Free agency predictions | Always Gameday in Buffalo

We give some free agency predictions for the Bills, but not before we recap some of the big stories from the NFL Combine.

Back in the basement no longer in Indianapolis what’s going on everybody welcome to another episode of It’s Always game day and buffalo mapo s capacho s what do you miss about Indie and what were you most excited about getting home oh um what I miss about Indie is just the fabulous restaurants

Within walking distance of my hotel and all the hustle and bustle that goes around now not that I don’t have fabulous restaurants in Buffalo I absolutely do but you know when you go out of town and you sometimes you stay at places where you don’t really have that opportunity Indianapolis is

Different that’s what I miss about it um what I would liked about getting home it was really cold the last couple days and now it’s 71 degrees here in Buffalo so I’ll take it did you get a chance to go golfing at all or you get to do anything

Fun outside on this 71 degree March day unfortunately I cannot play golf for another four or five weeks at least I’m that’s okay sorry I didn’t I didn’t get to go either if it makes you feel any better I have a kid now so apparently

You got make sure that the kid is taken care of that’s of I guess mine was yeah who would have thought I I didn’t sign up for that so my favorite thing about Indie was it was really cool to go to a Pacers game I went to the Pacers game

For tickets were like $2 to get into the door somebody asked us this question a couple days ago and it made me think about it the question was do you ever think Buffalo could support an NBA team we’ll answer that in 30 seconds the thing I was most excited to come back to

My bed in Indie kind of stunk I was not very comfortable in my bed so getting back to my normal bed and I’m somebody who could sleep on anything but apparently I don’t know if you heard this but I was told that on Tuesday into Wednesday there was a crazy tornado

Alarm that went off in Indie in the middle I didn’t hear it I didn’t hear a thing so I was I was asleep for that I slept through it but I was out to dinner the next night and everybody was like did you hear that in the middle of

The night I was like no I didn’t so at that point I was sleeping so I guess the bed couldn’t have been too bad but yeah so that was kind of crazy I I got up on Wednesday morning this would have been so was Tuesday was it Monday night into Tuesday or Tuesday

Night into Wednesday when this happened Tuesday into Wednesday so it would have been technically very early Wednesday morning okay so I get up Wednesday to go on the air with wbn our sister station on Odyssey and then wgr with Jeremy both wbn ran mazowski and Jeremy white of wgr

Asked me what was it like with the tornado siren and this bad weather and I’m like what are you talking about are you sure this like you know where I am like that’s not I had no idea at the time when I woke up none no I I didn’t

Know either and then that was like a couple years ago remember we had the earthquake here I slept through that too that was at like 6:00 a.m. or something like that completely SLE slept through that I woke up and my entire social media feed was oh my gosh we had an

Earthquake in Western New York is everybody okay and I slept through it completely but that was a question somebody asked could Buffalo support an NBA team um no I don’t could they support an NBA team and is it possible that it ever happens I think are different answers could they support an

NBA team sure will it ever happen absolutely not agreed but I would say this I don’t think Buffalo is big enough to tr support three major franchises NBA NHL and NFL I think there’s not enough dollars to go around for that and there’s a lot of reasons why the Braves

Left they did have support but it was Arena issues and playing on certain nights but because they couldn’t get Friday nights they didn’t have quite the support they needed and when people are deciding between that and the NHL and then the bills and putting money I do think that that that Buffalo could

Support an NBA team I don’t think Buffalo could support all three NBA NFL and NHL at the same time that makes sense yeah that’s probably a good point it was eye opening going to a Pacers game and seeing the tickets started at $2 because I remember all of those years

Of the Sabers drought and tickets were dirt cheap but they weren’t I don’t think at any point $2 that was really crazy to see that but I agree with every point that you just said Buffalo from a media Market standpoint it is the 54th television market in the country there

Is just not as much money in advertising and in television and in media rights here as there are other parts of the country especially considering the Sabres and the bills are Legacy teams here now like they have built fan bases for Generations so to think that a team

Could come like I think they could this city could support another team I don’t know though if we could support an NBA team I’m sure people would be fans of it that’s not the question it’s could you financially support the team and would the building be filled the one that I’m

Interested in is as the MLS continues to grow is if Buffalo could ever get an MLS team that’s the one but even that I think has got too big for Buffalo to you know have that other major professional sports team it’s a good point I don’t know either when the Blue Jays played

Here during the co year um it was great they they they they sold a lot of tickets but if you had to do that on a consistent basis I don’t know if Buffalo could support a major league team that many dates you know I mean it’s just

Really hard to do so that’s why I I I think fortunately if Buffalo had an NBA team like I don’t know if you could sustain keeping the sabes and the bills as well but obviously now the stadium coming with the bills and that’s they’re going to be here a while we hope the

Sabes are here a while so we don’t have to tackle that question it would be cool though it’ be cool to have an NBA team and they did have the Braves at one point and the Braves were actually they had a lot a lot of star Talent actually

With Adrien Dantley and Moses Malone and uh Jack Ramsey coach and Randy Smith they had a and Ernie D Gregorio a lot of really really good players that people who are much older than me like your dad would have not much older he’s a little

Bit older than me your dad when um your dad would have told you stories about them and I bet you he enjoyed you know when they were around you you missed the biggest one the one that even I know about you forgot like the star of all

Stars with the Buffalo Braves you didn’t say Bob mackadoo Bob mackadoo yes I know I did not say Bob McAdoo that’s right but there you go think about all the stars they had and um it’d be pretty cool but I will tell you I like the fact

That we have like four one college basketball teams within like 10 miles of each other yeah that’s very cool let me ask you this as we put kind of a bow on the combine here because we’re both back in Buffalo now what was the most important or the biggest thing you

Learned while in Indianapolis specifically at the combine do you want me to do um League or bills you can do both okay most important or significant thing I learned about the league I’ll start with is it is a pretty much slam dunk now that Justin Fields is going to

Be traded and the number one pick is going to be Caleb Williams I don’t know where Justin Fields is going to be traded but he’s going to be traded and they’re going to select cable Williams and then we’ll see from there I think that’s significant in the league it’s

Justin Fields was you know just a few years ago and what was he taking overall when where was Justin Fields taking over second overall pick um yeah and and now they’re gonna move on for the Caleb Williams the number one pick they’re gonna trade him where’s he gonna go I think for the

Bills I have said this quite often on radio throughout the week and you and I talked about it a couple weeks ago and you mentioned your talk with Brandon bean I think it’s significant that to me the bills feel much better about their cap situation internally than what we

Have said and talked about and feel about it and fans do externally about how it looks okay I think that’s a very good point and I did get that same sense I don’t think that they’re going to be able to go big game hunting but I do

Think that they’re going to be able to to do a few more of those moves that may be so I’m trying to think of something that is going to be like a solid comparison we’ll talk about mock moves later in this episode we’re going to go through kind of the offseason now that

We’re a week away from free agency and say okay here’s a couple moves we could see the bills making so it’ll make more sense down the road for me the biggest thing that I learned from a League wide standpoint and this also affects the bills is the wide receiver class is for

Real Every conversation I had with different draft people people who cover the draft people who are draft analysts they all said it is a historically dominant wide receiver class and there should be five six seven of them selected in the first round and they think that all of the guys in that like

Four to seven range would have been the top guys in the draft last year if that’s the way it played out so you’ve got a very elite group of top three wide receivers but then that drop off from four to seven are still guys who can immediately come in and make an impact

Now the way it was explained to me was there is a drop off from those guys in the first round obviously it drops off pretty significantly but even the rest of the next 10 or 15 guys are players who could be difference makers and Game

Changers on a team so for me what that tells me is hey if you need a wide receiver and a lot of teams do this is a good time to need one espe esecially when you’re in the situation like the bills are where they can’t just go out

And throw a ton of money Mike will Mike Williams earlier today signed a 26 million dollar a year deal to stay in Tampa Bay the bills do not have the cap space regardless of what they do to have two guys that are making that much money they already got one guy that’s making

It which means you need to get cheap contracts on your books at that position and that’s why I think for the bills it kind of works out that this is the year that they need a wide receiver because I do think they address it at least in the

First or second round and again probably in the third or fourth round yeah all right and I would say that um because of the wide receivers and the numbers they posted and just freakish athletes all over the place and how deep it is you’re now gonna have to

Parse through which ones fit for you and how do you do that I think that’s the next step Matt that’s the next question which is how do you find which one is the right one for you because they’re all freaks right I mean you look at these guys and the numbers posting and

The size and that’s where the medical comes in that’s where the formal meetings come in that’s where the scheme fit comes in that’s why it’s very fascinating because one person’s Keon Coleman is another person’s Troy Franklin right I mean I don’t know you can you can parse this any way you want

And you could you could make the argument all day long about which guys is a better fit for the bills we don’t have access to those Medicals we don’t have access access to those meeting rooms when they’re having those formal meetings that’s what’s going to happen

Here but the bills are G the bills did meet with a lot of wide receivers the report is they met with more wide receivers than any other team met with wide receivers so obviously they’re wide receiver hunting and shopping it doesn’t have to be in the draft but I would say

We’re both pretty darn confident they’re gonna draft at least one and probably multiple wide receivers I would guess were there any prospects that people talked up that you think could be a scheme fit for the bills understanding we are still two months away from this

It’s not like the either of us I don’t want to speak for you I have not been grinding away on college football tape up to this point eventually I will dive much deeper into it I’m actually even off this week but is there any name that popped up where just on the surface

Level you think oh yeah that makes a lot of sense for the bills I think the guy I’m warming up to a little bit more for this is lad mcon oh my gosh I am so so glad you just I was G to I was going to say the the ex exact same

Thing I think there’s a there’s a perception he’s just gonna fit in the slot he’s this shorter guy six foot right he’s think he six foot I me it’s not super tall but and you know he’s just gonna run to the sticks he’s just he’s coold Beasley I think that that’s

What people think I don’t think he is I think he’s more than that I think he can do more doesn’t mean he’s gonna get off press coverage on the outside but Matt how many teams play press coverage as much these days and you know you can

Move guys away from that I think he I think he can do more and I think he can be a well-rounded wide receiver More Than People realize and I think he’s got a really good skill set that would fit with the bills offense especially the run after catch that that Brandon be and

Ger talked about I think he could be a guy like that yeah I think there’s something to be said about raising your percentage ra like raising your hit rate on those guys for the bills they’ve had some absolute home runs in the first round but they’ve also had some big

Misses in the first round and I’m not saying you should be scared of whiffing big if you love a like if you love Keon Coleman’s skill set and you’re like I think that that guy in this offense makes a ton of sense or Troy Franklin but every conversation I had about lad

Makoni and everything that I’ve watched from him because obviously he’s a Georgia so you see a lot more lad makoni than you see of some of these other guys it just always looks like the guy can play he always makes a big play and then you get to the combine and you start

Talking to people and you’re like well yeah lad makoni isn’t necessarily what the bills are looking for and they’re like well don’t be so close-minded on lad makoni because you’re thinking of him as just a guy who can go in and play the slot and you already have khil

Shakir so you’re thinking okay that’s not what the bills need and I’m guilty of that but they’re like he’s a really really reliable good football player who could play a lot of different positions and would give the bills immediately somebody that they could count on so that’s why while I don’t don’t think

It’s super likely I also think it’s really intriguing because I do think that that’s a name that’s going to probably end up going in the first round so the polarizing guy I think coming out of this is Keon Coleman right we’ve talked about him a few times and this is

A guy who’s he’s a bigger he’s a taller guy but he ran a slow 4 six what 462 I think it was 40 it’s not in front of me but he Al then he but then he did really good on the gauntlet he had a better Gauntlet time in in session than Troy

Franklin and Troy Franklin was Speedy right but Keon Coleman seems like a really polarizing guy he’s still not to me the Fit For What the bills want to me the bills want a guy that’s more explosive he doesn’t scream explosiveness but he does play faster

And he does have a lot of he has a little bit more short a quickness than I thought you know going through that I think more than anything it’s seems like he kind of does everything at a little bit of a faster Pace even though he doesn’t get down the field he’s a

Contested catch guy that’s the kind of guy I’m like I’m kind of torn on because I really like his game but it doesn’t seem like it’s the fit for the bills yeah that that was one of those things where you think of game speed and you

Think of what they run in the 40 and the game speed seems like it’s higher than what it shows on tape if the bills really like Keon Coleman they might be happy that that’s what he ran in the 40 kind of like they were with Gabe Davis a

Couple years ago where they were almost rooting for him to have a little bit of a slower 40 time because then they thought that was going to get him onto day three as opposed to the third round of the draft the one Xavier worthy and I know it’s low hanging fruit because the

Speed there I was talking to Matt Miller from ESPN and I said who’s a name this was on Monday this was before any of those guys ran and I said who is a name that we’re not talking about enough now at the end of the first round that we

Should be and he said Xavier worthy because he is going to light up the 40 he’s like he’ll probably run mid four tws I mean he ran a combined record at 4-21 the question is is it just is it just like I don’t want to say is a just

Speed like because John Ross was speed and then he did not have the career that people thought he was going to have but that’s not because he wasn’t a good Prospect that’s because he had a bunch of injuries and he just couldn’t get on the field so to me what is Xavier worthy

Because obviously he brings the bill something that they do not currently have but is that what they are looking for we know they’re looking for explosive we know they’re looking for rack but is that the kind of guy they want to get and you could just run straight down the

Field not run everybody but if you can’t run routes and catch the ball I’m not saying that that’s that he can’t but everything has to be considered here you bring up John Ross he’s a great Point part of the reason John Ross had injuries might have been because he’s so

Fast and muscles aren’t supposed to go that fast and sometimes those things happen yeah and I think that sometimes speed guys you tweak a hammy man and all of a sudden like that’s a bigger deal than most people right like because that’s your that’s your game that’s what

You rely on so it is a tricky way to have to go about it and you know figure out what is the guy for you and sa you’re worthy man you put him in a bills uniform great they’re they’re going to add speed they’re gonna add explosiveness the question is who is the

Guy how do they go about it where do they get him from they also have to get under the cap the bills made a move it’s going to get them a little bit closer although they have a lot more moves to make all right Matt so the bills did something that we all

Expected but it is looking it’s not official from the team it’s going to be and that’s releasing Naim Hines this is going to save the team four $4.6 million against the cap it only cost 500k dead money seemed like this was the biggest no-brainer of the offseason right yeah

It did it was going to be something with him or something with Deontay Hardy who by the way I have a tab pulled up on Deontay Hardy just because I wanted to check something so Xavier worthy will add a lot of muscle when he gets into

The league he is 61 172 pounds and when I saw 172 pounds I go I’m pretty sure Deontay Hardy’s that size Deontay Hardy is 57 1 170 pounds so they’re basically the same weight and Worthy is 61 and Deontay Hardy is 57 regardless I thought they were going to do something with

Hardy or with nahem Hines now that they’ve done something with Hines I almost still think they do something with Hardy I think they probably restructure Hardy in some way just because if they don’t I don’t know how much he brings you obviously you like him as a special teams player but I

Don’t if you’re willing to keep that guy on the roster at his current capit I agree with that I think there are still some plenty of decisions to be made we’re expecting Josh Allen’s contract to get restructured that will really go a long way to getting the

Bills under the cap but it won’t be everything they have to do and we’re GNA actually talk a little bit more later in the podcast here about maybe some other things that they could do or be surprising or moves we expect but I agree deont hard’s a guy to watch for

There’s no doubt about that um they do need though I think you know you know it’s bittersweet for bill when n Hines news came about and Adam Sher reported it I think my social media feed was more filled with boy it’s the right move but I’m really sad because of what happened

After the Demar Hamlin incident and the next week and him returning the two kicks he he’s gonna go down and you know with legendary status of that like a legendary play a memorable moment maybe not legendary but you know what I mean that moment that game what he did goes

Down in Bill’s franchise history as one of the most memorable moments because of the Tim yeah tweeted when it happened or posted on X whatever the heck we call it these days not to be hyperbolic but I think it was the most memorable play from my time covering the team somebody

Correctly pointed out I I it was the Taran Johnson pick six is the best player I’ve ever single play that I’ve been in the stadium for or watched happen live but the nem Hines one is probably the most emotional and sentimental because of everything that happens that week it felt like that

Week was a month a couple months it was the longest it was just a really tight for everybody involved for the team for us obviously in Cincinnati just for everybody for every Bills fan as well they just went through so many range of emotions and then for that game to start

That way because remember like the bills barely practiced that week because of everything that was going on and I remember sitting there before the game and wondering like well how important is practice because the Patriots are still eight and eight so it’s not like they’re a complete disaster they’re a team that

Could still win this game and then that kickoff happened and I’m like okay well probably not it’s just a destiny at this point and then the Patriots go ahead I think it’s 174 in the second half and then he does it again so that was a a pretty spectacular

Performance so Naim Hines clears $4.6 million and there’s 500k dead money we got a tweet and I want to address this now before I forget Scott asked us any chance you guys could explain dead money how it works and what are the post June 1 deadline such as Cur it’s curious

Because I always get confused okay um so I’ll start here and if you want to jump in go right ahead y thank you Scott because I think a lot of people we we assume people know what these things mean it’s great to refresh people sometimes who don’t understand how the

Cap works it’s different than in the NHL or NBA so dead money what happens is you have a player who supposed to count let’s say $10 million against the salary cap um but you’ve already paid him money him bonus money you did get him to sign

You PID him you know $2 million in bonus then you gave him get a $8 million base salary whatever it is when you cut the player okay you still have to count the bonus money that you paid him over the life of the contract so you can’t erase

That money it’s already been paid so that money still counts on your books for the player but the player’s not on your team hence it’s dead it’s dead money it’s a it’s money that’s sitting there that’s not going to a player on your roster because You’ cut the player

That’s essentially the best way I can describe dead money so for Nim Hines because he had bonus money still remaining it has to count in the cap that Bon counts now this year once the bills release him $500,000 that will count against their salary cap for a player not on their

Roster yeah as you were doing that I was just looking through the bills current roster and trying to see what the dead cap figures look like for some of the guys who have been mentioned so I think you did a good job explaining that so

The next thing we did was we asked what is there anything you want to add before I move on I don’t want to June first part I want to touch on real quick the June 1 part real quick I’ll touch on so okay there is yeah go ahead so June 1

What happens is June 1 is just a it’s a deadline that’s been made by the league and the CBA and the NFL players it’s just that’s why it’s June 1st there’s no necessary Rhyme or Reason other than it’s an agreed upon date between the league and the NFL players Association

If you cut a player before June 1st basically you’re counting all of the dead money that’s still remaining on the bonus that you paid him you got to you got to count this year it’s all going to accelerate if you still had every year $2 million next year $2 million after

Because you divided all the bonus money up that all gets accelerated in the contract now if you wait till after June 1st you can divide it up over two years that’s really all it is you you but the problem is you don’t get the money until June 1

So by cutting a guy on June before June 1 if it’s GNA cost you $10 million but say let’s wait till after June 1st we’re going to save we’re only going to it’s going to we’re only going to cost 5 million but guess what you don’t get

That five million to save on the cap until June 1st my who did they did they have any post June ones last year that let them sign say so there wasn’t a move that led to them I don’t remember because they signeded Leonard Floyd late last year

Was it in June when they signed him no no no I don’t think I have to go back and look I don’t think they did a June first cut to sign Leonard Floyd I don’t think the bills traditionally under Brandon Bean do not do a lot of post

June one cuts the bills want their money now here here’s the problem folks if you if you wait till June 1 to cut somebody because you know you’re gonna you can spread the money out but you don’t get to save till June 1 all the free done if

You want the money now you gotta do it now well guess what it’s more dead money to take on but you get your money freed up quicker yeah you also then spread it out over a longer t period of time and then you’re just pushing your problems

Even far farther down the road which is the thing here right like there’s the people who say the salary cap is not real the salary cap I think the perfect example of the salary cap being real is the Christian Wilkins stuff that’s happening in Miami like of course they

Would love to keep him every team wants to have Christian Wilkins but they just don’t have a way of working it out so I know that it’s very rare that we see players who their teams can’t afford like I’ve I’ve seen people say if you really want somebody you can

Always make make it work yes but then it’s all of the other things that you can’t make work so I think the salary cap can be manipulated in a lot of ways but I also don’t think that you can do anything to it and if you do then you

Really set yourself up for a year where you just have no I mean it’s the bills of 2018 it when they just basically started over I mean they got lucky quite frankly because in 2017 they made the playoffs and I think that they exceeded expectations so much that they knew that

They had a little bit more wiggle room so they knew they had a first round pick it was a quarterback that was going to take a little time they had their really solid draft class they just burned to like the salary cap that year was just

Let’s fix this and make sure that we’re set up for this this part of the rebuild so I don’t think the bills are going to go and do anything crazy but I do think that they’re going to do some things which is a nice segue to the question

That s posted earlier today so we said in the next segment of the show we will go over three moves that we could see the bills making but we asked you what would moves you would make would be if you’re branded Bean for the day if you

Get to go in and you get to step into this next crazy month and kind of navigate the bills so there’s a bunch of different answers here we’ll get to ours is there anyone in particular that stood out to you that you wanted to reference I mean there there’s a lot of things

That you would expect and then there was a couple things that were I guess maybe a little bit more controversial um sure Nico Nico Tweets in sign Jeremy chin safety a Bruiser running back for depth or I’m sorry dline depth I think that’s gonna happen and leave wide receiver to the draft so

I think that’s an interesting one because Jeremy to me might be the perfect kind of safety I just don’t know if they really want to invest in the safety at that level but it could very well be I I would keep my eye on something like that for sure and then

Leaving wide receiver for the draft I think that’s an interesting one because you are it’s great to be able to have these guys on rookie deals but you better hit on them and I just don’t know if you want to go into next season with relying on Stefon digs and then a bunch

Of rookies essentially now this one this is from free agency Frosty he said a bunch of different guys he listed Five Guys but I’m gonna specifically zero in on the sign Levi Wallace back to Buffalo now the interesting thing here is I like Levi Wallace the player but what is the

Difference in Levi Wallace and what it would cost to bring him back and what it would cost to keep danne Jackson because of the two I’d rather have danne Jackson so if it’s close I’d rather just keep danne Jackson as the depth guy if danne gets a contract from somebody and

They’re like hey danne we really like what you can do we think you’re like a third Corner we’re gonna give you four or five million dollars a year that’s when it’s thanks for everything Dane good luck go to your thing and then you try and get Levi Wallace back for like a

Million dollars a year but if they’re close I’d rather have danne Jackson agreed I think Dane Jackson coming back would be a nice would be good for the bills if he gets an opportunity to go somewhere else and gets paid great for him I don’t think that’s necessarily

Gonna happen other than a nice like like Levi Wallace Levi Wallace got few million to go play in Pittsburgh good for Levi Wallace I wouldn’t break the bank for danne Jackson but if it’s between the two I’m paying danne Jackson to come back more than before I’m paying

Levi Wallace okay so this is a really good example of the conversation we just had and something that somebody brought up now this is uh Buffalo Williams as painful as it is to suggest because this guy is awesome we need to make a move with Knox if his contract allows it well

His contract doesn’t allow it so let’s go over to Handy Dandy you can go to spot TR you can go to over the cap you go to whatever you want I’m on spot track right now do you know what his dead cap hit is next year this year or next year if they

Release him now you mean this year yes if Dawson Knox was released right now I think his dead cap hit would be about $10 million maybe it’s 20 okay there you go is 10 by June 1 but you don’t get that money till that exactly yes exactly

So yeah post post June 1st so he right now carries a dead cap hit of $20 million next year it goes down to $7 million so if you’re moving on from Dawson Knox it does not happen now it happens a year down the road that’s right and even then next year you’re

Talking about dead cab of $7.8 million I mean it’s not easy to deal with although I will tell you Matt I am I am really kind of surprised and interested in the fact that there’s a lot of dead money being spent by teams getting rid of players including what you said Miami’s

Done it with um um savior um with uh uh xaven Howard sorry excuse me xav Howard Miami with him and then and look at obviously Russell Wilson Russ I me wasn’t it like $89 million that’s an outlier that’s the most ever but there is and then how about the Bucks they

Sign Mike Williams but maybe this is a byproduct of it they release sha Barrett he’s costing them like 30 million in dead money over the next two years that’s kind of nuts to me I know so and the reason I think it’s interesting is I’m thinking maybe there is a move or

Two that we’re not thinking the bills would actually do yeah but how I don’t know I don’t know how you justify it right it just doesn’t make justify it because you get cap relief you’re paying for a player not on your roster dead money I mean you’re not paying you’ve

Already done that but you do it because you actually have more money to spend than you would yeah I just that’s I know kind of that’s it’s I mean I understand there are certain situations where but for this one I’m not saying that this is what he suggested either Buffalo Williams like Dawson

Knox you’re a better team with jwon Knox on your team you are not happy with how much he is getting paid he’s overpaid for sure but figure that out next year when it goes for it’s a third next year the dead cap hit right and you especially right now Dalton K Kate is

Still a young player you want to have a little bit of depth there I know I’m like justifying it more than I should be but I don’t see anything because there’s a couple different people who talk about um Dawson Knox I just I don’t see anything happening with him I agree with

You I don’t think so and the bills he’s he they’ve identified him as one of their kind of core players they they they have guys for a lot of different reasons you know on outside of football that’s not the only reason but he’s a guy that they trust and know and in

Their locker room and yeah I mean they wanted to go to this 12 Personnel they’ve run that by way then what would happen I mean I mean I do like Quinton Morris but if some were happen at dton concade you know then you you go from a really strength that you’re a position

Of tight end to nothing not really anything good but you have dawon KNOX that’s a little bit different all right um all right go ahead yeah I was gonna say do you want to get to our moves that we would make set it up all right so we are going to do three

Moves general manager s capacho and assistant general manager Matt Bo are now taking over Brandon is going on a golf trip we are going to become the front office for the bills for a week a couple days however long he lets us go and do this we’re breaking the ch making

Media on the team plane sits in first class all right I like that move I like that move the first move that I’m making is the I don’t know the the media golf tournament moves to peble beach this year that’s the move that I’m doing okay

We’re doing three moves a move we expect a move we would like to see and an under the radar move we could see the bills making okay so it’s kind of like yeah this one makes sense I’m expecting this the other one is O I really think the

Bill should be want to get super like wild like come on that’s just not gonna happen let’s keep it right we want to kind of keep it keep it we’re not saying hey the bills are gonna go sign Chris Jones to a100 million like we’re not

Doing that and then the last one is a move that would be under the radar now okay I’m going to say because there’s a lot of layers to this we are assuming here that the the cap will work they will make this work within the cap I’m

Not going to tell you this player is going to sign in in order for them to make it sign they’re going to get rid of this guy they’re going to trade this guy they’re not bringing back XYZ whatever we’re just going to say these are the moves and I have like little fake

Contracts written out so you can do that too or you can just tell me the player um what do you mean you want me to start here I’ll I’ll I’ll start yeah you go ahead go ahead a move we expect a move I expect is dayquon Jones coming

Back I have dayquon Jones coming back two years $12 million based off of his different evaluation that I’ve seen on over the cap and on spot track that’s pretty in line with where they think his next contract will be I’m giving Buffalo a little bit of a benefit of the doubt

Because there’s familiarity there given his age I wouldn’t feel more super comfortable going anything over two years now you could add a void year onto the end of it to try and make the cap work a little bit more in your favor but still I would say a pretty simple

Twoyear 122 million deal for dayquon Jones I think that he immediately is your starting defensive tackle next to Ed Oliver he’s a really well-liked guy in the building he is somebody who they are a better team when he’s on the field and they really missed him when he was

Injured this year and honestly the injury this year kind of made it more affordable and realistic that he returned okay I like it now I could be very very easy loow hanging fruit here and say move I expect they’re gonna rework Josh Allen’s contract they move a

His signing bonus his base salary to a signing bonus because I do think that’s going to happen but I’ll go with something that’s not as um prevalent to everyone I expect one of rosu Douglas or Dion Dawkins to have their contract reworked and maybe even get an extension

They both have voyers left in their deal although the voyers from uh rasul Douglas came over from Green Bay and with his contract but they’re both going into the last year their contract both are on high base salaries and they’re both guys who can still play at 30 31

Years old respectively and I think the would love to keep them around I think you could solve a couple of problems so I expect one of those players something to happen with their contract but it wouldn’t be bad like they’re not like they’re still going to be in Buffalo

Obviously yeah no I think that there’s going to be a lot of maneuvering that gets done over the course of the next two weeks just so they can give themselves space do you know off the top of your head what the Josh alen restructure gives them like how much cap

Space does that free up assuming that is going that’s about 20 okay so with the nahim Hines move with the alen restructure and with what happened a week ago uh they did something that cleared up a couple million dollars like last week McGovern okay so at that point

They’re probably what 10 or 15 over still um probably yes that’s right and then what and then yeah there’s a lot of different things that they could do all right I went first on move we can expect so you get to go first on move we would

Like to see just in case we have the same one and I need to Pivot okay move I’d like to see is them resigning cam Lewis you know me I’m a cam Lewis St cam Le I just I think move I’d like to see is just not only resign him but you’ll

Be open to the fact that he might be able to start at safety I don’t need that I don’t need him to start at safety that’s fine if you get two other starting safeties and he can go back to his role I think cam Lewis is just super

Important and I don’t think he’s G to be that costly I’d like to see them resign Sam Cam Lewis all right same position but I am going way more aggressive with my move I would like them to see and it’s actually something that I believe Nico brought up when he was talking

About players I really like the idea of Jeremy chin for the bills okay I feel like Jeremy I feel like Jeremy chin could be their one kind of big signing and then everything else they really handle in the draft and they handle with more depth guys now the interesting

Thing about Jeremy chin is he’s coming off of an injury and the evaluations for him are all over the place like he could get a ton of money and he could get not that much and I don’t know where he falls right like Kyle Dugger has a

Valuation of like6 a half million the bills there’s no way the bills can pay a safety6 a half million and I think that Kyle Dugger would be a really good fit but over the cap has him at about $5 million which seems low like I would have thought before I looked at that

That Jeremy chin would get paid more money so let’s say for the sake of the conversation it’s a threeyear $27 million deal or or like something in that ballpark I know it’s a lot of money but he is an athlete who I think would thrive on this defense with the

Versatility that he has the skill set that he has he’s still only 26 years old I know that a couple episodes ago on this podcast I told you that it’s all about the offense and that they need to go all in at wide receiver and I still

Really do believe that but the safety position in Shawn mcc’s defense means more it does in some other systems and that’s why if you’re going to turn the page from pyer and Hyde I really like the idea of Jeremy chip I love it I would I would be very open to that um

The move I gave wasn’t sexy so I’ll even expand and say other moves that I would like to see I’d like to see them sign at least one of Darnell Mooney or Curtis Samuel I’ll go there I think either one of them would be a nice fit for the

Bills on their offense so we’re going a little bit off the board that’d be a move that I’d like to see I think think that you can get maybe one of them for a little cheaper deal than like some of these wide receiver contracts seem to be

Exploding and I think both would be a fit in the offense yeah I think hertis I well I think both of them would be very good I was looking at a couple different things from PFF and they actually had Darnell money is I think their second highest rated free agent receiver

Available and I think that he’s probably going to get paid I think Curtis Samuel will get a little bit more money too Curtis Samuel on the bills would be a very fun op I just think of even watching him I think week three against the commanders early in the year and he

Just had a beautiful play where he was you know right down the sideline beat uh Christian Benford in coverage had a really nice catch it was one of their most explosive plays that they made all day the other name that I like as far as wide receivers are concerned how do you

Feel about Kendrick Bourne even though he’s coming off an ACL injury I I’ve brought him up many times I think I brought him up maybe a month ago here and I think the ACL though is the tough thing about it you don’t know where he

Is but I’m a Kendrick Bourne fan I think Kendrick Bourne is a is a good player I think he’d fit he’d fit in the locker room Evan Lazar who covers the Patriots I had him on wgr asked him specifically about Kendrick Bourne he said he’s one

Of these guys you love having around he makes everybody better he’s just a great locker room guy uh and I and I think that if he’s if he’s recovered if he’s healthy you get him a clean bill of health I think I like Kendrick Bourne yeah I think that there’s I think this

Is not the move that would be under the radar we got one more I like I’m anticipating at this point Trent sherfield comes back I think it’s going to be a very Baseline league minimum deal that Trent sherfield comes back but I don’t think it’s a guarantee that he’s

On the team I don’t know about Deontay Hardy I’m very confident that they draft a guy but even with all of those things said like they still need they were at their best when they had Stefon Diggs Emanuel Sanders Cole Beasley John Brown gab like they were loaded wide receiver

I do not think that they can get away with just bringing back the guys they have and replacing Gabe Davis with a rookie I think they need to get another guy and that’s why those players like Kendrick Bourne like Curtis Samuel I’m almost anticipating that they do

Something like that I just don’t know who it’ll be because I don’t think you can just be comfortable with Trent sherfield as your third fourth or fifth best wide receiver next year I I think that’s a guy who needs to fight for a job and not just be guaranteed

One what’s your under the radar move Ezekiel Elliott running back oh New England Patriots I’d be surprised what do you think his market value is $3 million that it it’s like two and a half between two and a half and three so I think when you say his name you get

The reaction like you just did but to me Ezekiel Elliott is basically this year’s version of Damen Harris but I think better I think Ezekiel Elliott is a really good pass protector so you don’t have to do the latavius Murray thing again you just have Ezekiel Elliott I

Still think that he can play and I also think that he’s over the course of his career shown that he’s a very effective short yardage back so while for Fantasy owners having Josh alen get 15 rushing touchdowns a year is fantastic the bills probably want to avoid that if they can

So that’s why I really like the I know it’s not super sexy but I think Ezekiel Elliott and excuse me and James Cook could be a very nice one-two punch I love the the the the theme the name Ezekiel just for that I don’t love

The move I wouldn’t do it I but you never know but I’m gonna stay there I got I got a couple Under The Radars okay one’s kind of a positive one’s a negative all right I’m gonna stay at the same position under the radar Zack Moss whoa

Really what he’s he had a nice year last year he knows the bills they know him he’s not gonna break the bank they just got rid of Naim Hines the guy they traded him for yeah like I mean like what what what’s what do you mean oh

Really I don’t know like why would you be so stunned I guess I wouldn’t be stunned I just always wonder bringing somebody back who you moved on from because I think Zach Moss like Zach Moss was pretty good like he was a roster player in fantasy football this year and

A lot of people know who he is because of the games that he had while Jonathan Taylor wasn’t available I think that there’s going to be a team that gives him like a decent contract and if he’s getting a decent contract then I don’t think the Bills should be in on that

100% right I just don’t think he’s going to get that much he ran for 794 yards last year very nice year but he tailed off he was hot right away but he tailed off I agree with that Matt I don’t think who gets more money Zach Moss or Ezekiel

Elliott that’s my point I think if you’re gonna go Ezekiel Elliott I don’t think Zack Moss gets much more than that oh see I’m thinking because of his age that Zeke or that Zach Moss does get more than that he might he might Mike Clay by the way who does a really good

Job on um at at Mike Kay NFL he actually has Ezekiel Elliott listed ahead of Zack moss on his free agent running back chart you know who’s in the middle of those two Devin single ter yeah he’s got he’s got Barkley Jacobs Eckler Derk Henry DeAndre Swift Tony Pard Antonio

Gibson Dobson then Dobson then Elliot single ter moss in that order I like Antonio Gibson too I think that he’s probably a little bit too expensive yeah but I think he’s gonna get a little bit of a bigger deal the the the running back class if you need a running back

There’s a lot oft options for you out there it’s just I I don’t know I’m I’m not somebody who thinks they need to go spend a bunch I would be totally fine if their running backs next year where James Cook Tai Johnson and some other replace like Damen Harris comes back or

Something like I would be totally fine with that and movie you’d like to see I would even put Tai Johnson in that category all right the other under the radar like I said a negative you know you want to talk about trimming money I I I could see a world the scenario where

Ryan Bates is cut Ryan Bates going to cost this team over $5 million he played like very very very little last year because he’s an he’s a backup at a lot of positions it’s a catch 22 Matt I love Ryan Bates for his versatility the bills love Ryan Bates for his versatility but

It’s it would it’s gonna save him a lot of money he’s 5.44 million this year on the cap for 35 total snaps last year can you just live with that in your cap situation if the guys is not going to play I don’t know and I’ll even throw another name Tommy Doyle unfortunately

You could save like 1.3 on Tommy Doyle I just wonder if the bills go down that road given what they have an offensive line and I’ll throw this out they love Alec Anderson and Ryan vanderark and they’re both very cheap so do you ever play roulette or anything like when you

Go to a casino do you ever play roulette oh I’m glad you said when you go to a casino um yeah sure okay so you know how when you go to a casino and you’re sit there and you’re watching the ball go and it his hit like black six times in a row

And in the back of your head you’re always like well eventually it’s going to hit red I feel a little bit like that with the Bills offensive line of last year they were so healthy that eventually there’s going to be an injury and you’re I’m almost banking on an

Injury just because they were so healthy because it’s easy to say they’ll never be that healthy again because they probably won’t be and that’s why the idea of having Ryan Bates around is a really nice luxury because okay you need somebody to step in luxury right but

It’s a luxury and a team that is very very pressed for salary cap space I know no I I don’t disagree with anything that you said I just think that having a very good sixth guy is maybe as important as some other position that you might be

Able to go out and address I agree with you I just want to throw it out there that this team needs to save money somehow they need to go to the cap it might be painful to do it but I would not doubt if either one of those guys

Something would to happen there what would you what would you rather have would you rather have Ryan Bates still on the team or have to let him walk and bring back Tyrell Dodson um because that’s about the money I’d rather have Ryan Bates becau because I’m I’m more comfortable in my depth

With Dorian William with Matt Milano coming back healthy Dorian Williams Bayon Spectre I think those guys can do the job as much as I think Tyrell datson did a very nice job those guys I’m comfortable that’s because that’s kind of like the money the money that you

Would save by getting Ryan get a rning red of getting rid of Ryan Bates would be around what Tyrell Dodson probably gets on the open market now if AJ Essa is that person then I change my answer I say AJ Essa is more valuable in that rotation I was just looking at his

Market value and it’s about five and a half million dollars which seems low to me like I could see AJ epinesa going on the market and getting seven eight million dollars a year because of his age and just because he’s a really solid football player but at $5.6 million

That’s a name that I’ve kind of moved on in my head but if that’s the cap number I wonder if the bills try and get him back because he’s a good player agreed no I agree with that I the the you know Matt you know what’s really nice is as

Good as the wide receiver class is so is the offensive line class and the reason I say that’s nice because the don’t need an offensive lineman and you’re going to get a lot of them going in the first round and because they are so they were

So healthy and they were good last year that’s a nice thing because now it pushes wide receivers down a little bit because this is a good offensive line group you’d hate to see them lose anyone but I’m also telling you they’re very high in Alec Anderson they’re very high

On ronne Ryan vmark Alec Anderson is kind of like Ryan Bates he plays everything and he’s only gonna cost a million dollars next year yeah for sure they both those guys offensive line is maybe one of the trickier ones to predict but going through training camp

Last year it was very apparent pretty Su like pretty early in the camp that they really liked both of those guys like they beat out a couple more veteran players but it was obvious that they felt like those guys have a future on this team and I don’t think that they’re

Just depth players like I wonder as they get a little bit older if those guys start to end up you know eventually kind of take over for the problem isar could take over for Spencer Brown in a year we don’t know that that’s right yeah I shouldn’t say as they get older because

The majority of their line is is fairly young the other the only thing about Ryan Bates though is do you move on from Ryan bats with Mitch Morris only having won your left onon of Steal again I think if you’re comfortable with Alec Anderson you might Alec Anderson can play

Center good for the bills yeah they have a lot of Versatility there I mean it’s a it’s a it’s a good problem to have but unfortunately there might not be a chair standing for somebody who normally would and you know then may maybe Brandon Bean swings a deal during the during the

Offseason at some point for one of these guys but they got to get under the cap uh at some point all right um anything else any meatly we left in the bone here no I don’t think so um I this is this week is going to

Be I don’t want to say quiet but quieter and then obviously next week once the legal tampering starts on Monday that’s when you know things will start to get wild oh let me ask you this as we close out would you bring back Lindy Ruff

In the front office yes but not as a coach I would not replace Don with Lindy Ruff no I think I might actually I don’t know I it’s not gonna happen Don Granado is gonna be the coach for the remainder of this season and for probably I don’t

Know what Lindy Ruff does differently than Don Granado considering that like he’s I me he did a nice job in New Jersey last year but they’re also underachieving this year and I just don’t know if today’s game is suit is is what’s suited for Lindy anymore I mean

They were unbelievable last year the devil they won a playoff series here’s my question this isn’t meant to be like they’re out of a playoff spot this year yeah they I love I think we romanticized the former players and the former people here am I’m almost anti-d doing that for

The sake of just happens way too often it’s like oh let’s bring back Ted Nolan or like Marv leevy is the G like cut it out like those guys were replaced for a reason here’s the thing my point about Lindy Ruff could it be worse and and I I don’t know

If it could like this team is the Sabres this year have underachieved so much I don’t know if it could be like Lindy Ruff over the course of his time in New Jersey had 890 save percentage from his goenda like if he had Uka pekcan in New Jersey right now they’re probably

Comfortably in a playoff spot so I don’t know I just feel like he’s a little bit of a scapegoat out there and the Sabres have underachieved big time it’s not going to happen I would love to see l in the organization and I wouldn’t doubt at some point that they

Even do that because I think Terry Pula has a great affinity for Lindy Ru and that’s great I would not I think they need something different than what they’ve had if they’re gonna move on from Don Granado I don’t know what that is but it’s not Lindy Ruff that’s

Something they had before it’s not somebody else they had before it’s not H guy because he was in the organization um but I would love to see him you know in the blue and gold and I guess black and red at some point as well all right

Thanks a lot for tuning in wherever you po we always appreciate it always on the south Sports YouTube channel as well Matt and I will touch base again with you free agency the draft it’s all coming up here and it’s always game day in Buffalo