Tag: AJ Epenesa

PFF: Bills made good decision in re-signing AJ Epenesa

PFF: #Bills made good decision in re-signing AJ Epenesa:

The Buffalo Bills have gotten the Pro Football Focus for one of their offseason decisions: Re-signing AJ Epenesa.

Epenesa’s rookie contract expired this offseason and the Bills had a decision with a tight budget. Bring Epenesa back or let him walk in free agency?

In the end, Epenesa is back on a two-year extension and the likes of Leonard Floyd left. He signed with the San Francisco 49ers.

Epenesa finished 2023 with 6.5 sacks and was up-and-down, however, the football analytics outlet believes it was the right decision to re-sign him. PFF named a favorite move in free agency for every NFL team. Buffalo bringing back Epenesa was their choice for the Bills.

Here’s why PFF was a fan of the move:

2023 PFF Grade: 75.8 (31st/112)
2023 PFF WAR: 0.06 (49th)
Fit/need grade: A
Value grade: A

Contract: Two years, $12 million ($6 million per year), $10.06 million total guaranteed

PFF projected contract: Three years, $22.5 million ($7.5 million per year), $14.5 million total guaranteed

Epenesa has two straight seasons with strong pass-rush production, notching pressure rates above 10% and pass-rush grades above 70.0. He’s a big edge who has gotten faster off the ball as he’s developed, and he’ll still be just 25 in Week 1 of 2024, so there could be more improvement ahead.

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Projecting market value for Bills pending free agents

Projecting market value for #Bills pending free agents:

The Buffalo Bills have several important players who are on the cusp of leaving via free agency. General manager Brandon Beane has some difficult decisions to make, as he needs to balance a challenging salary cap situation. At this time, Spotrac highlights the Bills are still $41 million over the cap.

The Bills still have some time to ink these players to extensions. However, several of these players are on the verge of a big payday.

The legal tampering period begins on March 11. Once this date hits, it’s a good chance that these players will be finding new homes for the 2024 season.

Here is a look at the projected market value for the Bills top pending free agents based off Spotrac’s projections:

5 pending free agents the Bills should consider re-signing in 2024

5 pending free agents the #Bills should consider re-signing in 2024:

The Buffalo Bills have plenty of free agents slated to hit the open market.

The Bills have time to still sign players to extensions, but it’s never so cut-and-dry. According to Over The Cap, Buffalo is estimated to be more than $40 million over the 2024 NFL salary cap.

Moves must be made to get there and general manager Brandon Beane will earn his salary with the decisions ahead.

But Beane’s work is not the type of operation that’s never been completed before. Teams and players can restructure contracts, move dollars and cents around, and create cap space.

Once that’s done, Beane will then consider who to bring in and who to re-sign. Here are five pending free agents the Bills should take a look into re-signing this offseason:

Full list of Bills players who will be free agents this offseason

Who will stay and who will go?

As another season of Buffalo Bills football has come to an end, so have another series of contracts that have been signed.

Whether it be grizzled veterans or players seeing the end of their rookie contracts, there are plenty of faces who will not long be under contract in Buffalo in March when free agency opens.

The Bills have plenty of time until then to sign players to extensions, but it’s never so cut-and-dry. According to Over The Cap, Buffalo is estimated to be $49 million over the 2024 NFL salary cap.

Moves must be made and general manager Brandon Beane will earn his own salary with the decisions ahead.

But what you’re here for: The full list of Bills free agents following the 2023 season is below:

PFF: 5 worst-graded Bills players on defense in Week 17

Not their best day:

The Buffalo Bills won a tight 27-21 final in their Week 17 matchup against the New England Patriots.

The Bills (10-6) had a few players that stood out above the rest in this one. On defense, the Bills were led by tight end  cornerback Rasul Douglas and his takeaways.

But not everyone played as well as him. Buffalo will hope some efforts improve throughout the rest of the 2023 season as they aim to secure a postseason spot.

According to Pro Football Focus, they’ll need these players to start playing at a high level.

Here are the five worst-graded Bills players on defense against the Patriots (4-12) in Week 17:

What the Bills said about chance to win AFC East now: ‘Resilient nature on display’

What the #Bills said about chance to win AFC East now against the #Dolphins next weekend: ‘Resilient nature on display’

Regardless of the way the job got done, it did.

It was an up-and-down 27-21 win over the Patriots in Week 17. There have been bumps in the road along the Bills’ four-game winning streak, too.

But none of that matters. It just is a fact: The 2023 AFC East winner will be determined between the Bills and Dolphins next weekend in the NFL’s regular season finale.

After topping the Pats, the Bills locker room reflected on how far the team has gone and where they are now–within a win of a division title. A trigger word used by many was “resilience.”

Find a roundup of clips from in the Bills locker room on their upcoming chance to win the AFC East crown against the Dolphins below:

Bills’ Micah Hyde makes decision on Rasul Douglas: ‘We won the trade’

#Bills’ Micah Hyde makes decision on Rasul Douglas: ‘We won the trade’

The Bills defeated a chippy Patriots team 27-21 in Orchard Park on Sunday, extending their win streak to four straight contests.

Buffalo will head into next week’s regular-season finale against the Dolphins in Miami for the AFC Championship.

Sunday’s win could be the final AFC East meeting between defensive head coaches Sean McDermott and Bill Belichick, whose future with the Patriots organization is unclear.

And it was McDermott’s defense, for whom he is the primary play-caller, that shone, holding New England to only 294 total yards.

Buffalo caused four Patriots turnovers, including a pick-six by trade deadline acquisition CB Rasul Douglas.

Douglas tipped a pass by Patriots QB Bailey Zappe earlier in the game, which was then caught by teammate DT Ed Oliver for his first career interception, thanks to some single-handed acrobatics, before the cornerback reeled in two picks of his own.

All in the first half.

“That should have been another pick by me,” Douglas mused during his postgame media availability. “I should have had 3, honestly, cause I knew it was coming. I read it, but I was on the right side of the tight end and he kind of threw it to the left. So, I had to go around him and deflect it up and then I seen Ed diving for it, I was just happy that he caught it.”

Douglas has been a huge addition defensively in general, not to mention in the wake of another season-ending injury to CB Tre White.

“I don’t know what we gave up to get him… but we won the trade,” S Micah Hyde said about the Bills’ corner, per ABC 13 WHAM. 

Hyde’s comments were backed by their head coach, who noted the team’s resilience.

“They’ve been very resilient. And just the things that they’ve learned, I think, through the journey that have gotten us to here and then using them week to week to find a way to win games,” McDermott said to the press. “Today we knew wasn’t going to be easy and I thought that their resilient nature was on display in the second half.”

New England’s defense was still stingy despite their offense’s shortcomings, but it was Buffalo’s defensive group that won the day. The offense will look to bounce back and the team will aim to keep rolling into the win column next week in Miami.

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Bills’ Josh Allen on rocky Pats game: ‘One of the longest quarters I’ve ever been part of’

#Bills’ Josh Allen on rocky Pats game: ‘One of the longest quarters I’ve ever been part of’

The Bills beat the Patriots at home 27-21 on Sunday, as the team continues to win games, even when the win is an ugly one.

And it’s paid off.

The Bills’ overall offensive performance wasn’t the smoothest, however, as both OC Joe Brady and QB Josh Allen and his receiving targets, who struggled with completions and capitalizing on several Pats turnovers, expressed visible frustration at times.

Allen finished the day with two rushing TDs and 213 total yards of offense, though he struggled a bit in the passing game putting up only 45 total yards with an interception near the end of the first half.

“That was one of the longest quarters I’ve ever been a part of,” Allen said during his press conference. “Three possessions down there in the first quarter and we only scored one touchdown. That’s not good enough on our end. We got to be better prepared to go and get six and seven there. We lucked out. Our defense played a heck of a game and we got to just try to find a way to win.”

He quickly surpassed that first-half number on the first drive of the second half hitting  TE Dalton Kincaid for a 51-yard reception, a career-long for the Bills first-year tight end.

In the contest, Kincaid finished with 87 yards and set a new franchise record for receptions by a rookie with 62 catches on the season.

“We’re playing a pretty good team so just glad we came out with the win,” Kincaid said to the media.

“Each game’s been you know the most important game and now that this game passed you know next week’s the most important game for us, so looking forward to that.”

The Bills offense was a little bit of history repeating in some ways, as Kincaid led the way in receiving yards and Allen scored multiple TDs in their last meetup too.

What has been different about these past couple of matchups with New England has been the usage of WR1 Stefon Diggs, who was quiet these several games, even not taking any offensive snaps on Buffalo’s opening scoring drive at the start of the 2nd half.

Before this season, he had been the leading receiver in several matchups against New England, and while he had a TD in their last meeting and a shot at deep ball on Sunday night, his role has been different,

Diggs often commands double teams, and the coverage he and WR2 Gabe Davis require of opposing defenses creates openings for other targets like Kincaid, WR Khalil Shakir, and receiving RB James Cook.

In the quest for the Buffalo offense to become more multi-dimensional under new offensive coordinator Joe Brady, the captain has sacrificed to help his team win.

And win they have.

The Bills were at 6-6 and on the outside looking in at the playoffs, and have since rattled off four victories and a shot at their fourth straight AFC East crown in next week’s season finale against the Dolphins in Miami.

“I obviously would love to have a home game in the playoffs,” Allen added. “Would love to get in the playoffs, so that’s first and foremost. [We’re] just doing whatever we can do to give ourselves a chance of getting in.”

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Bills at Chargers: 6 storylines to watch for in Week 16

#Bills at #Chargers: 6 storylines to watch for in Week 16:

The Buffalo Bills will turn the page of their 2023 NFL season to Week 16 and the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Bills (8-6) are fresh off their huge win over the Dallas Cowboys in a 31-10 fashion. Buffalo will hope to stay in their winning ways against Los Angeles, however, the Chargers (5-9) will be no pushover as there is plenty on the line ahead of this matchup.

But before we even get to kickoff, there will be a lot of Bills-related discussions and conversations to be had throughout the coming days.

With that, here are five storylines to watch for during the lead up to Bills at Chargers on Saturday: