Ernest Wilford to be our big free agent!

[X-Era]

According to this anyway:

http://www.buffalorumblings.com/story/2008/2/18/181433/930

Biggest off-season need for the Buffalo Bills? Apparently, the restructured front office at One Bills Drive believes it's wide receiver. As user SP lets us know in this diary (http://www.buffalorumblings.com/story/2008/2/18/172843/140), Solomon Wilcotts of Sirius radio is reporting this evening that the Bills' front office are "enamored" with free agent wideout Ernest Wilford, and that he will be their top target when free agency begins at midnight on February 29.

[VeggieMan14]

Whatever i will believe it when i see it im tired of saying who i think we should get but know we will never get

[hydro]

That will make some people on this board happy.

[B-DON]

i would love this move. Makes the need to draft a wr rd one not as important

[Carlton Bailey]

Average player who happens to be big. Ehh.

His best receiving game last year was 72 yards.

[Midwesternbillsfan]

I'm ambivalent about it but I'll break it down this way:

Pros:

1. Wilford is 6'4", 223 pounds, so suffice it to say, he offers Buffalo what it covets and what it's lacked: height and a genuine redzone threat to improve our abysmal redzone percentage.

2. Wilford is a possession receiver not known for his speed (he ran a 4.79 forty at the Combine in February of 2004, in fact). Since he is a possession receiver who uses his height, fluid body control, and hands to make plays, his age- 29- likely won't affect his ability; he isn't dependent upon his speed, which age most profoundly affects.

3. Wilford had only 45 receptions last year but 35 of those catches went for 1st downs. Obviously, any receiver should average at least 10 yards per reception (even that's particularly low) and 10 yards is self-evidently the equivalent of the amount needed for a 1st (down). Still, that percentage is comparatively decent for Wilford and he will aid on us not only in the red-zone but on 3rd down, too, where we likewise struggled.

Cons:

1. Wilford's ceiling is pretty low; he's certainly no 1,000 yard threat. And even though he was asked to produce on a Jacksonville team without any strong complimentary receivers (Reggie Williams and Matt Jones have been moderate busts), it's hard to imagine Wilford being more than a 650-800 yard receiver. Hopefully a half-dozen TD's a season can mitigate his mere 40-50 yards per game.

2. Again, it's not the most consequential fact about him, but Wilford is already 29 years old, despite going into just his 5th season in '08; Wilford was a 25-year old rookie in '04. It's not enough to pass on him but it certainly isn't what you'd prefer.

3. Wilford is definitely not even an occasional deep threat; the longest reception of his career came in his rookie year and only went for 46 yards. His longest reception the last three years are as follows: 39, 41, and 35 yards. Of course, we already have deep threats, but what I'm saying is with Wilford... what you see is what you get and nothing more. He's solid but he's certainly not spectacular.

[YardRat]

Justin Gage.

[gr8slayer]

I'll believe it when I see it.

[Jaybird]

we can throw him the ball in the red zone, and like u said great on third downs. The 2 biggest needs that we need out of a WR

[SpillerThrills]

But if you have 2 reciever for the shorter passes and the over the middle stuff like Wilford and Reed, then having Evans and Parrish to go deep is a big plus. add in Lynch out of the backfield and I'd like to see what Trent can do with a spread formation!

[Philagape]

I'd still want a first-day guy in the draft

[chernobylwraiths]

I just want a big guy who can catch! Is that too much to ask?

[gr8slayer]

I just want a big guy who can catch! Is that too much to ask?
Rhetorical question?

[chernobylwraiths]

Rhetorical question?

Of course.

[gr8slayer]

Of course.
:phew: I thought there might be chance that you were being serious.

[TigerJ]

If Wilford is the free agent pickup at WR, it doesn't relieve the Bills of the need to draft a similar type of player, hopefully with a good bit more speed. I don't think it has to be in the top two or three rounds like Philagape does, but there still needs to be a developmental guy in here. I started a thread on big WR sleepers in the scouting zone. Some of the guys listed there might be good candidates for a day two pick. Ernie Wheelwright, Justing Harper and others have good size and are faster than Wilford.

[raphael120]

Some X factors if this does happen..

1. In Jax he didnt have a big WR threat alongside him the likes of Evans.
2. Played on a team that had heavy emphasis on the run game
3. No TE to help draw away coverage from him...so hopefully if we have a decent TE threat, that'll help.

[jimbohastle51]

i think if we sign wilford its obvious that we are going to lock up lee evans long term. wilford is a comliment reciever not a number 1. but would definatly be a nice missing piece addition. if we draft a wide reciever with the 11th pick i dont see us locking up lee evans long term. maybe he plays out this year and we franchise him the next then he goes but if you have a number one reciever you dont draft one that high. but i think drayton florence should be a free agent to look at for us as well. he could be a instant starter and he is a playmaker when he gets his chances. also tight end is a glaring need. in closing wilford would be a great big reciever to catch balls over the middle and make it alittle easier for edwards. big targets are a qb's best friend. but i dont see him being brought in to steel evans thunder.

[jimbohastle51]

everyone who can should watch the combine then make judgments on if we should draft a reciever with the 11th pick. remember we do have 2 3rds, so getting into the 2nd round isnt hard if a nice reciever falls a bit. 11 is to high for us if we are going to keep evans.

[gr8slayer]

everyone who can should watch the combine then make judgments on if we should draft a reciever with the 11th pick. remember we do have 2 3rds, so getting into the 2nd round isnt hard if a nice reciever falls a bit. 11 is to high for us if we are going to keep evans.
The combine will only tell you about 5% of what you need to know, I'd rather watch game film :up:

[Tatonka]

i will say this.. wilford was not my favorite guy coming out of vtech.. i actually didnt think he would even get drafted on day one (he was a 3rd rounder). I said he would suck as a pro, because his hands were suspect in college, and he always had average speed (if not below average).

since that time.. i have watched him eat a lot of teams up, especialy in clutch time. none of you will forget the late TD catch he had on nate clements and lawyer milloy when we opened the season with jacksonville. i have watched him make several catches like that. his hands have been impressive in the nfl (surprisingly enough) and overall i think he is a perfect fit for what we need for this team. we have tons of speed and deep threats. we need a big guy that can split the seams and catch in the middle of the field.. we also need a guy who can do the post route and jump ball in the endzone.

and to say their is a cap on what he can do is premature i think. he has never had the likes of lee evans on the other side of him. he was never intended to be the starter in jacksonville, and he was always better than both of their 1st round pick wrs (williams and jones) which isnt saying much, but i think he can definately be a 1000 yard guy if he is used properly.

[THATHURMANATOR]

Glad to know the Bills and I think alike!!!! I will be happy if they land him

[Romes]

yay! a redzone target. I am all for it if it happens.

Add another WR or recieving TE after that and the offense could look good.

[kernowboy]

Malcom Floyd (6ft5, 225lbs, 4.44, age 26) of the Chargers

Certainly Floyd has been a decent depth receiver and looked like he was to be given the chance to start after the preseason injury to Eric Parker before the Chargers panicked and traded for Chris Chambers. He's now stuck behind Chambers, Craig Davis, Vincent Jackson and Eric Parker and although a RFA, would the Chargers be willing to match any reasonable offer?

We bring in Malcolm Floyd, be bring in Mike Williams for a look and we may just have added two 6ft5 guys to the roster, of which one has wheels, the other quicker than Wilford and both 3-5 years younger.

[Yasgur's Farm]

"Biggest need" = FA + Malcolm Kelly IMO. It can't be fixed with 1 guy.

Wilford is a stop-gap while the rookie matures... He can start opposite Evans while Kelly, Reed and Parrish platoon the 3rd spot. In a year or 3 it will be Evans and Kelly.

I think we may even grab Paul Hubbard or Mario Urrutia in the later rounds.

[Ickybaluky]

I like Wilford, who has a knack for big catches. He is a nice guy to have on 3rd downs and the Red Zone, with his size, jumping ability and hands. On the downside, he doesn't get a lot of separation because he lacks speed and sudden-ness.

He is a nice player to have, but more of a 3rd WR. I don't see him as a guy you want playing every down, more of a role player. Good guy to have on your team, but not hte only thing you want.

[colin]

hmm.

he's a big body mofo who can pull the ball down with guys all over him.

if we grab him, and a TE (which i think we will grab in the first 4 rounds no matter what) and another wr in the draft (total stud at 11 like kelly, or a good guy in the second or whatever) then you might see evans get extended and become the star he was looking like for a little bit there. when 15+ yards running patterns (not just go routes) i think evans really is very very hard to stop. if they still double him with wilford (or another big body guy) and roscoe out there we could pull a patriots and just hit the underneath guy all day, but parrish can break one at any time.

[RedEyE]

Honestly, I don't think he adds anything to the roster but size. And the Bills will probably have to pay to land him in Buffalo.

[mysticsoto]

The more I read about Wilford, the more I believe that even if we get him, we will still need to draft a top WR to complement Evans. That being the case, I still think Wilford is better than Aiken and since we are unlikely to keep Aiken this year, I wouldn't mind Wolford being his replacement. Imagine if we could have Evans, Malcolm Kelly (6'4") and Wilford (6'4") as a 3 WR set in the redzone, along with a Martellus Bennett (6'6") or Brad Cottam (6'8") for our TE and a sneaky Lynch or Jackson that could catch if the LBs try to double team any of those? Hell, if I'm an OC, I take advantage of our personnel and declare Jason Peters an eligible tackle every time. Let defenses have to worry about multiple things...I think Trent's numbers would improve greatly!!!

[TigerJ]

Malcom Floyd (6ft5, 225lbs, 4.44, age 26) of the Chargers

Certainly Floyd has been a decent depth receiver and looked like he was to be given the chance to start after the preseason injury to Eric Parker before the Chargers panicked and traded for Chris Chambers. He's now stuck behind Chambers, Craig Davis, Vincent Jackson and Eric Parker and although a RFA, would the Chargers be willing to match any reasonable offer?

We bring in Malcolm Floyd, be bring in Mike Williams for a look and we may just have added two 6ft5 guys to the roster, of which one has wheels, the other quicker than Wilford and both 3-5 years younger.

This sounds like a nice alternative to Wilford, depending on how easy or difficult (expensive) it is to land them.

[madness]

Hopefully it pans out. We need a vet WR + a promising rookie. Wilford gives us flexibility. WR doesn't necessarily need to be a 1st rounder if they think they found a gem elsewhere.

[TedMock]

Wilford opens things up for us on draft day.

He's a big boy who makes big catches despite not being an every down WR. He's good for 40-50 grabs and 500 yards. The big selling point with him is that about 77% of his career catches have been for first downs. That's huge.

Picking him up would allow us to go after a WR in another round. There are a ton of 2nd - 4th round WR's in this draft and only one real first rounder in my opinion. Going for Limas Sweed or James Hardy, for example, in the 2nd or 3rd to play in rotation for a couple of years is fine with me.

Personally, I'd like to see Keith Rivers as our first pick and Wilford would allow us to do that. I'd be happy with Kelly, but I'd prefer Rivers.

[patmoran2006]

I'd still want a first-day guy in the draft
I'm not saying that I would necessarily like it.. but EVEN if the Bills signed him, I still wouldnt be surprised to see them take a WR in round two and maybe even the first round.

[Bert102176]

the guy sucks in so many games for the Jags he disapeared , I would rather have MK in the draft or even sweed

[Jan Reimers]

Wilford plus a big time WR on the first day of the draft (or at least no later than round three) would give us a nice corps of receivers: Evans, Draft Pick, Wilford, Reed, Parrish.

[hydro]

Wilford plus a big time WR on the first day of the draft (or at least no later than round three) would give us a nice corps of receivers: Evans, Draft Pick, Wilford, Reed, Parrish.

It would also be a very expensive WR corps. Reed and Parrish would be gettting paid more than any 4 or 5 in the league I would think.

[Jan Reimers]

It would also be a very expensive WR corps. Reed and Parrish would be gettting paid more than any 4 or 5 in the league I would think.
Hey, you know Ralph. Money's no object. The guy throws nickels around like they were manhole covers.:dance:

Seriously, though, we've already gotten rid of Price, and I would think Aiken might also go, which would help offset some of the cost.

[Mr. Miyagi]

Wilford won't cost us too much. But with Roscoe's big contract and needing to re-up with Evans, we won't be getting Malcolm Kelly in the first round due to having too much money tied up in one position.

[T-Long]

I remember the home opener a few years back when he caught the game winner on 4th and goal to beat us. Yuck.

[ptd86]

I like him, but i will be mad if we give him like a 3 year 30 mil deal, which i could see the bills way overpaying for him like hes a number 1.

[Don't Panic]

Wilford would be nice, if he came at a nice price. If we sign a WR to start (Wilford, Johnson, etc.), we are not going to take another WR in the 1st round... nor should we. Maybe 2nd, more likely 3rd, but not 1st.

[raphael120]

Hey what do you know, another position on the roster where the Bills totally screwed up the contracts by tying up way too much money on "role" players.

[Philagape]

Hey what do you know, another position on the roster where the Bills totally screwed up the contracts by tying up way too much money on "role" players.

That's the Bills' MO ... they go cheap on the position but overpay the players.

[Ultra Chimp 1]

Wilford is terrible.