February 26, 2008 – Buffalo Bills Review

Entering The Free Agent Waters

Last year the Bills showed no hesitation whatsoever in delving into the free agent market. In fact, I believe they signed their first free agent at midnight of the first day. The other two free agents they inked were signed by noon the next day. At the latest. The Bills knew who they wanted, and they made sure they got them.

The offensive linemen signed turned out to be pretty productive for the Bills, but some still question the amount they were signed for. Giving up such large chunks of money for what many labeled “mediocre” linemen was not what Bills fans expected from their team who was sporting one of the largest salary cap margins going into the free agent season.

This year, I really have no idea what to expect. I have said on our show that I believe the Bills will pursue Ernest Wilford from the Jaguars. He’s a tall, strong, decent wide receiver who can help in the red zone as a possession guy. Another free agent I’d like to see the Bills pursue is Alge Crumpler, formerly starting TE for the Falcons. This guy was a pro bowler not too long ago, and with the Bills sorely lacking at the tight end position, seems like Crumpler could make an impact right away, which wis what you want from a free agent singing.

The Bills tend to build through the draft but I would expect them to go after the two players mentioned above, as well as perhaps a veteran DL, LB, and maybe even QB. (Depending on what they are trying to do with JP Losman.)

There are some current Bills players who might test the free agent market. Among the Bills with no contracts are Anthony Hargrove, Michael Gaines, Sam Aiken, Mario Haggan, Ryan Neufeld, Josh Stamer, and then restricted free agents Jim Leonhard and Jason Jefferson. Not a lot of big names. They will probably re-sign a lot of these guys. There are a few players who, due to injury, didn’t really get to play at all last season – which was their first as a Bill – including Jason Whittle, Jason Webster, and Al Wallace. The least likely to return might be Anthony Hargrove, due to his off-field issues.

It’s open season starting this Friday, February 29th! We’ll see who our new Bills will be.

It’s that time of year again, in fact this year it’s one week of craziness in my two favorite sports.

On the one hand, the NHL has set tomorrow at 3pm as the deadline to deal players. A couple trades have already occurred, more will come tomorrow. The NHL is pretty good at keeping things fresh, to be sure. People get caught up in the frenzy of the deadline as Sabres’ GM Darcy Regier says above.

The main name on the board for the Sabres is all-star defenseman Brian Campbell. (Note: had my sister have been a boy, that would have been her name!) Campbell is fantastic, and could be a foundational piece for the Sabres for years to come, but for some reason, they have not come to terms on an extension. He’s set to be a free agent come July 1st of this year, so the Sabres are certainly considering a trade in order to get something out of losing him (if he were to choose to leave).

On Friday, we have the other side of things. Free agency begins Friday Feb 29th for the NFL. That means players whose contracts have expired can shop around to the highest bidder. Last season the Bills knew exactly who they wanted, and they got them within half a day of the free agency period starting gun! Will that happen again? Not sure. We had some big name guys who were set to leave last year, not so much this year. And there aren’t a lot of big name players on the market who have generated the press you might expect leading up to such a deadline.

One deadline ends with a frenzy, the other begins with a frenzy. And all in one week!

So, stay tuned, I’ll probably have a report here, and definitely on my Buffalo Bills site.

Share this:

Share this: