By Nick Wojton / Billswire.usatoday.com
The Buffalo Bills still have another five weeks left in their 2018 campaign, but there’s a lot of optimism looking ahead to the summer of 2019.
The Bills (4-7) set themselves up to have a spending spree this upcoming offseason. Buffalo currently have a massive dead cap hit of $57 million, according to OverTheCap.com. That all goes away and drops down to $2 million.
In total, that sets the Bills up to have $92 million in cap space. That’s the third-most in the NFL. With all that room and an owner who’s willing to spend, general manager Brandon Beane will make his fair share of moves this offseason. But the moves have to be the right ones.
With that, here’s an early look at 10 potential free agents the Bills could look to add this offseason:
OT Trent Brown, New England Patriots
At 25, Brown is becoming a free agent at the right time. Brown’s having a strong season with the Patriots. After spending 2015 to 2017 with the 49ers, he jumped ship via trade with some 2018 draft picks. It’s paid off for New England. After losing Nate Solder in free agency to the New York Giants, Brown’s filled in and they haven’t missed a beat.
But the Patriots have reason to perhaps not bring him back. Sidelined with injury is their first-round pick Isaiah Wynn. Their other tackle position is filled by Marcus Cannon, who’s signed through 2021. Pretty much the rest of their offensive line is in-tact, too. So… two starting spots, three players. Midway through the season, Pro Football Focus graded Brown a 67.4 overall.
TE Tyler Kroft, Cincinnati Bengals
Kroft is part of a heaping pile of injuries at the tight end position for Cincy. Kroft is currently dealing with a foot injury which hasn’t allowed him to build off a productive 2017 season which saw him grab 42 catches for 404 yards with seven touchdowns. At 6-foot-6, he’s a strong red zone target for any quarterback.
However, even when Kroft has played this season, he hasn’t proven much. He has four catches for only 67 yards this year in five games. That’s not all on him, though. Those four catches came on only six targets. The 26-year-old tight end is known as a productive blocker, though.
Charles Clay hasn’t been overly productive in his Bills career, but he’s been a solid, consistent target for a team that doesn’t feature much of a passing game in recent seasons. This season, though? Clay’s just nowhere to be found. This offseason he has a $4.5 million dead cap hit if cut, which is very do-able for Buffalo if they’d like to bring someone else in.
TE Jared Cook, Oakland Raiders
Prior to the season Cook isn’t a guy that many would have pegged as a prized free agent. He’s 31 and has never blown anyone away offensive. However, he’s in the midst of a career year for the lackluster Raiders. It probably helped that Amari Cooper was traded away, but in 11 games, Cook has 47 grabs for 609 yards and five touchdowns. Cook’s become a go-to taget for quarterback Derek Carr. Cook’s previous career best was in 2014 with the Rams where he had 52 grabs for 634 and five touchdowns. Midway through the 2018 season, Pro Football Focus graded Cook a 75.5 midway through this season.
OT Rodger Saffold, Los Angeles Rams
The Bills’ offensive line has struggled, but the group still has a few promising young players such as Dion Dawkins and Wyatt Teller. Because of the youth, Buffalo could look to add a veteran in free agency such as Saffold.
While 30, Saffold still likely has a few solid years left in him and the nine-year vet has consistently received high marks from Pro Football Focus, who’ve graded him a 64.0 or higher in eight of his seasons. PFF also graded him their top left guard in the NFL last season. Saffold’s currently part of one of the best run-blocking lines in the NFL with LA, and that’s exactly the type of help Buffalo needs. The Bills currently rank 31st in PFF’s league-wide run blocking grades.
C Matt Paradis, Denver Broncos
The former sixth-round pick of the Broncos in 2018 is sidelined for the rest of the season with a broken leg. Prior to that injury, Paradis never missed a game in his career. We’ve seen Eric Wood bounce back fine from a broken leg, so that shouldn’t scare away anyone from Paradis. Pro Football Focus put Paradis in some elite company, too.
Midway through the season, Paradis was one of only two centers (Jason Kelce) in the NFL to have pass-blocking and run-blocking grades about 77.0 which is very good for PFF’s scale.
Current Bills center Russell Bodine has a year left on his contract in 2019, but he can be kicked over to guard.
WR Adam Humphries, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Humphries plays in a stacked wide receiver room right now in Tampa which also includes Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson, but despite that, he still manages to get his fair share of catches. He also has a skill that some receivers on occasion, like Kelvin Benjamin, make look difficult. Humphries can catch everything. Through 11 games this season, he had 46 catches for 545 yards (again, in a loaded receiver room), with four touchdowns.
Coming from a wideout room that’s top-heavy, the 25-year-old target could want a chance to be a feature of an offense, so if the Bills decide to use their first-round pick on a different position, Humphries could be a plug-and-play guy across from Zay Jones next season.
WR Randall Cobb, Green Bay Packers
The market for the Packers’ wideout likely is shrinking. After a 91 catch, 1,287 receiving yard season in 2014, Cobb’s numbers have never reached that level again. In 2015 he had 79 grabs, when has since dropped to 60, 66, and now injuries in 2018 have held him to only 26 grabs in five games played.
The Packers have had younger players step up and preform well in his absence such as Marquez Valdes-Scantling. If the Bills looked at Cobb, he’d be another sure-handed receiver Allen could count on. According to PFF, Cobb has only 40 career drops on 677 targets. As an eight-year veteran, Cobb could also be a productive veteran presence.
WR John Brown, Baltimore Ravens
There’s two easy reasons the Bills would want Brown. First, they finally learned recently you need speed (and talent) in your wide receiver room with the additions of Robert Foster, Isaiah McKenzie and Deonte Thompson. Second, the Bills reportedly went after him last offseason before the Ravens nabbed him off the market. Brown’s speed combined with Josh Allen’s arm sounds like something offensive coordinator Brian Daboll wouldn’t mind having around. Through 11 games played this season, Brown has 36 catches for 649 yards with four touchdowns. He averages 18 yards per catch. Brown is currently playing on a one-year prove-it deal, so he’ll be a free agent looking to cash in on that.
WR Devin Funchess, Carolina Panthers
If the first big Carolina wide receiver didn’t work, might as well try another one, right? But seriously, that could be the case with the connections the Bills have to the Panthers via Beane and head coach Sean McDermott. Funchess is a red zone target at 6-foot-4, but, he does struggle with the same thing Benjamin does: his drops. Funchess is also hearing the footsteps of younger players like DJ Moore behind him. If Funchess joined the Bills, it’d likely be the end of Benjamin’s time with the organization. Funchess has 41 catches for 516 yards with three touchdowns this season. His best year was 2017 when he had 63 catches for 840 yards with eight scores.
RB Le’Veon Bell
The former Steelers running back is the prize catch of the 2018 free agency class. The Bills also have LeSean McCoy. Despite that, numerous national outlets and football analysts have connected the Bills and Bell, most due to their massive amount of salary cap space. Bell will likely look for something north of $14 million a year since that’s what he passed up with the Steelers. However, the Bills, again, will have the room for him and he’s a dynamic playmaker which cannot be disputed. Bell has unmatched patience as a runner and he’s an excellent pass-catcher as well. Pittsburgh was running him into the ground, but he sat out the entire 2018 season, making the tread on his tires that much better.