Buffalo Bills must go after Zach Ertz in next move to improve team

After the Julio Jones trade to the Tennessee Titans, the Buffalo Bills must get Zach Ertz.

In what was an expected move, Julio Jones was shipped off to the Titans for relatively nothing, the next step to help bring a new wrinkle to this offense would be to add Zach Ertz. There’s really no way around it, as Dawson Knox improved greatly in his second season but still leaves more to be desired.

Free-agent addition Jacob Hollister hasn’t been consistent in his career either, and the other three tight ends currently on the roster don’t offer any excitement at all. With all the space made due to the Stefon Diggs move, the Bills could potentially swing a trade for Ertz. If they do, they’d have just enough room to do it. Taking on Zach Ertz and his contract would leave the Bills with roughly $500K left in cap space, according to OverTheCap’s contracts tool.

By now everyone knows how much of a weapon Ertz can be, and last season was arguably his least productive year since he came into the league.

Buffalo Bills

Having a tight end that can actually be productive and a legitimate threat is something that modern defenses have had trouble with for quite a bit the past decade.

The ball is in Brandon Beane’s court and he and Sean McDermott will have to make up their minds about going for Ertz or saving it to extend Josh Allen and Tremaine Edmunds. Both of these decisions would obviously be understandable. Another option is to find another running back to upgrade the running game if they wanted to do so.

It’s going to take some moving around and maybe even some restructuring and some lowering of contracts. But if the Bills have ever learned anything from Tom Brady, it’s that all the pieces together as a whole are more important than just one person. If the Bills really do want to take the next step, then getting some salary-cap relief will do a lot to get that progress started.