office must also start to think about possible contract extensions for Josh Allen and Tremaine Edmunds. Both players are entering the final year of their rookie contract but do have fifth-year options that would keep them with the Buffalo Bills through 2022.
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This past offseason, the front office did a good job of extending key parts of this team with new deals for Dion Dawkins and Tre’Davious White. There is no question Brandon Beane faces a tough challenge balancing keeping talent in Buffalo but also understanding there are some bigger names that are in line for new deals in the near future.