Welcome to the latest edition of the Bills Mailbag. Let’s get right to tackling your questions …
John asks: In hindsight, Brandon Beane’s purge of veterans a year ago seems to have worked out. Your thoughts?
Jay: Without a doubt. It was March 6, 2024, when Beane released Tre’Davious White, Mitch Morse, Jordan Poyer, Siran Neal and Deonte Harty. Before that, running back Nyheim Hines was released. We’ll include the trade of Stefon Diggs, which went down about a month later. More than a year later, all of those look like the right decisions.
White is actually back with the Bills after splitting last season with the Rams and Ravens. He’ll compete for a starting job but will have to hold off rookie first-round draft pick Maxwell Hairston to earn it.
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Former Bills safety Jordan Poyer is an unsigned free agent after spending the 2024 season with the Miami Dolphins. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
Morse has retired after one season with the Jaguars. Poyer is an unsigned free agent after playing last year in Miami. Harty also is unsigned after spending last year with the Ravens. Hines is out of the league.
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Diggs is in New England after his lone season with the Texans was cut short because of a knee injury. At the time, the decision to trade Diggs was questioned because the Bills didn’t have an obvious replacement on the roster. They still don't, but the offense scored 30-plus points per game last season without him, so it's hard to make the case they missed him too much.
Could the Bills re-sign WR Gabe Davis? Here are the pros and cons for doing so
We know general manager Brandon Beane and coach Sean McDermott aren’t against a reunion if they deem it the right fit. Is it with Davis?
BA asks: What do you think is the most ridiculous scenario: The Bills re-sign Gabe Davis or the Sabres’ recent hiring of Eric Staal as special assistant to the general manager?
Jay: Oh, it’s easily the Sabres doing something more ridiculous. Of course, anything the Sabres do at the moment that’s not replacing general manager Kevyn Adams is going to be met with online vitriol. So Adams hiring his buddy to a front-office role without any experience is obviously going to be met with a healthy dose of skepticism. There has been some pushback online about the Bills re-signing Davis, but, honestly, I don’t see the big deal if it’s for a veteran-minimum contract. There is no problem with competition, and at the least, Davis would provide that.
Ed asks: In your opinion, how much drama might occur in the next few months with the James Cook contract situation? Who else might get extended ahead of Cook?
Jay: It’ll be a topic, but I don’t expect it to fracture the locker room. I’d be surprised if Cook shows up to any of the team’s spring practices, but those are voluntary. If he sits out the mandatory minicamp in June, that’s more of a statement. A training camp holdout would become a big story, but I don’t see the point in him doing that.
As I’ve written many times before, the Bills have the upper hand in this negotiation. The team can always use the franchise tag next offseason if it determines Cook is too important to lose.
As for who could get extended ahead of him, center Connor McGovern and left guard David Edwards are heading into the final year of their contracts. It’s reasonable to think the Bills might want to get something done with McGovern first after he made a nice transition to the position last year, replacing Morse. Continuity between the center and quarterback Josh Allen is important.
Bills sign 6 members of 2025 draft class to rookie contracts, with 3 more to go
Agreeing to deals are defensive end Landon Jackson, defensive back Jordan Hancock, tight end Jackson Hawes, cornerback Dorian Strong, offensive tackle Chase Lundt and wide receiver Kaden Prather. All drafted rookies receive four-year contracts.
Jeff asks: After your Sunday dinner with the Beane family, when you and Brandon compared your GM for a Day column with his thoughts, how many of your suggestions did he come to his senses on and agree with?
Jay: Quite a bit, actually. Beane cut Von Miller and Sam Martin, two moves I thought were logical. A pay cut was possible for Miller, but an outright cut was always an alternative. He signed Allen and defensive end Greg Rousseau to contract extensions, which were part of my proposals. He traded cornerback Kaiir Elam, which was another one of my moves. He re-signed fullback Reggie Gilliam, running back Ty Johnson and long snapper Reid Ferguson, which were part of my proposed moves.
We differed on re-signing safety Damar Hamlin, which Beane did, but I didn’t. We also differed on wide receiver Mack Hollins. I had the Bills bringing him back, but instead he headed to New England. I also had the Bills re-signing tight end Quintin Morris, but that hasn’t happened. I proposed moving on from defensive tackles Austin Johnson, Jordan Phillips and Quinton Jefferson, which the Bills have done.
I didn’t do as well with outside free agents, getting only cornerback Dane Jackson right. Those are pretty tough to predict, though. I also didn’t hit any of my mock draft selections, although I did better in that regard as the draft got closer. All in all, I’m happy with my fake GM skills this year.
With Buffalo Bills rookie minicamp looming, undrafted players get their shot at making roster
According to USA Today, 43 rookie UDFAs that made it through cuts and landed on active rosters across the league last season.
Dennis Drew asks: During the draft coverage, Nick Saban said players who score touchdowns are more valuable than any defensive player. Do you agree? I see that as a guide to negotiations with James Cook and the need at wide receiver. Having said that, which positions are harder for rookies to learn in the NFL? I didn’t see one receiver in this draft who was ready to replace any of our wideouts.
Jay: Not only do I disagree, so does the rest of the NFL. After quarterback, the next highest price for the franchise tag is at linebacker, at $20.862 million. Keep in mind, that includes players who are outside linebackers whose primary job is to rush the passer. After that, the next most expensive is defensive tackle. So, the name of the game is to have an elite quarterback, and an elite unit that can get after the quarterback.
The franchise tag for running back is just a shade over $11 million, which is the least of any position outside of special teams players. That speaks to the idea that it is easy to plug in a different player at the position. That gets to the heart of the debate about whether to re-sign Cook. Would the Bills be better off spending that money elsewhere and just going with the next man up at running back? It’s a question Beane will need to answer following the 2025 season.
John in Virginia Beach asks: I was hoping Buffalo would draft Tennessee wideout Dont’e Thornton, but the Raiders picked him instead. With Buffalo’s draft concentrating mostly on defense, where do you think Tyrell Shavers stands now in the Bills’ receiver hierarchy? Is he an effective replacement for Mack Hollins?
Jay: Right now, I’d put Shavers No. 8 on the positional depth chart behind Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman, Joshua Palmer, Curtis Samuel, Elijah Moore, Laviska Shenault Jr. and Jalen Virgil. Given that the team is likely to keep six receivers, at most, on the active roster, I have Shavers on the outside looking in.
To your point, though, John, the first five receivers on the list do not appear to be major contributors on special teams. Shenault’s best chance at making the team is as a kick returner. Any team’s No. 4 or No. 5 receiver would ideally have at least some flexibility to play special teams, so it’s not out of the question that Shavers could leapfrog Moore to earn a spot if he can show in the spring and summer the ability to impact games on special teams. I haven’t seen enough of him in that role yet to have a strong opinion either way on if he will.
Ken asks: It appears just about every NFL team improved with this year’s draft and free agency, particularly the lower-rated teams. With the league’s emphasis on parity, I think it’s fair to predict that more and more games will be decided by a few key plays or subjective calls by referees. What are your thoughts on that?
Jay: According to the league, nearly 70% of games during the 2024 season were decided by one score (eight points) or less. So, yes, close games are to be expected in the NFL. As such, teams that find a way to win those games more frequently are going to have a greater level of success. Last year, the Bills went 5-3 in the regular season in one-score games, although one of the losses – to the Patriots in Week 18 – came in a game they didn’t particularly care about winning. The Bengals went 4-7 in one-score games, one of the biggest reasons they missed the playoffs. The Chiefs, meanwhile, have won an NFL-record 17 straight games decided by eight or fewer points, including the AFC championship game against the Bills.
We’ve talked frequently about the Chiefs finding a way to make that one play when they need it – and the Bills being unable to do so against Kansas City. So you’re right on, Ken, that those few key plays will be important. Ideally, the referees won’t play a part in the outcome of the game, but it’s natural to think that when the games are close, the potential is there for a penalty, either called or uncalled, to greatly impact the outcome.
Ryan O'Halloran: Rule for Buffalo Bills rookie camp? Don't get overexcited
Setting modest expectations for Bills' rookie camp should be the best option. Who can be this year’s Joe Andreessen? Let’s hope there is the same kind of success story this year, O'Halloran writes.
Dennis Priore asks: In Thursday’s Buffalo News, an article stated that Giants coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen have given early indications they plan to bring rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart along slowly, as Buffalo did with Josh Allen. Of course it really doesn’t matter now that Allen is the MVP, but slowly? Really? Didn’t Allen go in at halftime of the 2018 season opener after Nathan Peterman flamed out again?
Jay: That is exactly what happened, although we could play the “what-if?” game here. If Peterman hadn’t melted down against the Ravens, how long would he have held off Allen? Only coach Sean McDermott and Daboll know the answer, and the truth is, they may not even entirely know. If Peterman played well in the opener and continued to, the Bills wouldn’t have had to force Allen into the lineup. Sometimes things happen for a reason, though, and it’s hard to argue with the trajectory of Allen’s career from that point.
GDW asks: In fairness to all NFL teams, I would like to propose a bye week system that I hope the league would consider: From Week 7 to Week 10, give eight teams a bye. If scheduling allows, give every team in the same division the same bye week. The TV networks may object, but there would still be 12 games to televise in those weeks. Is this doable?
Jay: It seems reasonable to me, although we might be talking about only a short-term solution. If the NFL goes to 18 games, which feels inevitable, a potential solution to the added wear and tear on players would be to add a second bye week, which would then complicate this entire thing. At that point, teams would seemingly want to have an early bye week and a later bye week. I get the spirit of the question, though. A team with a bye in Week 5 has to play 13 straight games with no break. That’s exceptionally taxing on players. Concerns from TV networks seems like a factor. Fantasy football owners also wouldn’t like eight-team bye weeks, although that shouldn’t be enough of a reason to stop it from happening. You might be onto something, GDW.
Thank you for all the questions this week. As a reminder, they can be submitted via X to @JaySkurski or by email to jskurski@buffnews.com.
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