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Whaley: Offensive line a 'loss' in otherwise winning offseason for Bills
PHOENIX – The Buffalo Bills have been able to put check marks on multiple glaring needs this offseason: running back (LeSean McCoy), tight end (Charles Clay), veteran quarterback (Matt Cassel), fullback (Jerome Felton), wide receiver (Percy Harvin), and the retention of edge rusher Jerry Hughes.
There is, however, one glaring omission: Offensive guard.
The signing of Richie Incognito might very well fill a hole at guard, but he has been out of football for more than a year and he did not exactly qualify as a highly coveted free agent. The fact is, the Bills were the only team that wanted him since he was reinstated in February, 2014, from a suspension related to a bullying incident with the Miami Dolphins that put his playing career on hold during the 2013 season.
The Bills clearly wanted to add more help at the position when the NFL’s free-agency/trading period began on March 10, and they took two big swings … and had two big misses. The first was an attempt to acquire Bryan Bulaga, but he chose to re-sign with the Green Bay Packers. The second was an attempt to trade for Jhari Evans of the New Orleans Saints, but they instead chose to move Ben Grubbs to the Kansas City Chiefs.
“To put it bluntly, everybody’s celebrating our victories, but we’ve had some losses in this free agency” period “and it happened to be on the offensive line,” General Manager Doug Whaley said Tuesday during the NFL meeting here. “We had targeted two guys and we just couldn’t get them. Unfortunately for us, it looks like we didn’t try, but we did try and just weren’t successful.”....
Sounds familiar.
PHOENIX – The Buffalo Bills have been able to put check marks on multiple glaring needs this offseason: running back (LeSean McCoy), tight end (Charles Clay), veteran quarterback (Matt Cassel), fullback (Jerome Felton), wide receiver (Percy Harvin), and the retention of edge rusher Jerry Hughes.
There is, however, one glaring omission: Offensive guard.
The signing of Richie Incognito might very well fill a hole at guard, but he has been out of football for more than a year and he did not exactly qualify as a highly coveted free agent. The fact is, the Bills were the only team that wanted him since he was reinstated in February, 2014, from a suspension related to a bullying incident with the Miami Dolphins that put his playing career on hold during the 2013 season.
The Bills clearly wanted to add more help at the position when the NFL’s free-agency/trading period began on March 10, and they took two big swings … and had two big misses. The first was an attempt to acquire Bryan Bulaga, but he chose to re-sign with the Green Bay Packers. The second was an attempt to trade for Jhari Evans of the New Orleans Saints, but they instead chose to move Ben Grubbs to the Kansas City Chiefs.
“To put it bluntly, everybody’s celebrating our victories, but we’ve had some losses in this free agency” period “and it happened to be on the offensive line,” General Manager Doug Whaley said Tuesday during the NFL meeting here. “We had targeted two guys and we just couldn’t get them. Unfortunately for us, it looks like we didn’t try, but we did try and just weren’t successful.”....
Sounds familiar.
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