Players still availible

[Mitchell55]

In red is what I want, in orange is who I expect.

Kendall Simmons G- Decent guard who is a upgrade over Doc

Mike Goff G- basically the same

Lavernius Coles WR- A mix of Reed and Evans, would upgrade our reciever core immediatly.

Nate Washington WR- The reciever I hope we get. Played great in Pittsburgh and would be a number 2 reciever here.

Leonard Weaver FB- Young, strong FB would look great in buffalo uni.

Tony Curtis TE- In his rookie year he had 3 catches for 3 TDs.

Quinn Sypniewski TE- Had 34 catches never starting a game last year. Worth a look

Chris Canty DE- Possibly could play LB. He would defintley be a upgrade.

Chauncey Davis DE- 4 sacks last year and is young.

Jovan Haye DT- Best DT still availible

Cato June LB- Always played in cover 2 Defenses. Had 142 tackles 2 seasons ago. Put 2 and 2 together. He will be a bill.

Mike Peterson LB- Very good LB who would complete our LB core.

Marcus Washington LB- Not sure about starter but does have 5 out of 9 seasons with 4 or more sacks. 1 season had 8. Also has at least 1 FF in each season

Eric Barton LB- Over 100 tackles and is still going strong.

Sean Jones S- Playmaking safty, just what we need.

Mike Brown S- Has always been a top safty in this league, would defintley improve us. But some injury issues.

[LifetimeBillsFan]

Good list, Mitchell59.

Simmons:
If healthy--and that is the key!--Simmons would be an upgrade over Dockery and help make the team better. But, this is a deal that could take awhile because the Bills would have to make sure that he is fully healthy before even beginning to work out a deal with him and the tests could take a few days (because you would want to work him out and then see how he responds the next day).

The Bills have supposedly had him in and I have seen no word that he has left or gone anywhere since he was last reported to be in Buffalo, so there may still be something going on there with him. Don't know how much he would be looking for, but it all would depend on his health in any event.

He has been good blocking in the Pittsburgh running game when healthy and has experience going up against the 3-4 scheme that R.Ryan ran in Baltimore.

Goff:
Definitely the first alternative to Simmons. Might be a better pass blocker and not quite as physical a run-blocker. The trick will be luring a guy who has played in San Diego into coming to Buffalo.

Coles:
I'm not sure how happy Josh Reed would be if the Bills bring him on board, but I think that he would be a good addition for a year or, at most, two while S.Johnson and Hardy develop.

The question is whether he will give Miami a big discount to sign with them--since they don't seem to be interested in giving him the kind of money that he has reportedly been looking for--or the Jets will still be willing to give him the $ 6 million that he left on the table with them after all of the money that they have doled out already this offseason.

I don't think that the Bills are going to want to give him a lot of money, but I also don't think that Coles will find many teams out there willing to pay him the kind of money that he thought that he thought that he was worth when he was with the Jets. I don't think that he will want to give Miami that big of a discount, so, if Coles still wants to screw the Jets for the slights that he perceived that they did to him the last couple of years, the Bills just might still have a shot at getting him.

The key, though, is going to be what Miami does and whether Coles will take the best offer he gets or not.

Washington:
Not happening. He's had a number of teams interested in him, but the Bills are not one of them. With that interest, he's likely to command a bigger salary than the Bills are likely to want to pay for him. And, the latest word is that he has already narrowed his choice down to two teams, the Lions being one of them.

Weaver:
The Bills just re-signed McIntyre for two years, they are not going to bring in another FB when Schonert said that they were debating whether they were even going to use a FB at all this coming season. So, forget about them bringing in a FB, unless they use a late round draft pick on one or bring in one as a UDFA.

Sypniewski and Curtis:
The Bills will bring in somebody at TE, but who that will be is anyone's guess. Sypniewski wouldn't be a bad pick-up, but I don't think that they would over-pay to get him since IMHO they probably see D.Fine as developing into pretty much the same kind of player.

I know that the Bills have been very interested in Houston's O.Daniels, but there is no way that they are going to give up a 1st round pick for him, let alone a 1st and a 3rd (the Cassel trade actually works to their benefit in trying to trade for Daniels, since they can use the fact that KC only gave up a 2nd round pick for a young QB with starting experience as a negotiating tool). I suspect that the Bills would give up their 2nd round pick for Daniels, but, if that doesn't work, they will draft a TE with one of their first two picks, probably their second rounder. If they do that, though, they aren't going to invest a lot in a FA TE and will probably look to bring in a blocking type guy to compliment Fine and the rookie.

Canty:
The Giants reportedly still want Canty and the Bills haven't been linked with him at all. And, it will probably take a lot of money to sign him. Still, he is one guy who I wouldn't mind seeing the Bills try to take a run at.

He'd be a little undersized at DE, but that's not a problem in the Bills' system and he is a proven pass-rusher who has the versatility to make the Bills' defense better. Unfortunately, I think that there are going to be other teams that will be interested in him and willing to offer more money than the Bills are in a position to offer him (if the Bills want to address the other holes they have to fill).

Davis:
Having the 11th pick in the draft and expecting C.Ellis to make the kind of improvement that players usually make in their second season, I seriously doubt that the Bills are going to look to sign any of the mid-level DEs who are still available.

Why should they? Orakpo, Maybin, Brown and maybe even a couple of other guys who are going to be available in the draft are just as likely to give them 4-6 sacks next season as any of the DEs (other than Canty) available. And, while C.Ellis didn't show much as a rookie, a lot of DEs struggle coming out of college until they add more strength and a couple of more moves to their repertoire. They are going to give him a chance to show whether he has done so or not. Even if he has only made middling progress, he should be able to give them just as much as a guy who racked up just 4 sacks in his third or fourth season.

Haye:
I'm actually quite surprised that Tampa Bay hasn't used some of the mountain of cash that they have available to lock him up. He's not a dominant player, but a very solid one.

The problem is that he really wouldn't be a huge improvement over the three top guys in the Bills DT rotation: Stroud showed that, while he may not be utterly dominant, he still is an elite level player; K.Williams showed surprising improvement and still has room to get better (I'd actually go so far as to say that Williams was probably about as good as Haye last season); and Sp.Johnson is not only a very solid # 3 DT, but has the versatility to play some at DE, which I don't think Haye can do. And, I'm not sure that Haye is looking to come in as a # 3 or # 4 DT.

So, I just don't see the Bills going after Haye or any other DTs out there. In fact, the only way that I see the Bills bringing in a DT this offseason would be if someone that they have got injured or if all of the DEs at the top of the draft go early and BJ Raji somehow falls into their lap (which is something I do not see happening!).

Crowell, June, Peterson, Washington, Barton--and Keiaho:
The Bills are not going to try to sign Crowell unless he goes unsigned by anyone else (not likely) and they can't sign a guy that they really want (a slim possibility). Even before Crowell decided to have surgery at the end of preseason last year, the Bills were reportedly not very happy with him. There were reports that came out last year that they didn't like the fact that he chose to free-lance and not play his assignment as often as he did. Apparently, as good as he was at making plays at times, he was also getting "burned" by being out of position at times as well and wasn't as disciplined as they wanted him to be. While they haven't shut the door on him entirely, I don't think that they see him as being as good a player in their system as some others do. As a result, I seriously doubt that the Bills will try to re-sign Crowell, except as a very last resort.

The Bills passed on June when he was a free agent two years ago and I just don't see them making a move for him unless they can't get anyone else and he comes really cheap.

Mike Peterson is a different story since I think he played for Jauron back in Jax early in his career. Peterson was an absolute monster playing in Mike Smith's defense before he went to Atlanta and was replaced by "Triple G" Williams, formerly HC of the Bills. Coming back from injury, he fell out with "Triple G" (can you blame him?) and Del Rio and ended up getting benched, but, if he is healthy, he can play. The problem is that he's getting up there in age and bringing him in would mean having to move Poz to OLB. I think the Bills would be willing to try that for a year or two as a last resort, but I think that they will look at some of the other OLB options first.

Washington is an interesting possibility who I think may represent their "first fallback" position. At 34, he is not young and may not have much left--and he does have an injury history--but, when healthy, he has been a pretty good OLB. I think that, if they are going to sign an OLB in free agency, Washington will be on their radar, but will not be their first choice.

Barton is another guy who is starting to get a bit "long in the tooth". Unlike Washington, Barton is an inside linebacker, so signing him would moving Poz to the outside. While the Bills might be willing to do that to add a guy like Mike Peterson who has been a top-flight player in the past, I seriously doubt that they would be willing to do that to add a player of Barton's caliber, except at as very last resort. Now, I wouldn't rule it out completely if they can't sign Keiaho, Peterson or Washington, I think they would be more likely to turn to June or Crowell, if they are still available, than Barton. And, since Barton does have experience playing in a 3-4, I doubt that he would still be out there by that point.

The guy that I heard that they are very interested in is Keiaho, who was just released by the Colts when they re-signed Saturday. I remember being impressed by him a couple of years ago, but not that impressed by what I saw of his play last season. Still, he is a young guy--much younger than Peterson or Washington--and very familiar with playing in the defensive system that the Bills play. I don't know how much better he is than Ellison, but I think is the guy that the Bills are most likely to make a run at signing. The question will be whether Tampa Bay, Minnesota, Detroit, the Giants or Chicago will swoop in and offer him more money.

Jones, Brown, Phillips, etc.:
I seriously doubt that the Bills will make a big run at signing a free agent safety--at least not until they have filled most of their other roster needs. I think it is far more likely that they will try to sign another CB before they look at a safety.

If they do make a move for a safety, I think that they would look at Phillips first, because of his age and experience in a similar system, although I doubt that they would be willing to give him the kind of money that he would be looking for.

Brown is the one guy that I could see them bringing in, simply because Jauron and Fewell know him well and they might be willing to give him a shot at making the team that other teams won't because of his age and injury history. Brown would be an interesting pick-up because he can be a ball-hawk when healthy and could mentor Whitner, etc. But, with his injury history, you can't count on having him play the whole season and, at his age, he would only be around for a year or two at the most. Would the Bills be willing to give up on Scott, Wilson or Wendling--all of whom are key ST performers, while Brown would not be one--to bring in a guy that they could only get limited play from for a short time? Somehow I doubt it.

If the Bills can add Simmons or Goff, Keiaho or Peterson, a blocking TE, and maybe one play-maker--Coles or someone that they trade for--I think that they will pretty much be done with free agency. I think they will try to sign Peters and then wait to see how Whitner, Edwards and Poz play this season before possibly trying to extend them as well, perhaps even during the season. Beyond that, I think they are going to try to make their additions through the draft. Anything that they do in addition to that IMHO will be "gravy"...a pleasant, but unexpected surprise.

[Ebenezer]

In red is what I want, in orange is who I expect.

Kendall Simmons G- Decent guard who is a upgrade over Doc

Mike Goff G- basically the same

Lavernius Coles WR- A mix of Reed and Evans, would upgrade our reciever core immediatly.

Nate Washington WR- The reciever I hope we get. Played great in Pittsburgh and would be a number 2 reciever here.

Leonard Weaver FB- Young, strong FB would look great in buffalo uni.

Tony Curtis TE- In his rookie year he had 3 catches for 3 TDs.

Quinn Sypniewski TE- Had 34 catches never starting a game last year. Worth a look

Chris Canty DE- Possibly could play LB. He would defintley be a upgrade.

Chauncey Davis DE- 4 sacks last year and is young.

Jovan Haye DT- Best DT still availible

Cato June LB- Always played in cover 2 Defenses. Had 142 tackles 2 seasons ago. Put 2 and 2 together. He will be a bill.

Mike Peterson LB- Very good LB who would complete our LB core.

Marcus Washington LB- Not sure about starter but does have 5 out of 9 seasons with 4 or more sacks. 1 season had 8. Also has at least 1 FF in each season

Eric Barton LB- Over 100 tackles and is still going strong.

Sean Jones S- Playmaking safty, just what we need.

Mike Brown S- Has always been a top safty in this league, would defintley improve us. But some injury issues.



In red is who the Bills will sign:

[first&goal]

Good list, Mitchell59.

Simmons:
If healthy--and that is the key!--Simmons would be an upgrade over Dockery and help make the team better. But, this is a deal that could take awhile because the Bills would have to make sure that he is fully healthy before even beginning to work out a deal with him and the tests could take a few days (because you would want to work him out and then see how he responds the next day).

The Bills have supposedly had him in and I have seen no word that he has left or gone anywhere since he was last reported to be in Buffalo, so there may still be something going on there with him. Don't know how much he would be looking for, but it all would depend on his health in any event.

He has been good blocking in the Pittsburgh running game when healthy and has experience going up against the 3-4 scheme that R.Ryan ran in Baltimore.

Goff:
Definitely the first alternative to Simmons. Might be a better pass blocker and not quite as physical a run-blocker. The trick will be luring a guy who has played in San Diego into coming to Buffalo.

Coles:
I'm not sure how happy Josh Reed would be if the Bills bring him on board, but I think that he would be a good addition for a year or, at most, two while S.Johnson and Hardy develop.

The question is whether he will give Miami a big discount to sign with them--since they don't seem to be interested in giving him the kind of money that he has reportedly been looking for--or the Jets will still be willing to give him the $ 6 million that he left on the table with them after all of the money that they have doled out already this offseason.

I don't think that the Bills are going to want to give him a lot of money, but I also don't think that Coles will find many teams out there willing to pay him the kind of money that he thought that he thought that he was worth when he was with the Jets. I don't think that he will want to give Miami that big of a discount, so, if Coles still wants to screw the Jets for the slights that he perceived that they did to him the last couple of years, the Bills just might still have a shot at getting him.

The key, though, is going to be what Miami does and whether Coles will take the best offer he gets or not.

Washington:
Not happening. He's had a number of teams interested in him, but the Bills are not one of them. With that interest, he's likely to command a bigger salary than the Bills are likely to want to pay for him. And, the latest word is that he has already narrowed his choice down to two teams, the Lions being one of them.

Weaver:
The Bills just re-signed McIntyre for two years, they are not going to bring in another FB when Schonert said that they were debating whether they were even going to use a FB at all this coming season. So, forget about them bringing in a FB, unless they use a late round draft pick on one or bring in one as a UDFA.

Sypniewski and Curtis:
The Bills will bring in somebody at TE, but who that will be is anyone's guess. Sypniewski wouldn't be a bad pick-up, but I don't think that they would over-pay to get him since IMHO they probably see D.Fine as developing into pretty much the same kind of player.

I know that the Bills have been very interested in Houston's O.Daniels, but there is no way that they are going to give up a 1st round pick for him, let alone a 1st and a 3rd (the Cassel trade actually works to their benefit in trying to trade for Daniels, since they can use the fact that KC only gave up a 2nd round pick for a young QB with starting experience as a negotiating tool). I suspect that the Bills would give up their 2nd round pick for Daniels, but, if that doesn't work, they will draft a TE with one of their first two picks, probably their second rounder. If they do that, though, they aren't going to invest a lot in a FA TE and will probably look to bring in a blocking type guy to compliment Fine and the rookie.

Canty:
The Giants reportedly still want Canty and the Bills haven't been linked with him at all. And, it will probably take a lot of money to sign him. Still, he is one guy who I wouldn't mind seeing the Bills try to take a run at.

He'd be a little undersized at DE, but that's not a problem in the Bills' system and he is a proven pass-rusher who has the versatility to make the Bills' defense better. Unfortunately, I think that there are going to be other teams that will be interested in him and willing to offer more money than the Bills are in a position to offer him (if the Bills want to address the other holes they have to fill).

Davis:
Having the 11th pick in the draft and expecting C.Ellis to make the kind of improvement that players usually make in their second season, I seriously doubt that the Bills are going to look to sign any of the mid-level DEs who are still available.

Why should they? Orakpo, Maybin, Brown and maybe even a couple of other guys who are going to be available in the draft are just as likely to give them 4-6 sacks next season as any of the DEs (other than Canty) available. And, while C.Ellis didn't show much as a rookie, a lot of DEs struggle coming out of college until they add more strength and a couple of more moves to their repertoire. They are going to give him a chance to show whether he has done so or not. Even if he has only made middling progress, he should be able to give them just as much as a guy who racked up just 4 sacks in his third or fourth season.

Haye:
I'm actually quite surprised that Tampa Bay hasn't used some of the mountain of cash that they have available to lock him up. He's not a dominant player, but a very solid one.

The problem is that he really wouldn't be a huge improvement over the three top guys in the Bills DT rotation: Stroud showed that, while he may not be utterly dominant, he still is an elite level player; K.Williams showed surprising improvement and still has room to get better (I'd actually go so far as to say that Williams was probably about as good as Haye last season); and Sp.Johnson is not only a very solid # 3 DT, but has the versatility to play some at DE, which I don't think Haye can do. And, I'm not sure that Haye is looking to come in as a # 3 or # 4 DT.

So, I just don't see the Bills going after Haye or any other DTs out there. In fact, the only way that I see the Bills bringing in a DT this offseason would be if someone that they have got injured or if all of the DEs at the top of the draft go early and BJ Raji somehow falls into their lap (which is something I do not see happening!).

Crowell, June, Peterson, Washington, Barton--and Keiaho:
The Bills are not going to try to sign Crowell unless he goes unsigned by anyone else (not likely) and they can't sign a guy that they really want (a slim possibility). Even before Crowell decided to have surgery at the end of preseason last year, the Bills were reportedly not very happy with him. There were reports that came out last year that they didn't like the fact that he chose to free-lance and not play his assignment as often as he did. Apparently, as good as he was at making plays at times, he was also getting "burned" by being out of position at times as well and wasn't as disciplined as they wanted him to be. While they haven't shut the door on him entirely, I don't think that they see him as being as good a player in their system as some others do. As a result, I seriously doubt that the Bills will try to re-sign Crowell, except as a very last resort.

The Bills passed on June when he was a free agent two years ago and I just don't see them making a move for him unless they can't get anyone else and he comes really cheap.

Mike Peterson is a different story since I think he played for Jauron back in Jax early in his career. Peterson was an absolute monster playing in Mike Smith's defense before he went to Atlanta and was replaced by "Triple G" Williams, formerly HC of the Bills. Coming back from injury, he fell out with "Triple G" (can you blame him?) and Del Rio and ended up getting benched, but, if he is healthy, he can play. The problem is that he's getting up there in age and bringing him in would mean having to move Poz to OLB. I think the Bills would be willing to try that for a year or two as a last resort, but I think that they will look at some of the other OLB options first.

Washington is an interesting possibility who I think may represent their "first fallback" position. At 34, he is not young and may not have much left--and he does have an injury history--but, when healthy, he has been a pretty good OLB. I think that, if they are going to sign an OLB in free agency, Washington will be on their radar, but will not be their first choice.

Barton is another guy who is starting to get a bit "long in the tooth". Unlike Washington, Barton is an inside linebacker, so signing him would moving Poz to the outside. While the Bills might be willing to do that to add a guy like Mike Peterson who has been a top-flight player in the past, I seriously doubt that they would be willing to do that to add a player of Barton's caliber, except at as very last resort. Now, I wouldn't rule it out completely if they can't sign Keiaho, Peterson or Washington, I think they would be more likely to turn to June or Crowell, if they are still available, than Barton. And, since Barton does have experience playing in a 3-4, I doubt that he would still be out there by that point.

The guy that I heard that they are very interested in is Keiaho, who was just released by the Colts when they re-signed Saturday. I remember being impressed by him a couple of years ago, but not that impressed by what I saw of his play last season. Still, he is a young guy--much younger than Peterson or Washington--and very familiar with playing in the defensive system that the Bills play. I don't know how much better he is than Ellison, but I think is the guy that the Bills are most likely to make a run at signing. The question will be whether Tampa Bay, Minnesota, Detroit, the Giants or Chicago will swoop in and offer him more money.

Jones, Brown, Phillips, etc.:
I seriously doubt that the Bills will make a big run at signing a free agent safety--at least not until they have filled most of their other roster needs. I think it is far more likely that they will try to sign another CB before they look at a safety.

If they do make a move for a safety, I think that they would look at Phillips first, because of his age and experience in a similar system, although I doubt that they would be willing to give him the kind of money that he would be looking for.

Brown is the one guy that I could see them bringing in, simply because Jauron and Fewell know him well and they might be willing to give him a shot at making the team that other teams won't because of his age and injury history. Brown would be an interesting pick-up because he can be a ball-hawk when healthy and could mentor Whitner, etc. But, with his injury history, you can't count on having him play the whole season and, at his age, he would only be around for a year or two at the most. Would the Bills be willing to give up on Scott, Wilson or Wendling--all of whom are key ST performers, while Brown would not be one--to bring in a guy that they could only get limited play from for a short time? Somehow I doubt it.

If the Bills can add Simmons or Goff, Keiaho or Peterson, a blocking TE, and maybe one play-maker--Coles or someone that they trade for--I think that they will pretty much be done with free agency. I think they will try to sign Peters and then wait to see how Whitner, Edwards and Poz play this season before possibly trying to extend them as well, perhaps even during the season. Beyond that, I think they are going to try to make their additions through the draft. Anything that they do in addition to that IMHO will be "gravy"...a pleasant, but unexpected surprise.
Canty Hes not undersized. Height 6-7 Weight 299