Today is the day, Bills Mafia. Starting at 12PM EST, the NFL’s legal tampering period will open up and pending free agents will be able to not just talk with other teams but also agree to terms. Tom Pelissero reported on Sunday that “clubs may conduct one video or phone call (maximum 1 hour) with up to five free agents, rather than communicating strictly through their agents as in past years.”
The Buffalo Bills have been active even before the tampering period as they have made some roster moves that involve being set to release and trade players. Just yesterday, the Bills agreed to trade cornerback Taron Johnson to the Las Vegas Raiders. The Raiders also get a 7th-round pick while the Bills get a 6th-round pick.
Buffalo also made the trade with the Chicago Bears to acquire wide receiver D.J. Moore. Both of these trades will become official on Wednesday after 4PM EST.
We know that the Bills are not afraid to take swings in free agency, but they should be focusing more on filling out the roster. They have a new coaching staff that is being led by Joe Brady, who replaces Sean McDermott as head coach. With Brady being in charge, he has put together a new coaching staff that could lead to one specific connection that fans aren’t talking about.
Bills' new coaches on staff could bring in pending free agent from Arizona
There are two new coaches that the Bills brought in from the Arizona Cardinals; special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers and wide receivers coach Drew Terrell. Both coaches were in these roles in Arizona, and worked with pending free agent wideout Greg Dortch.
Bills fans should be on the lookout for someone like Dortch as a real possibility to sign with Buffalo. Dortch has been used as both a wide receiver and kick returner in Buffalo, leading to a potential idea of him being a versatile player for the Bills with coaches he already knows.
Dortch was signed by the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2019, and spent brief time with Carolina, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and then eventually landing with Arizona where he earned serious playing time.
In five seasons with the Cardinals, Dortch has recorded 1,310 yards and 10 touchdowns in the passing attack. He’s also only fumbled it once in five years on offense. On special teams, that is where Dortch has had some serious production yardage-wise, where he has 886 punt return yards and 1,773 kickoff return yards since 2019.
Going into today’s opening of the legal tampering, Dortch’s market value per Spotrac is just $1.6 million. With the number being so low and adding in both the versatility he brings and the connections on the coaching staff, bringing Dortch to Buffalo makes more than enough sense.