Buffalo Bills: Salary Cap Space, Free Agent Talk and More

Oct 16, 2016; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills linebacker Lorenzo Alexander (57) hits San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) causing a fumble during the second half at New Era Field. Buffalo beat San Francisco 45-16. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

The Buffalo Bills have an NFL-leading 24 players hitting the free agency market this offseason. We won’t bring all of them back.

According to Spotrac, the Buffalo Bills will only have 36 players signed next season, meaning the Bills are due for another very important offseason. With 24 players hitting the free agency market this year, Buffalo has a lot of holes to fill.

Obviously, some of those players will return and suit up in Red, White and Blue next season. However, we will have to say goodbye to a number of them and some of them will be hard to grip.

Let’s look at some numbers first — you know how much I like numbers. All numbers come from Spotrac.

As of right now, the Bills have 53 players signed to their roster — which is pretty common in the NFL. Only six teams have a different number: Tennessee Titans (52), New England Patriots (52), Cincinnati Bengals (52), Los Angeles Rams (52), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (54) and Kansas City Chiefs (54).

We currently have the 16th oldest team in the league (and the 17th youngest) with an average age of 26.4 years. Our $52.42 million spent on our offense is the 11th lowest in the league and our $55.87 million spent on the defense is the 16th most in the league. We have $18.25 million in dead cap and currently have $5 million in cap space — which is the 9th lowest total in the league.

Let’s move on to this offseason. At the start of the offseason, the Buffalo Bills will have roughly $32 million in cap space — noting that the NFL Salary Cap will be around $166-$170 million next season. That’s a big jump from last season, which will help the Bills a lot. Not to mention the roughly $5 million in rollover to bring our adjusted salary cap to around $173 million.

Buffalo’s 7 highest paid athletes will combine for a cap hit of $83.2 million. Those players are: Marcell Dareus ($16.4 million), Tyrod Taylor ($15.9 million), Cordy Glenn ($14.2 million), Jerry Hughes ($10.5 million), Charles Clay ($9 million), LeSean McCoy ($8.9 million) and Kyle Williams ($8.3 million).

The Bills will have a cap total of about $141 million before the offseason begins, which is where that $32 million in cap space comes from. It’s important to note that the $141 million includes Tyrod Taylor ($15.9 million cap hit), Aaron Williams ($6.625 million cap hit) and Marcus Easley ($1.9 million cap hit). If we don’t bring those three back, we would gain roughly $24 million more in cap space.

Alright, now we’re ready to dive into the Buffalo Bills‘ free agents this offseason and who we should think about bringing back next year.

Aug 13, 2016; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills tight end Chris Gragg (89) against the Indianapolis Colts at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

With at least 24 players hitting the free agency, the Buffalo Bills will have their work cut out for them this offseason.

I am going to go through every player that could potentially play for a different team next year and will start with the player with the highest average annual value (AAV) — ending with the player that has the lowest.

Keep in mind, the AAV isn’t what we would need to spend to keep them in Buffalo Bills. Instead, it’s the average of how much that player has earned each year up to this point. A lot of the players on this list are deserving of larger contracts, making it tricky to bring a lot of them back.

The AAV will be in parenthesis.

Unrestricted Free Agents

A player whose contract has expired and has four or more tenured years in the league. He may sign with any other team with no restrictions. If a team loses more UFAs than it signs, they will be awarded “Compensatory Draft Picks” from the league. The value of the pick is determined by the difference of the contracts signed by the players lost and those acquired. If a team has signed an equal number or more UFAs than it has lost, no “Compensatory Picks” will be awarded.

Restricted Free Agents

A player whose contract has expired and has fewer than four tenured years in the league. He may sign an “Offer Sheet” with any other team, but his original team has seven days to match any offer he receives. If the original team does not match the offer, compensation will be awarded in the form of draft picks from the signing team. The round and quantity of picks are determined by the “Qualifying Offer” made by the player’s original team. If a RFA is tendered a minimum qualifying offer the compensation is the equivalent of the round in which that player was originally selected. If that player was originally a rookie free agent, no compensation is awarded.

Exclusive Restricted Free Agents

A player whose contract has expired and has three or fewer tenured years in the league. His original team must make a contract offer by the league imposed deadline or the player becomes an unrestricted free agent. No compensation is awarded for losing EFAs.

That does it for all of our free agents this offseason. Now the most important question, who should we bring back next year?

Oct 16, 2016; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills fullback Jerome Felton (42) against the San Francisco 49ers at New Era Field. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

We will all have a different opinion on who the Buffalo Bills should bring back next season. Here are my thoughts.

Well, let’s start off with the man pictured above — Jerome Felton.

Felton has been a big part of this offense and a big reason the Buffalo Bills currently have the best rushing attack in the NFL. It’s not because of his production running with the ball, but instead due to his immense blocking. Along with Charles Clay, Felton has provided top-of-the-line blocking at a position that doesn’t get utilized all that much. He also added 12 yards rushing and 43 yards receiving this year.

Jerome Felton won’t be very expensive and should be a priority this offseason. If not, our running game will take a hit next season.

Next up is defensive tackle Corbin Bryant, who has only played in 8 of our 14 games this year due to injury. He hasn’t played since Week 8 vs. New England, but was a big part of the defensive line that helped the Bills to a 4-game win streak earlier in the season when Marcell Dareus was out with a suspension.

If healthy, Bryant can help give Kyle Williams some rest on the sidelines. A healthy Bryant means a rested Williams and given Kyle’s age, that is necessary.

I think Justin Hunter proved to have good chemistry with Tyrod Taylor this season, despite not being utilized a lot. I think given a bigger opportunity, Hunter can be a complimentary receiver for the Bills. His 4 touchdowns off just 9 receptions this year are admirable, but he was also targeted 22 times — which means there were 13 missed opportunities to his 9 catches.

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Alright, this one should be very obvious. Zach Brown needs to come back next season. Not only does he lead the team with 130 combined tackles, but he ranks third in the league with that number. He finds the ball very well and can tackle anyone all over the field. He’s an animal and his Pro Bowl snub is definitely questionable.

Like Z. Brown, who was signed as a free agent last year, Lorenzo Alexander needs to return next year as well. They will both be due a larger contract, but it’s clear that it’s deserving and easily something Buffalo Bills shouldn’t hesitate to finalize. He has totaled 11.5 sacks this season, but his 8.0 sacks in wins (vs. just 3.5 sacks in losses) show that when he is playing well, so is the rest of the team.

Another veteran that should make a return next season, although he’s more of a depth player, is Leger Douzable. I liked what I’ve seen from him when he has played. Through 14 games, he has tallied 32 tackles, 1.5 sacks and one stuff. His biggest contributions came with Dareus out, but his 409 total defensive snaps this season shows that he can be relied on.

Brandon Tate needs to be signed long term so that we know we have a capable returner moving forward. He’s one of the biggest threats at the position and can also be dangerous on offense — he had a 30-yard run on an end-around vs. the Browns. A wide-receiver, he can also add depth to a position that is always held back by injuries.

To me, Chris Gragg needs to be a priority. We know Charles Clay can be a force to be reckoned with, but he just hasn’t been consistent in the passing game. Plus, it seems the Bills are more focused on using him as a blocker on a consistent basis. Having Gragg working behind him would give us added targets on offense, which will open up Clay more. Remember Gragg’s touchdown in the preseason vs. the Colts? We could see a lot of those next season.

Plus, Chris Gragg is only 26 years young.

We should also make a big effort to lock Mike Gillislee in with a nice contract. He has definitely earned it by being a big part of the Bills’ top rushing attack in the league. He can easily be a starting running back in this league, meaning we might have to match an offer sheet. It would be a smart move, though. He’s a talented back.

Also, we can’t go wrong with signing Ryan Groy, Dezmin Lewis and Colton Schmidt if we can’t find a better punter.

To conclude, I think if we have the money, we definitely should sign Stephon Gilmore and Robert Woods. Both will be looking for bigger contracts, so that might be tough. However, they are both very talented and can help put this team in a position to make the playoffs.

As for Tyrod Taylor, I want to see him in Buffalo next season. It’ll amount to an almost $16 million cap hit, but I don’t think we have a better option. Plus, if Aaron Williams decides to retire and we get rid of Marcus Easley, we will gain close to $9 million in cap space.

Obviously, we will end up signing back players I didn’t mention and end up letting others walk that I might’ve liked to see. At the end of the day, these are some of the players I think we should make a priority this offseason.

Which players would you like to see the Buffalo Bills bring back next season?