Trentwannabe Too Early Mock Off-season/Draft

[Trentwannabe]

I have the Bills finishing 6-10 and getting the 11th pick in the draft.

Off-season moves:
Fire STC Danny Crossman
Re-sign LB Zo Alexander to a 1 year deal
Re-sign TE Logan Thomas to a 2 year deal
Re-sign QB Matt Barkley to a 2 year deal
Re-sign Jordan Phillips to a 1 year deal

Hire STC Darrin Simmons from the Bengals

Release:
TE Charles Clay
OG Vlad Ducasse
RB Chris Ivory

Sign:
OC: Matt Paradis 5 year deal 45m
- This should be the Bills top priority IMO. Paradis has been an exceptional C in this league and is the exact type of leader upfront that Buffalo needs. He started 57 straight games before an unfortunate injury in week 9.

OG Roger Saffold 4 year deal 42m.
- Another veteran piece to add to the OL. Saffold is likely too expensive for the Rams to hang on to and he is only turning 31 in June. He can slide in at LG to help cement the blindside of Allen or he could move over to RG and become a road grader for us.

RB TJ Yeldon 3 year deal
- A better replacement for Ivory who also happens to be younger. Ivory hasn't been bad but his injuries may be catching up and Yeldon is fresh legs and a much better receiving option. 

CB EJ Gaines 1 year deal
- Coming off a season ending injury I think Gaines can be had real cheap and obviously knows the staff and team well. He is a nice insurance policy incase we can't land another CB in the draft.

WR Adam Humphries 1 year deal
- He seems like a real McDermott type of player and would add a nice veteran presence to the group. 

TE Maxx Williams 1 year deal
- Bills need bodies here and he is a fairly solid blocker.

Draft:

Round 1: WR D.K Metcalf Ole Miss
- Metcalf is the big bodied WR that the Bills desperately need. We have seen Josh Allen work well with the fast guys but he still needs a big target for the redzone and a guy who can make all the contested catches. 

Round 1b: OT Greg Little Ole Miss
*Bills trade their 2nd round pick and first 4th round pick to LAC*
- Bills go and get themselves a RT and a potential LT of the future if needed. Little has all the physical tools you would want in a tackle and should be able to step in from day 1 and compete.

Round 3: CB Trayvon Mullen Clemson
- Teams always need as many Corners as possible and Mullens adds the size and ball skills needed in McDermott's scheme. Pairing him with White and Johnson could be a real nice young tandem moving forward.

Round 4: DT Terry Beckner Jr. Missouri 
- In 40 career games he has 30.5 tackles for a loss and 12 sacks from his interior position. Beckner Jr may never be a flashy player but much like last years selection of Harrison Phillips, he is a workhorse who finds a way to make plays. 

Round 5a: TE CJ Conrad Kentucky
- In this scenario, Jason Croom and Logan Thomas are the only TE's on the roster so adding someone else is a must. I suspect Croom moves into the number 1 role but another capable receiving option is needed.

Round 5b: LB Porter Gustin USC
- We've all talked about grooming someone behind Alexander. Maybe that guy is on the roster already to be a short term option. But the reality is they should get a young body in there now to learn the system and ropes behind Zo.

Round 6: OG/C Ross Pierschbacher Alabama
- Bills can use some depth on the interior of their OL and who better than someone who Daboll knows well. 

Round 7a: S D'Cota Dixon Wisconsin 
- Depth

Round 7b: DE Jessie Aniebonam
- Depth

Roster:
QB: Allen, Barkley, 
RB: McCoy, Yeldon, Ford, UDFA
FB: Dimarco
TE: Croom, Thomas, Conrad, Williams
WR: Metcalf, Jones, Foster, Humphries, McKenzie
LT: Dawkins
LG: Teller
C: Paradis, Pierschbacher
RG: Saffold, Boetteger
RT: Little, McDermott

DE: Hughes, Love, Aniebonam
3T: Phillips, Beckner Jr.
1T: Lotulelei, H.Phillips
DE: Lawson, Murphy
WLB: Milano, Thompson
MLB: Edmunds, Stanford
SLB: Alexander, Lacey, Gustin
CB: White, Mullens, Johnson, Gaines, Wallace
FS: Poyer, Dixon
SS: Hyde, Bush, Neal
 

K: Hauschka
P: Bojorquez
LS: Reid

[soflbillsfan]

I like the additions to Saffold and Paradis but I think you are being to generous with the contract in Bills favor. Both guys have played top of their game and in order to land their services they are going to expect top dollar. The last 3 guards to sign contracts that showed top tier talent were averaging about 5 years 60 mil, with the same going for Centers its about 5 years 50 mil. 

I also like your players you retain but i am not sure if Jordan Phillips would be willing to accept a 1 year deal he is expecting to get locked in long term and I think the bills should atleast offer him a 3-4 year deal with an out after 2 years. If he plays with the fire he has been next year I think it will be in Bills favor to do that rather then go in to next offseason trying to lock him up even more. Bills have the leverage at this point since he was recently cut with the Dolphins for disagreements and bills can take advantage of that. Not a big fan of cutting Ivory and signing Yeldon, I think Ivory should play out his last year as it will only save $2 mil and he showed he can pound the rock at times with that crappy oline. Retaining all 3 rbs for next year would be best imo as that is one less position to worry about.

Ej Gaines is injury prone, he was with the rams, then showed it in the bills, and has shown it with the browns this year. He shows flashes of talent but has trouble staying on the field. Would like to see someone else come in. 

Even with the 2 big signings on the oline i feel like you left a lot of cap space off the table. $96 million is the projected amount before cuts so you may be able to get a few more players of quality. 

Draft is not bad but I dont know if i would be happy drafting a wr that early. Yes they need one but Metcalf right now is projected to be a late 1st round pick. The draft has depth at WR but none of them have the talent of being above the rest. Between Metcalf, AJ Brown, harry they all can be argued as the #1 wr on the board and all 3 are projected to be late 1st or 2nd rd. Some people did mention Harry possibly being top 10 but they are basing that on potential and not current talent. My personal opinion would be if they are on the level of Aj Green or Julio Jones then you have to take it, do these guys show that type of talent or do they need more polishing? I would just hate to risk losing out on a player that can shine for years at a position that isn't necessarily a need (top of the draft is defensive heavy) in hopes of landing a guy based on potential, we did that with watkins and look how well that turned out.

All in all not a bad early mock imo, i like the trade up for little as he is arguably one of the best OT in the draft between him and Jonah right now. Filled some holes through FA and draft the bills need in order to make it to the next level. 

[Trentwannabe]

@soflbillsfan

You're probably right about the deals for Paradis and Saffold. I was looking at the AVG per year of the other OL and basing it off that. I had Paradis contract make him the 5th highest paid Center in the league on average and Saffold 13th. I wouldn't be surprised if Buffalo made either or both the highest paid player in the league at their position. 

My thought process on Jordan Phillips was he may be looking for a one year prove it deal and the Bills may not want to commit to him long term just yet. I figured, let him start for the year, draft a guy in a later round and see if he's worth a long term investment.

I think the WR's are all over the place right now. Any number of them could be the top guy come April. I'm personally a big fan of Metcalf and think he can be an Andre Johnson type player. I won't have an issue if the Bills go defense because I think they'll get an absolute stud, but I also think they could "steal" an offensive player in the middle of round 1 (or wherever they pick) who typically might have gone earlier.