By Justin DiLoro / Billswire.usatoday.com
Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane is at the forefront of a massive reconstruction of his team’s roster, which began this offseason. There are only a handful of players remaining on the roster who were brought to Western New York by a different regime.
Beane wasted little time in doing so, evening bringing in free agents before March’s free agency period began for the second straight offseason. In addition, to make room for new faces, the general manager has quietly moved on from several players who do not fit the front office’s vision.
With the slew of decisions made by Beane this offseason in mind, here are the six best moves he’s made in 2019:
Not trading the Bills’ first-round pick
The days leading up to the NFL draft are ripe with misinformation. However, there are some nuggets that are most likely true. Beane reached out to other teams to test the waters on returns if the Bills were to move out of the No. 9 spot in the first round. There were reasonable ideas that fit for a possible trade down, and there were also realistic possibilities that the Bills could trade up.
In the end, Bane stood pat at the Bills’ original draft position. It turned out all right.
Buffalo selected defensive tackle Ed Oliver with the ninth pick. The team could have chosen a higher-need position, such as offensive tackle, but it realized that Oliver’s talent was too great to overlook at this point in the draft.
Oliver will take over a starting spot next to Star Lotulelei this fall. While Lotulelei will rotate with Jordan Phillips, Oliver may see the most snaps among interior defensive linemen this fall. If things go according to plan, Oliver will make everyone around him better, as opponents will need to account for his freakish athleticism. Thus, players such as Jerry Hughes, Trent Murphy, and Tremaine Edmunds will have a bit more space with which to work.
Signing Mitch Morse
It was easy to see that the Bills’ offensive line was a bit of a mess last season. Dion Dawkins hit some bumps in the road during his first full season as the starting left tackle. Even so, he would be considered the best among this unit, where Jordan Mills, Vlad Ducasse, and John Miller would all perform inconsistently. Add in an unstable quarterback situation for a chunk of the season, and the offensive line was fighting an uphill battle.
The drop-off at the center position was clear. Ryan Groy struggled mightily as the starting center, ultimately losing his job to Russell Bodine. Bodine, for his part, was better than expected. However, it was far from what the team needed, especially in front of their young quarterback Josh Allen.
The Bills needed someone who could better organize the offensive line. Enter Mitch Morse.
In addition to strong pass and run blocking, Morse will be expected to call out blocking schemes on the fly. Once Eric Wood retired, the line lost the player who could adjust protection schemes consistently. Like Oliver, Morse, albeit in a different way, has a chance to make those around him better.
Morse will be expected to identify blitz protections and help a unit, which may have four new starters with a possibility of all five starters being different from the 2018 starting unit, to establish a semblance of cohesion over during offseason activities and training camp. This is why Morse received the big bucks in free agency.
Creating a competition on the offensive line
The Bills hit the free agent market hard in regard to their offensive line. The team signed Spencer Long, Jon Feliciano, Ty Nsehke, Quinton Spain, LaAdrian Waddle in addition to Morse. In the second round of the draft, Beane traded up to ensure Buffalo would have the right to select Oklahoma offensive lineman Cody Ford, further adding to the unit.
With the dust settled, the Bills have a great deal of flexibility with this unit, as several players have experience at multiple positions on the line. Thus, they can test out several line combinations ahead of Week 1.
The only position solidified on the line is Morse’s center spot. Otherwise, any of these players could fit into the starting grid.
Beane also signed seven of these players to team-friendly contracts, so if anyone does not fit into the long-term plans of the Bills, then their release will not make a major impact on the team’s salary cap. The numerous moves were savvy by Beane in an attempt to hope the numbers game brings out the best in player vying for starting time in the trenches.
Adding Frank Gore
The Bills signed a future Hall of Famer in running back Frank Gore for $2 million in 2019. If he can repeat his production from last season, it will be an absolute steal for Buffalo.
Chris Ivory put forth an admirable effort behind starter LeSean McCoy last season. Still, it was not enough to take the heat off McCoy, who ended up having the worst season of his 10-year career.
McCoy largely danced behind an inefficient line. When the line did block appropriately, the former All-Pro did not hit the hole hard and run downhill.
This is where Gore can come in and help alleviate issues in the run game. It will be quite a one-two punch for Buffalo’s backfield. In addition to the longevity of these players, they still have quite a bit left in the tank to punish opponents this year.
In Gore, the Bills will also have a player that rookie third-round back Devin Singletary can learn from.
Signing Andre Roberts
This is probably the most underrated signing of the Bills offseason. It’s also one that could pay massive dividends.
Buffalo was 22nd in kick return average (22.2 yards) last season and fared a little bit better in the punt return game, finishing 13th in the league (8.7 yards per return).
Roberts led the league in kick return average (29.4 yards) and tied for best punt return average (14.1 yards). He also added two touchdowns in the return game last year. For his efforts, Roberts was tabbed an All-Pro and despite this, the New York Jets didn’t try to re-sign him.
Roberts will be the highlight of a rebuilt special teams unit, which includes the hiring of Heath Fewell as special teams coordinator. Roberts will give the Bills a player who can strike fear into opponents in the sometimes forgotten third of the team game.
The move shows an all-out push to make every element of Buffalo’s roster better.
Hiring Ken Dorsey as quarterbacks coach
The hiring of Dorsey should be a marker of good things for Allen. Dorsey previously worked with Cam Newton for five seasons in Carolina. Newton was the NFL’s Most Valuable Player with Dorsey as his coach, so there could be something here.
It’s an important move for the Bills, one which reveals a stronger even stronger commitment to Allen and his development. The team signed several players to help the offense on the field; this is a move to aid Allen’s development off the field.
Dorsey was a two-time NCAA Quarterback of the Year. His understanding of the position should benefit Allen, as Dorsey has much more experience at the position than previous quarterbacks coach David Culley. Thus, Dorsey can spot more minute issues within Allen’s game and work to fix those immediately.