Now that the Buffalo Bills 2023 season is over, fans are turning to the offseason, as are the Buffalo Bills. If you are paying attention to the national media, stop. The national media is interested in one thing and one thing only. Getting your clicks and views. You are going to hear all offseason about how disgruntled and unhappy Stefon Diggs is. That's inaccurate. You're going to hear through free agency and up to the draft, that Bills are in salary cap purgatory and are doomed. That's inaccurate.
I've seen articles from trading Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs to the Bills are in full-on rebuild mode and preparing for a lost 2024 season. Many fans want the Bills to release Von Miller and others want Stefon Diggs traded or cut as well, to save money. I've got news for you, that's not happening. Yes, the Bills are more than $50 million over the projected cap but releasing/trading either Miller or Diggs would only make things worse due to their massive dead cap hits.
Diggs carries a dead cap hit of over $31 million and Miller's dead cap hit would be over $32.5 million, please let this idea go. The Bills will not cut or trade either of these players. The one exception could be if something comes out of Miller's off-the-field situation, then the Bills could have an out where Miller's guaranteed money can be voided. But I'm not counting on that. As fans, we have to just hope these two players become more the type of difference makers we saw last season or in the case of Diggs early this season.
So, what can the Bills do this offseason that will put this team in a position to once again contend for a Super Bowl title? Trust me when I tell you, the Bills' Super Bowl window is wide open. It's not closed, not even close. There is a lot to like about this team still, and I'm not even talking about Josh Allen. I recently provided some reasoning behind this in a previous article but let's get into my five "bold" offseason moves for the Buffalo Bills.
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Brandon Beane will find a way to re-sign DaQuan Jones and A.J. Epenesa
A few days ago, I wrote a couple of articles, one detailing five players I think the Bills must re-sign and the other was my thoughts on five players the team will lose via free agency. I included DaQuan Jones as one of those "must re-sign" guys. His presence in the middle of the field, alongside Ed Oliver, would be huge for this team in 2024. Jones was playing at an All-Pro level before his injury in Week Four.
Neither of those previous articles mentioned A.J. Epenesa and that is simply because I don't know where he stands in free agency. A young pass-rusher who has produced 6.5 sacks each of the last two seasons as primarily a rotational piece might be in high demand on the free agent market. Spotrac.com has his market value projected around $5.6 million. If that remains relatively accurate, I think the Bills could get both Jones and Epenesa under contract for the 2024 season, which they desperately need to accomplish.
Brandon Beane will pull off a draft day trade to move up and select wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr
I think most of Bills Mafia will like this idea. Brandon Beane has developed a bit of a reputation for making draft day moves, specifically moves up the draft board. I think it's safe to say Beane and McDermott understand they need more weapons for Allen, specifically in terms of size and speed. Buffalo has some solid, young players in Dalton Kincaid and Khalil Shakir but neither of these guys are deep-threat type guys and that's what Buffalo needs.
On draft day, Beane will orchestrate another Day One trade to move up and select LSU wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. According to nfldraftbuzz.com, Thomas runs a 4.47, 40-time and brings size too, at 6'4". Last season with LSU, Thomas recorded over 1,100 yards receiving, an incredible 17 touchdowns, and an impressive yards per catch of 17.3.
Bills will draft no less than 5 defensive players in the 2024 NFL draft
I know, at first, you're thinking that's not very bold, considering the Bills currently have ten draft picks in the 2024 NFL Draft. However, don't forget, I already have Beane trading away some picks to move up to select Brian Thomas Jr. That will leave Buffalo will probably around seven or eight picks overall. The Bills have 21 free agents, 14 of whom are defensive players and eight of those are defensive linemen.
Buffalo will need to fill in their depth and possibly even a couple of starters on the defensive side through the draft. It's likely Micah Hyde retires and it's unknown what Jordan Poyer might do too. We may go into the 2024 season with two new starting safeties. One of which could be Taylor Rapp but he's a free agent as well and could sign elsewhere. Buffalo needs to restock their defensive shelves with rookies in this draft.
The Bills will earn another compensatory pick for the 2025 NFL draft
As mentioned earlier, the Bills have 21 pending free agents and are more than $50 million over the projected cap. This means it's very unlikely Buffalo will sign more free agents than they lose, which should trigger the compensatory pick for the 2025 NFL Draft. There is also another way they get that extra pick, which is losing more qualifying free agents than they sign, similar to losing Tremaine Edmunds and earning a third-round compensatory pick in this year's draft.
With the contracts the Bills currently have with Tre'Davious White, Von Miller, and Stefon Diggs, the next couple of drafts will be vital to keeping the Bills in contention for a Super Bowl and building the roster up with young talent. Gaining additional compensatory picks would be a nice gift to the Bills in helping that roster build.
The Bills will go out of their way to make sure G David Edwards remains with the Bills
This one might surprise you, and if you read my other free agency articles about who should be re-signed and who the Bills might lose, you'll be even more surprised. I didn't include David Edwards on the must-sign list initially, but he definitely would have made number six. However, the more I think about it, the more I think he might be more valuable to re-sign than Ty Johnson, whom I did include on the must-sign list.
There are a few reasons I am backtracking on my initial thought regarding Johnson. One is the return of Nyheim Hines, who I thought might be a cap casualty but Beane recently said they do have plans for Hines in the Bills offense in 2024. Also, to save a few dollars, Buffalo could potentially draft a running back late in the draft, instead of re-signing Johnson. The third reason is David Edwards. Edwards was huge this season as a rotational guard and provides some very important depth along the offensive line. Edwards only played on 148 snaps but earned an overall PFF grade of 82.7. He didn't allow a single sack, QB hit, or pressure and committed only one penalty.