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As the clock ticks down to the beginning of a new league year and the start of free agency the Bills will be…chilling and getting ready for the draft. That is because most of their heavy lifting was done prior to the beginning of free agency. To recap:
Franchise Tagged Cordy Glenn for 1 year at 13.7 million dollars – This is a band-aid, but it’s a great band-aid. Because they’ve locked him in to 13.7 million for this year and most likely somewhere around 30 million guaranteed on a long-term deal. That’s the key – a long term deal has to be reached. A “hey-we-tried-but-we-had-a-number” excuse for a left tackle in my opinion does not exist. This isn’t Russell Okung, who has been injured and unavailable for the Seahawks. This is a player that hasn’t missed a game – and has played superlative football at left tackle. Locking him, Gilmore and if warranted Taylor up prior to next year would be tremendous. #HesAGuard #ThanksBuddy
Re-Signed Richie Incognito on a 3 year, 15.75 million dollar contract – Richie’s contract was the second biggest piece of business to be done. By retaining him (and having him on a team-friendly 3.25 million cap hit) and Glenn, the strongest side of their run game is intact. Also, their designated puller/defense intimidation vehicle can still do what he does best, provided he doesn’t go off the rails. I don’t think he will, but when you look at Richie’s history…last year was the outlier. And in terms of #HomeTownDiscount thoughts, no other guard is entering the market with his combination of age and crap in their background. So…color me unimpressed on that end.
Tendered Corbin Bryant, Chris Hogan and Jordan Mills at the low, 1.671 million tender – This move ensures that their #2 DL off the bench (most likely perhaps a starter at DE or NT), their #3/4 wideout and perhaps their starting(?) right tackle are still in the fold. In terms of Hogan and Bryant, if they’re offered by a team there will be no compensation given to Buffalo in return; in terms of Mills, the Bills would receive his original round tender, which would be a fifth round pick.
Because of the lack of fundage on the cap side, the Bills pretty much stopped there. The other RFAs were told they weren’t going to be tendered and now we play the “will x re-sign” game among the depth players that are entering FA.
What’s Left?
With about 4-5 million dollars left in cap space, other than draft prep there isn’t much the Bills can do in free agency, unless they extend Gilmore or Glenn. Because of this, they’ll be fairly inactive these first few days of free agency and will look for a few of those (wait for it) “dust settle” (there it is) guys that they can snag on a one year 1-2 million dollar deal. Snazzy.
Here’s what you need to do as a fan – be okay with this. Because of the spending of last year, coupled with the inability to get deals done with Gilmore and Glenn, this was always going to be the situation. Now, it is incumbent upon the brass to clear up the space for next year, because while they will have far more room to deal with, unless they extend their first 2 picks of the 2012 NFL draft this year, they’ll be in the “will they, won’t they” game with Gilmore, Glenn AND Taylor.
Looking at the list of available free agents, I would look at the following folks as potential “dust settle” acquisitions:
Demario Davis, LB Jets – Self explanatory. Rex favorite, knows the defense and because of his off year can be had for cheap. Hopefully.
Vladimir Ducasse, OL Chicago – An ex player of Rex’s, having his size along the line can help for depth purposes. Can he play? He can put a jersey on. That’s all I got…
Mike DeVito, DL Chiefs – Another ex-Rex guy, who’s been a good rotational cog in the KC scheme. If he’s available late in FA, he’d be a good get to add to the pool.
Finally, my drum will continue to beat as far as new blood goes on the staff. If you’re interested in the Bills, Sabres or WNY sports and can write without getting put on a watchlist, talk to me (@RDotDeuce on Twitter) or Joe (@Buffalowins).
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