Buffalo Bills Rumors & News - Pro Football Rumors

FA Rumors: Charles, Hightower, Cutler, Bills

March 9th, 2017 at 2:53pm CST by Zachary Links

The latest free agency rumors from around the league:

Jamaal Charles will visit the Seahawks next week, a source tells Mike Florio of PFT. The Seahawks’ interest in Charles was first reported on Thursday morning. If he signs with Seattle, he’ll join Thomas Rawls and C.J. Prosise on the RB depth chart.
A Dont’a Hightower/Patriots re-up remains on the table, with Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reporting (on Twitter) the parties remain in good communication about keeping Hightower in New England.
The Jets‘ interest in Jay Cutler is being reciprocated by the veteran quarterback, Rapoport notes (on Twitter). The Bears released Cutler today after eight seasons.
Malcolm Smith will receive a raise from the 49ers after his two years with the Raiders. Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets it’s a five-year, $26.5MM deal for the outside ‘backer, with $13MM guaranteed. This $5.3MM-AAV pact represents quite the bump from his $3.5MM deal in Oakland, one that didn’t come with rave reviews from the advanced metrics community.
The Bills remain interested in retaining Lorenzo Alexander, Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News tweets. The sides are continuing to work at completing a deal for the edge defender. Although the Bills are moving to a 4-3 scheme, Alexander — who thrived as a 3-4 outside ‘backer in the form of 12.5 sacks in 2016 — looks to still be part of their plans.
It sounds like the Bills and Lions are in the lead for wide receiver Russell Shepard (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler). He could still wind up returning to the Buccaneers.

Sam Robinson contributed to this report.

Contract Details: Jones, Taylor, Branch, D-Jax, Bitonio, Davis

March 9th, 2017 at 1:16pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here’s the latest on some of the latest contracts agreed to this week.

Chandler Jones‘ five-year Cardinals extension will pay him $16.5MM per year, Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com tweets. Jones will make $53MM in guaranteed money from his second NFL contract, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports adds (on Twitter).
Tyrod Taylor‘s restructured Bills deal is a two-year, $30.5MM pact, La Canfora reports (on Twitter), adding that the rest of it voids after 2018. Taylor will make $15.5MM in guarantees as a result of the re-done pact and $14.5MM in 2017. La Canfora adds the quarterback stands to collect $16MM in ’18.
Andre Branch‘s three-year Dolphins deal is worth $24MM, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe reports (on Twitter). Volin adds the contract includes two fully guaranteed years– at $17MM — for the 27-year-old pass-rusher. Volin adds that Branch could see $3.75MM more via incentives. Branch will receive a $6MM signing bonus, make $2.9MM in base salary in 2017, $7.9MM in ’18 and $6.9MM in ’19, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter).
DeSean Jackson‘s Buccaneers pact will be worth approximately $11MM per year, Jenna Laine of ESPN.com reports.
Joel Bitonio‘s five-year Browns extension will pay out $47.5MM in base salary, Nate Ulrich of Ohio.com tweets, adding $23MM in guarantees are included. The new deal kicks in after Bitonio’s 2017 season, so he’s under contract in Cleveland through 2022.
Vernon Davis‘ second Redskins contract will include a $4MM signing bonus and $7.5MM guaranteed, Wilson tweets. His base salaries from 2017-19, respectively, are $2MM, $3.75MM and $4.75MM.
Courtney Upshaw re-signing with the Falcons on a one-year deal will result in $1.15MM coming his way in 2017, Wilson tweets. The defender gets a $125K signing bonus and will make $775K in base salary this season.

Extra Points: Bears, Cutler, Bills, Gilmore, Kendricks, Eagles

March 9th, 2017 at 1:01pm CST by Zachary Links

No surprise here, but the Bears tried to trade Jay Cutler before releasing him on Thursday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. After his 2016 struggles, teams were not willing to take on his contract. He’s now a free agent.

Here’s more from around the NFL:.

Bills brass decided well before the 2016 season they wouldn’t pay Stephon Gilmore anything close to the $14MM/year figure he’ll reportedly get from the Patriots, Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News tweets.
There has been no movement on a potential Mychal Kendricks trade for the Eagles, a source tells Jeff McLane of The Philadelphia Inquirer (on Twitter). He’ll see his $4.35MM salary guaranteed if he remains on the roster on Saturday.
The Falcons had talks about defensive tackle Terrell McClain, according to source who spoke with Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com (on Twitter). However, McClain will be joining up with Washington on a multi-year deal.
The Eagles have some interest in bringing back Stefen Wisniewski, Mike Kaye of First Coast News tweets. Wisniewski has the ability to play either guard or center and did well in starts at left guard last season.

Bills To Release Aaron Williams

March 9th, 2017 at 10:27am CST by Sam Robinson

The Bills are set to release Aaron Williams after six seasons, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. This comes a few months after the safety’s season ended due to a neck injury.

This move stands to cost the Bills nearly $5MM in dead money since Williams has two years and some guaranteed money left on the four-year contract he signed to stay in Buffalo. The team will save just $1.775MM by making this move, perhaps illustrating the franchise’s feeling about future Williams contributions. The Bills may designate Williams as a post-June 1 cut to split up the dead money hits. Said move would allow them to save $4.2MM in 2017, but the extra cash wouldn’t be available until June begins.

Williams has incurred consistent neck scares during his career, seeing this type of injury sideline him for most of the 2015 season as well. He played in just 10 games in 2015-16 combined and now faces questions about his future. The 26-year-old Williams started 52 games for the Bills after coming to Buffalo as a second-round pick in 2011.

Bills, Lions Leading Jared Cook Race?

March 9th, 2017 at 9:58am CST by Sam Robinson

As Jared Cook prepares for his third voyage into free agency, he could again have a new home. The Bills and Lions are leading the race for the veteran tight end hours before the official start of 2017 free agency, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo tweets.

Both have shown the most interest in the resurgent pass-catcher, although both have made big investments at tight end in the recent past. The Lions drafted Eric Ebron in the first round in 2014 and have a fifth-year option decision on him coming soon, and the Bills signed Charles Clay to a notable deal in 2015. Cook, though, showed more chops as a receiver than each during the Packers’ stretch run.

The latest coming out of Green Bay did not reveal much progress between the Packers and Cook on a reunion Aaron Rodgers requested after the season. While Cook did not move the needle much with the Rams on his last major free agent signing prior to re-establishing himself in one of the most pass-catcher-friendly offenses in football, he totaled more than 600 receiving yards in both 2013 and ’14 with substandard quarterback situations.

Bills To Sign K Steven Hauschka

March 9th, 2017 at 9:06am CST by Zachary Links

The Bills have a new kicker. Buffalo is expected to sign Steven Hauschka today, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). It’s a four-year deal for the 31-year-old kicker, per ESPN.com.

The Bills dropped Dan Carpenter earlier this month, leaving them with a vacancy. Hauschka spent the past six seasons as the Seahawks’ kicker and has connected on 87 percent of his field goals throughout his nine-year career, one that didn’t stabilize until he ventured to Seattle in 2011.

Hauschka became expendable recently when the Seahawks added Blair Walsh. And a voyage to Buffalo will come after Hauschka struggled with the NFL’s new extra-point rule. He’s missed 10 at the new distance over the past two seasons — including six last year.

Bills To Sign OL Vlad Ducasse

March 8th, 2017 at 7:55pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Bills plan to sign guard Vlad Ducasse to a three-year deal, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com.

Ducasse, a former second-round pick, has bounced around for most of his career, spending time with the Jets, Vikings, and Bears before joining the Ravens last year. Signed as a depth option, Ducasse ended up starting eight games in Baltimore, grading as the league’s No. 59 guard, per Pro Football Focus. All told, the 29-year-old Ducasse has appeared in 88 career games, including 30 starts.

In Buffalo, Ducasse will become a clear-cut backup, as the Bills already boast two above-average guards in Richie Incognito and John Miller, each of whom played more than 1,000 snaps last season. Still, Buffalo can’t have too much offensive line depth as it attempts to recreate its No. 1 DVOA-rated rushing offense. Plus, Ducasse will reunite former Ravens offensive line coach Juan Castillo, who now holds the same role with the Bills.

Bills Prioritizing Lorenzo Alexander Deal

March 8th, 2017 at 6:50pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

On the heels of his stunningly excellent 2016 campaign, the Bills aren’t ready to watch linebacker Lorenzo Alexander depart in free agency. The team is prioritizing re-signing Alexander and “working hard” to lock him up, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.

Alexander settled for a minimum salary benefit deal with the Bills in free agency last spring, when he was a special teams-first journeyman who had racked up only 9.5 sacks in his first nine NFL seasons. But Alexander broke out last season in Buffalo, where he accumulated 76 tackles, 12.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception across 16 starts en route to second-team All-Pro honors and the only Pro Bowl berth of his career.

The first real defensive success of Alexander’s career came under the Bills’ previous head coach, Rex Ryan, whom they fired with a week left in the season. Buffalo has since replaced Ryan with another defensive-minded coach, Sean McDermott, but the team clearly regards Alexander as a player capable of thriving in its new system.

If the Bills prevent Alexander from hitting the market, it would remove yet another quality edge rusher from a thinning class of free agents. PFR’s Dallas Robinson ranks Alexander as the fifth-best rusher available, and the defender’s agent, Peter Schaffer, expects him to garner anywhere from $5MM to $10MM per year on his next deal.

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Bills Pursuing Martellus Bennett
Bills Keep Tyrod Taylor

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Giants, Bills Pursuing Martellus Bennett

March 8th, 2017 at 5:34pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The free agent tight end market is heating up, as the Bills and Giants are pursuing Martellus Bennett, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link), who also confirmed the previously reported interest displayed by the Jaguars. The Titans and Lions are also contacting tight ends , per La Canfora, while the Packers are aiming to retain Jared Cook.

Bennett is reportedly seeking $9MM annually after a 2016 campaign which saw him 701 receiving yards and seven touchdowns for New England. Given that Jack Doyle recently re-signed with the Colts for nearly $7MM per season, Bennett seemingly has every right to ask for $9MM, but a report last month indicated a “real possibility” that Bennett won’t be returning to the Patriots in 2017. Now that New England has acquired Dwayne Allen, Bennett is almost assuredly not returning to the Patriots.

The Giants, meanwhile, are reportedly eyeing all the top tight ends on the free agent market, a list that includes Bennett, Cook, and previously Doyle, and have also expressed interest in Anthony Fasano. The Raiders, too, have been linked to Bennett, who ranks as PFR’s No. 20 overall free agent and No. 1 available tight end.

Bills Keep Tyrod Taylor

March 8th, 2017 at 5:30pm CST by Zachary Links

This is a bit of a surprise, but the Bills will be keeping Tyrod Taylor after all. The team announced that the quarterback will remain in Buffalo on a restructured deal. The new deal will cover five year, and it will become a “year-to-year agreement” following the first two years, per Vic Carrucci of the Buffalo News. Taylor’s cap charge will decrease from $16MM to just under $10MM in 2017, according to Carrucci.

This offseason, the Bills held an option on Taylor worth $27.5MM option, due March 11th. That number was unpalatable for Buffalo management and Taylor’s reps were holding firm, telling the organization that it was an “all or nothing” proposition if they wanted to keep him off the open market. Ultimately, Taylor caved a bit in order to stay put.

Based on recent word out of Buffalo, it seems that top decision makers like GM Doug Whaley, senior VP of football administration Jim Overdorf, and team president Russ Brandon were against bringing Taylor back. However, new head coach Sean McDermott advocated for Taylor’s return, citing a lack of quality options in free agency.

“I’ve gotten a chance to know Tyrod and study him over the past several weeks and he is both a great person and competitor,” McDermott said today (via Carucci on Twitter). “Doug (Whaley) and I are confident this was best move for the Bills at this time.”

After spending the first four seasons of his career in Baltimore, the former ACC Player of the Year signed a three-year, $3.35MM deal with the Bills in 2015. Taylor ended up earning the starting gig in Buffalo, and he went on to make the Pro Bowl that season.

The third year of that contract was voided since Taylor ended up playing more than 50-percent of the team’s snaps in 2015. As a result, the Bills extended the quarterback for six years and $92MM. The 27-year-old ultimately completed 61.7-percent of his passes for 3,023 yards, 17 touchdowns, and six interceptions in 2016. He also added another 580 yards and six touchdowns on the ground.

Of course, those numbers were compiled in “only” 15 games. Taylor was inactive for the team’s season finale as the Bills looked to slide out of his 2017 guaranteed salary.

The Jets, 49ers, Browns, and Cardinals were among the team’s reportedly eying the Taylor situation.

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