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Buffalo Bills News & Rumors

AFC Contract Details: Crabtree, Williamson

March 19th, 2018 at 1:42pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are figures on some of the recent contracts signed around the NFL, with all links going to Twitter unless noted otherwise.

Marshall Newhouse To Visit Bills

March 19th, 2018 at 12:19pm CST by Sam Robinson

Following the Bills’ Cordy Glenn trade, the team still has two starting tackles it turned to for parts of last season in regular right tackle Jordan Mills and Glenn fill-in Dion Dawkins. But the Bills are exploring additional solutions here.

Marshall Newhouse is in Buffalo on Monday for a visit, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The Raiders released the veteran tackle last week.

At this point, Newhouse could be a candidate to serve as Buffalo’s swing tackle. However, he’s been given ample opportunity to start despite a career that hasn’t yielded exceptional results. The Raiders became the fourth team to turn to Newhouse as a starter, and he gave Oakland 14 starts at right tackle following the exits of Austin Howard and Menelik Watson.

Newhouse, though, was the weak link on a quality Oakland line. Pro Football Focus graded him as a bottom-third tackle, which was slightly worse than how the site viewed his work on the 2016 Giants. Newhouse started 20 games for the Giants between 2015 and ’16, doing so after being a full-time Packers starter in the early part of this decade and serving as a depth piece in Cincinnati.

The 29-year-old edge blocker has started 70 games in his career, and now that Glenn is a Bengal, Newhouse has the credentials to step in as a No. 3 tackle.

Bills To Host Russell Bodine

March 18th, 2018 at 10:01am CST by Rory Parks

The Bills are set to host free agent center Russell Bodine today and tomorrow, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). Buffalo has a major need at center following Eric Wood‘s retirement.

Bodine, of course, is not an ideal replacement. Although he has started all 64 possible games since entering the league as a fourth-round pick of the Bengals in 2014, he has not been overly effective. In 2017, he graded as a bottom-10 center, per Pro Football Focus.

But he is young, durable, and has significant starting experience. Indeed, the Bengals previously expressed interest in retaining his services, and Cincinnati head coach Marvin Lewis said several months ago, “Russell’s been, physically, mentally a tough football player for us. He was installed there as a rookie and he’s done nothing but continue to grow and get better and frankly grow into a guy you can count on to help lead the football team. I feel really good about him. So hopefully we’ll be able to get that done.”

Bodine did not crack PFR’s original list of top free agent interior lineman, but now that top centers like Ryan Jensen and Weston Richburg have signed with new clubs, Bodine will start to attract more interest. Buffalo also has Ryan Groy on the roster as a potential Wood replacement.

Bills Meet With LB Will Compton

March 17th, 2018 at 8:15pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Bills plan to host free agent linebacker Will Compton, reports John Keim of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Buffalo is seeking to replace Preston Brown, who inked a one-year deal with the Bengals earlier this week. Brown had played nearly every defensive snap for the Bills during his four-year run with the club, so general manager Brandon Beane is now dealing with a massive vacancy at the second level of his defense.

While the Bills signed former Jets linebacker Julian Stanford this week, he’s been primarily a special teams player throughout his career. Buffalo could still re-sign veteran Ramon Humber, but the team’s linebacker depth chart is currently fronted by Lorenzo Alexander, Matt Milano, and Tanner Vallejo.

Compton, for his part, was a regular for the Redskins from 2015-16, but a Lisranc injury ended his 2017 campaign in November. While he’s never earned positive marks from Pro Football Focus, the 28-year-old Compton would add experience to a Bills linebacking corps that desperately needs it. Buffalo has already added one ex-Redskins defender this week by signing Trent Murphy to a three-year pact.

Bills, Broncos, Cowboys Interested In WR Deonte Thompson

March 17th, 2018 at 3:11pm CST by Sam Robinson

Despite being released by a team that possessed arguably the NFL’s worst wideout situation last season, Deonte Thompson is encountering a market for his services. And he’s fielded multiple offers, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.

The former Bears castoff became a key target for the Bills upon signing with Buffalo in October. And the Bills have had discussions with the seventh-year wideout about re-signing him. However, they may be battling some competition. Both the Broncos and Cowboys are interested in the 29-year-old receiver, Garafolo reports.

It’s unclear if the Cowboys or Broncos have made an offer. The Broncos appear to have a bigger need of auxiliary receiving help, though.

Denver has struggled badly in this area since Wes Welker‘s departure, with no non-Demaryius Thomas or Emmanuel Sanders wideout surpassing 350 yards in any of the past three seasons. The Broncos non-tendered then-RFA Bennie Fowler, whose 350 yards were by far the most by a Denver WR3 from 2015-17, this week and saw underwhelming supplementary target Cody Latimer become a free agent.

The Cowboys have not made any Dez Bryant move and also have Terrance Williams, Cole Beasley and Ryan Switzer on their roster. Barring a Bryant decision, Dallas would seemingly have less need for Thompson than the Broncos or Bills, who saw Jordan Matthews‘ contract expire. Buffalo still has Kelvin Benjamin, Zay Jones and Andre Holmes under contract for 2018.

Thompson caught 38 passes for 555 yards with the Bears and Bills last season — by far a career high — and 430 of those air yards came after he caught on in Buffalo.

Bills Notes: McCarron, Draft, Free Agency

March 16th, 2018 at 10:54pm CST by Micah Powell

After trading Tyrod Taylor to the Browns before free agency opened, the Bills suddenly had a need for a starting quarterback. They filled that void with Bengals backup A.J. McCarron, who was among the last signal-callers remaining after the deals of Case Keenum, Kirk Cousins and Teddy Bridgewater.

Though McCarron is a relative unknown as a starter, the MMQB’s Albert Breer believes it was a great deal for the Bills (via Twitter). Breer notes that McCarron’s contract — $5MM base salary in 2018 with $2MM in incentives — helps save the team between $9-11MM. Not only did the team save considerable coin, it also picked up the No. 65 pick, which can be used to move up in the NFL Draft in search of the team’s quarterback of the future.

It’s hard to disagree with Breer. The team and Taylor were on the outs, and the fact that the team landed a presumably solid starter, save money and acquire draft capital in the process can only be viewed as a win.

Here’s more with the Bills:

Bills Notes post (bulleted)

  • Bills general manager Brandon Beane said they are now in the range of Top 15 prospects, and “it’s not necessarily quarterback,” ESPN’s Mike Rodak tweets. Though the team could definitely stand to upgrade at multiple positions, it’s had to see the team passing on one of the top quarterbacks should they fall.
  • With all the team’s assets, the general consensus is that the team will attempt to move up in the draft. That fact is not lost on Beane, who said via WKBW’s Joe Buscaglia (Twitter link): “Everybody assumes that we’re going to go higher [in the draft]… I don’t know that yet.” It’s not surprising that he doesn’t know that yet, seeing how the draft is still over a month away. But all the signs still point to some kind of move.
  • One thing is for sure, the team will not be adding many more impact free agents. From Rodak (via Twitter), Beane said, “We’re very low on money. We can do some lower-level things, but nothing that’s going to hit the ticker.” If they want impact players, the Bills will more than likely have to address it in April.

Raiders Sign CB Shareece Wright

March 16th, 2018 at 4:16pm CST by Zachary Links

The Raiders have signed Shareece Wright to a one-year deal. The cornerback personally announced the news on his Instagram account and the deal has been confirmed by Michael Gehlken of the Review Journal (on Twitter). 

Wright will serve as cornerback depth in Oakland. There, he’ll reunite with safety Marcus Gilchrist, who signed with the Raiders this week. Both players were in the same Chargers draft class in 2011 and spent four years together.

Wright appeared in 12 games for the Bills last season and started in five of those contests. He finished out with 42 tackles, one interception, and five passes defensed.

Bengals Sign LB Preston Brown

March 16th, 2018 at 11:16am CST by Zachary Links

The Bengals have signed linebacker Preston Brown, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). It’s a one-year deal for the Cincinnati native. 

Brown was hoping to re-sign with the Bills on a multi-year deal, Jim Owczarski of the Enquirer writes, but that never materialized. Earlier this month, we heard that the Patriots had interest in Brown, but it’s not clear if that ever came close to happening.

Brown, 26 in October, led the league in tackles in 2017 while playing the third-most defensive snaps (1,180) of any linebacker in the NFL. The former third-round pick has started nearly every possible game (62 of 64) during his four-year career and has never missed a contest due to injury. I had Brown ranked as one of the 50 best free agents available heading into this week.

Brown projects to start at middle linebacker, which will allow Vontaze Burfict to remain at outside linebacker.

The Bengals haven’t had the flashiest offseason in the NFL, but they’ve made some moves of note. This week, they traded for Bills left tackle Cordy Glenn and re-signed tight end Tyler Eifert.

[RELATED: Bengals Depth Chart]

Bills Re-Sign Taiwan Jones, Travaris Cadet

March 16th, 2018 at 8:34am CST by Zachary Links

The Bills announced that they have re-signed a pair of running backs. Taiwan Jones and Travaris Cadet are both ticketed to return for 2018. 

With both players back in the fold, the Bills currently have six running backs under contract. Needless to say, not all of them will be on the team in September. They will, however, duke it out between now and final cuts.

LeSean McCoy, coming off of his fifth consecutive Pro Bowl appearance, will be the primary ball carrier for his fourth season in Buffalo. As of this writing, new free agent pickup Chris Ivory figures to serve as his primary backup, as shown on Roster Resource. Marcus Murphy and Aaron Green are also in the mix and the Bills could still look to add to the RB group in April’s draft.

In other Bills news, offensive lineman Richie Incognito reworked his contract on Thursday, allowing him to stay with the team.

Contract Details: Lotulelei, Bradham, Lewis

March 15th, 2018 at 8:49pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Let’s take a look at the details from the latest contracts signed in the NFL:

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