It’s now officially been more than a week since the new league year kicked off in the NFL and free agency was a wild ride. However, there are still plenty of moves to be made from now until the start of the season. The Buffalo Bills made their mark last week by going heavy in free agency on the defensive side of the ball. However, they still have some work to do.
When you look at the roster for Buffalo, they have a major hole that they need to address at cornerback. They let Rasul Douglas walk in free agency (but he still remains unsigned) and they traded away Kaiir Elam (in which Brandon Beane deserves major credit for getting draft picks in exchange).
The Bills still don’t have standout corner Christian Benford extended on a long-term contract and they don’t have a reliable CB2 to play opposite of him. Beane needs to either sign a notable free agent or find a way to draft a cornerback in the draft. Even though Rasul Douglas still remains an unsigned free agent, his asking price might be too high for Buffalo to give.
According to Spotrac, the Bills only have $3.9 million to use right now. Spotrac currently has Douglas’ market value set at $11.9 million per year. It wouldn’t make a ton of sense to bring Douglas back for that kind of price.
Even though Douglas may not return to Buffalo, there is a free agent corner who would make a lot of sense for the Bills to bring to Western New York.
Bills listed as perfect match for CB Asante Samuel Jr.
Cody Benjamin from CBS Sports listed the top ten perfect matches for some of the top free agent veterans and Benjamin says that bringing Samuel Jr. to Buffalo would be a perfect fit.
"Buffalo still has a vacancy at cornerback after letting Rasul Douglas hit the market, and Samuel is one of the few veterans available with the ball skills to replicate Douglas' own turnover magnetism. Bills coach Sean McDermott once coached Samuel's father while coordinating the Philadelphia Eagles' defense."Cody Benjamin, CBS Sports
So right off the bat, we have a connection with Samuel’s father and Sean McDermott. Then you have a 25-year old corner who had a solid three years with the Los Angeles Chargers before a shoulder injury took him for a majority of last season. Prior to last season, Samuel Jr. was averaging two interceptions per season and has only allowed a 59.5% completion percentage throughout his young career.
It’s actually very surprising to see Samuel Jr. remain unsigned. The Bills would have the chance to bring him to Buffalo and still draft a corner with their first three picks to provide competition, as well as depth. This pairing seems like a no-brainer for Brandon Beane.