General manager Brandon Beane spoke with the media today regarding the free agency moves that he has made this past week and we’ve learned some very significant news that will impact the roster to start the season.
There were two free-agent signings the Bills made with defensive end/tackle/linebacker Michael Hoecht (3-year deal) and defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi (1-year deal) that now look bad for the Bills.
According to Beane, per Maddy Glab, both Hoecht and Ogunjobi will each face a six-game suspension due to violating the league’s PED policy. It was then later learned that Beane knew about Hoecht, but that the news of Ogunjobi was a surprise to him.
It’s not one, but two guys who will now miss a significant amount of time to start the season is not the ideal start for them or the Bills. However, both players are still expected to sign with the Bills and Beane also said that Ogunjobi “up front and honest” per Glab.
This is a major bad look for Brandon Beane and Bills
Knowing about one potential suspension and then getting hit with another one on the same unit is not ideal whatsoever for Buffalo. Now they have lost two defenders for the first six weeks, which puts pressure on the team to depend on other players to pick up the slack.
This news might just very change a little bit of Brandon Beane’s draft plans. Before this news came about, there was no need to draft a defensive lineman early on. Now you can make an argument that they need to get someone at that position with one of their first three picks.
Losing this kind of depth is a huge hit. Now the Bills may have to pivot and potentially reach just to get some depth in that unit. After a strong first week of free agency, the Bills take a solid hit with this news. It will be interesting to see what Beane does as far as getting in replacements for them for September and half of October.