It isn’t inconceivable that the Buffalo Bills take a significant step back in 2024, and if that comes to pass, how general manager Brandon Beane has handled free agency may be the beginning of the end of the franchise’s run as a Super Bowl contender.
In fairness to Beane, the Bills entered the offseason with one of the most difficult salary cap positions in the league, and Buffalo deserves high marks for restructuring quarterback Josh Allen‘s contract in order to create some additional spending flexibility in 2024 and future years.
However, the Buffalo Bills are going to be without some stalwarts on both sides of the football that powered this era’s run of sustained postseason success.
Pro Football Focus lists the Buffalo Bills among the biggest losers of free agency, so far.
“The Bills have Josh Allen at quarterback, so they will be fine. But the simple reality is that they have lost a lot of snaps from starters over the last two days without much coming in to replace them.
“The Bills released safety Jordan Poyer, center Mitch Morse and cornerback Tre’Davious White,” Gordon McGuinness writes for PFF. “Who combined to play 2,557 snaps in 2023. Wide receiver Gabe Davis and edge defender Leonard Floyd have already signed elsewhere, and it seems unlikely that safety Micah Hyde will be back, making up another 2,504 lost snaps.
“Being a loser in the opening two days of free agency is not a reason for alarm bells to ring in Buffalo, and they should be contenders again in 2024. It’s just that, on the face of it, 5,000 snaps is a lot of turnover. How they approach the rest of spring and summer will be key.”
How Will Buffalo Bills’ Free Agency Losses Impact AFC East?
The 2023 season showed that the Buffalo Bills’ hold on the AFC East is tenuous, at best.
Miami is coming on strong, the New York Jets should be better in 2024 presuming that Aaron Rodgers returns fully healthy and remotely effective, and even the New England Patriots are a wild card given that they’ll likely be fielding on of the top quarterback prospects in this year’s draft class.
Buffalo is going to need to fill its leadership void and hope that the pieces lost in free agency don’t lead to too many losses on the field.
Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Dion Dawkins attempts to block a Kansas City Chiefs pass rusher.
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2 Comments
You answer your own “question”. Stop writing about football if you don’t want to learn anything about the financial side of the game. If they can’t afford to bring in equal value to replace these guys then they already couldn’t afford to keep these guys. “You’re” using an apple to criticize an orange. Not anyone else.
They were listed as one of the lovers PURELY because they just don’t have the room to make moves in comparison to what some other teams were able to do. It was a big year for players finding new teams. Bigger than recent years.
BEANNE was nuthn, but BRILLIANT, IN his handling of reducing the cap number, failing to let his heart , influence his head,, all were only fringe, guys easily replacedable, and also long in the tooth,, getting cheaper, younger, and hopefully more talented, is only way to move forward in NFL,,, kudos beannie