AZBearsFan Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZBearsFan Posted March 5 Author Share Posted March 5 2 years after BUF matched our RFA offer, Poles gets his man. Curious to see whether the plan is for him to be our starting center (limited NFL experience there) or just experienced IOL depth. My guess is that it’s the latter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dafreak Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Some color from Bills fans: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugashane Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Hopefully he's a "prick" like Lucas Patrick, but can block too. I honestly don't remember him on the field at all, hope he os at least plus depth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZBearsFan Posted March 5 Author Share Posted March 5 5 minutes ago, Sugashane said: Hopefully he's a "prick" like Lucas Patrick, but can block too. I honestly don't remember him on the field at all, hope he os at least plus depth. Reads like top depth to me (ideally anyway). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TankWilliams Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 41 minutes ago, AZBearsFan said: 2 years after BUF matched our RFA offer, Poles gets his man. Curious to see whether the plan is for him to be our starting center (limited NFL experience there) or just experienced IOL depth. My guess is that it’s the latter. I feel like trading a 5th for him this year, they expect him to to be more than a backup, especially since it's prior to free agency when you could sign any number of backups. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugashane Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 (edited) 9 minutes ago, AZBearsFan said: Reads like top depth to me (ideally anyway). With Jenkins injury concerns there is a need for talented depth, I hope he is good! At least push Davis at RG too. Edited March 5 by Sugashane 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymousGM Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 the draft is looking a bit top-heavy anyways. This is a solid IOL and possible starting C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZBearsFan Posted March 5 Author Share Posted March 5 1 hour ago, TankWilliams said: I feel like trading a 5th for him this year, they expect him to to be more than a backup, especially since it's prior to free agency when you could sign any number of backups. Not necessarily. Seems to me more like a floor raising move to me. Plus he’s a guy they’ve seen for years as a good scheme fit, and may have gotten further endorsement from Washington whose DL in BUF (a good one) went against him daily. Also, with Jenkins’ injury history I think they want a backup who can start with starter capability. Them singling out Bates as a target twice now certainly suggests he’d fit what they want in that role. If they see Bates as a guy who can be even a short term starter at C though, I wonder if that doesn’t put Connor Williams on our radar next week. A healthy Williams is the prize of this FA at center. Does Bates’ presence give them comfort in signing the not-yet-recovered Williams and giving him time to heal? I’d be ALL for that, and it would explain jumping the line with the trade to get their preferred stop gap guy in case Williams isn’t ready by September. A 5 is also easy to recoup in basically any trade down. Could be an indicator that they’re about to get a later round pick back as part of the Fields deal too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmike90 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Bates is a big upgrade on Lucas Patrick offering the same sort of versatility to play all three interior positions but with far more athletic upside…this move not only gives you depth behind two guards who have missed time, competition for the starting center spot but also flexibility in free agency & the draft where your not forced to get an interior OL…smart move to try and build veteran depth in front of Caleb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dll2000 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 This guy was Buffalo’s 7th OL and he didn't really play last year at all. He is depth - you hope. Bears badly needed a vet with c/g versatility as we have zero of those guys currently and you typically carry 2-3. Poles really loves this guy as evidenced by his aggressive move for him a few years ago and him actually trading for him now. Honestly, he was probably going to be a cap casualty. But for cost of a 5th Poles doesn’t have to compete with anyone else for him. Most people value 5ths a little more than that though. But odds are you probably aren’t getting a player as good as him in 5th in any event. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZBearsFan Posted March 5 Author Share Posted March 5 (edited) 2 hours ago, dll2000 said: This guy was Buffalo’s 7th OL and he didn't really play last year at all. He is depth - you hope. Bears badly needed a vet with c/g versatility as we have zero of those guys currently and you typically carry 2-3. Poles really loves this guy as evidenced by his aggressive move for him a few years ago and him actually trading for him now. Honestly, he was probably going to be a cap casualty. But for cost of a 5th Poles doesn’t have to compete with anyone else for him. Most people value 5ths a little more than that though. But odds are you probably aren’t getting a player as good as him in 5th in any event. There is some value to certainty for sure (Bates has shown to be quality depth at both G and, briefly, at C), plus Bates is just 27 years old. I think the trade also may be indicative of a few other things: -Poles expects to replace that draft capital with a trade or trades (Fields for sure and possibly a move down on draft day) -Poles isn’t excited by what he sees in the bottom of the draft, to the extent that he already likes the developmental depth on his roster more than that which he would get from a pick in R5. Remember, we’ve drafted 21 players in the past 2 cycles and 17 of them (all but Trestan Ebner, Travis Bell, Kendall Williamson and Zach Thomas) are still on our roster at the moment. -Despite having pretty clearly defined needs we only have so many roster spots to fill, and Poles may be seeking more veterans to fill those spots this year than in past years. I’d say as of right now we only need 2024 starters at 6 positions: QB, WR2, WR3, C, DE2, S. From that list, QB and at least one other will be addressed with our two 1st round picks, and we’ll have about $60M in cap space after signing/tagging Johnson to address the others. Edited March 5 by AZBearsFan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StLunatic88 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 3 hours ago, dll2000 said: Honestly, he was probably going to be a cap casualty. Trading him pushed like $4m onto the Bills Dead Cap for 2024, So I doubt he was going to be Cut, as I think they could have saved more by cutting him even after the restructure 7 hours ago, Madmike90 said: Bates is a big upgrade on Lucas Patrick offering the same sort of versatility to play all three interior positions but with far more athletic upside…this move not only gives you depth behind two guards who have missed time, competition for the starting center spot but also flexibility in free agency & the draft where your not forced to get an interior OL I think Poles sees these as the benefits of this move at minimum. Hes been after this guy for a while, I think he sees more for Bates in this system than what the Bills do. Id bet if we got him as the RFA a few years ago, at the very least Nate Davis wouldnt be on this roster. And/Or he would have been the answer at Center. I still want to get a guy like Evan Brown, and let them fight out who will be Center and the other can be the extra IOL for when they are needed for Jekins/Davis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugashane Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 9 hours ago, AZBearsFan said: If they see Bates as a guy who can be even a short term starter at C though, I wonder if that doesn’t put Connor Williams on our radar next week. A healthy Williams is the prize of this FA at center. Does Bates’ presence give them comfort in signing the not-yet-recovered Williams and giving him time to heal? I’d be ALL for that, and it would explain jumping the line with the trade to get their preferred stop gap guy in case Williams isn’t ready by September. This is what has me warming up to it. I don't think Poles would bank on a guy being traded for a 5th to be a fixture as a starter, but if this allows him to go big game hunting at C in FA because he has depth already then great. 5th well spent. As always I am a fan of positional versatility as well, so that helps. If he can be an upgrade over Whitehair or Patrixk at C or G then I'm content enough. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZBearsFan Posted March 5 Author Share Posted March 5 4 minutes ago, Sugashane said: This is what has me warming up to it. I don't think Poles would bank on a guy being traded for a 5th to be a fixture as a starter, but if this allows him to go big game hunting at C in FA because he has depth already then great. 5th well spent. As always I am a fan of positional versatility as well, so that helps. If he can be an upgrade over Whitehair or Patrixk at C or G then I'm content enough. He’s getting proven capable 3 position versatility in a 27-year old for $8M over 2 years, with no guarantee. You can’t get that in the FA market. The cost of a mid day 3 pick is pretty negligible, even if us draftniks bristle at it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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