Buffalo Bills: 3 Potential strategies for this offseason
Move on from key free agents
As alluded to before, the Buffalo Bills are right up against the cap so they may move on from more of their free agents than they bring back this offseason. If the Bills decide to let all three Milano, Williams, and Felciano walk in free agency, they could realistically replace them all via the NFL Draft in April.
For example, the Bills could decide to bring back their lower level contributors in free agency like their restricted free agents, Levi Wallace, Corey Bojorquez, and Ike Boettger. By making a move like this, the Buffalo Bills would be bringing back solid contributors at a fraction of the price relative to the big three mentioned before.
Wallace is good depth at the cornerback position on a team-friendly deal that can compete with Dane Jackson in the preseason for the CB2 position. Bojorquez had a career year last season and put his inconsistent narrative to sleep. Lastly, Boettger came in and replaced Cody Ford in a pinch after he went down with a season-ending injury. Boettger could actually be the replacement to Felciano, and he’s already on the roster. He provides the same positional flexibility on the interior of the offensive line that Felciano has.
Furthermore, by signing these lower-level players the Buffalo Bills would open up the possibility to cut some cap casualties and improve on positional depth throughout the roster via free agency and the draft. Say all three Wallace, Bojorquez, and Boettger get tendered as restricted free agents by the Bills at about $1.5m and the Bills cut Addison and Butler, that would leave about $10m in cap space for the rest of free agency and the draft. While that isn’t a lot, it’s more than what they currently have in cap space.
With about $10m in cap space, the Bills could be somewhat active in free agency. For example, although the Bills missed out on J.J. Watt, they could still potentially sign Jadeveon Clowney with that kind of cap space to replace Addison. If the Buffalo Bills don’t want to go in that direction they could fortify the tight end position by adding a guy like Jared Cook to inject that position room with a veteran presence.
This scenario would likely require the Bills to replace Milano, Williams, and Feliciano with their first three draft picks. For example, the Bills could get lucky and see former Oklahoma State Cowboy Teven Jenkins fall to them at 30. He would be an ideal replacement for Williams in the draft if the Bills decide to let him walk in free agency.
Next, the Bills could replace Milano in round two with a linebacker prospect like Jabril Cox from LSU or Chazz Surratt from North Carolina. Lastly, to fortify the interior of the offensive line the Bills could draft a fan favorite like former Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawk Quinn Meinerz in round three or hope someone like former Illinois center/guard Kendrick Green falls to their round five selection.
In this scenario, the Bills would be putting a lot of faith into the draft and hoping that these rookies can contribute in year one. By adding depth in free agency and the draft, this scenario would likely propel the Bills towards a similar season in 2021-2022. With an injection of veterans from free agency while also adding youth in the draft, the Bills would have to endure some growing pains from some of these rookies I mentioned above while the rest of their team is ready to win a Super Bowl now.
By playing both sides of the fence in this hypothetical offseason, this would likely set the Bills up for a similar season of success where they succeed in the playoffs, but can’t quite get over the hump to win the Super Bowl.