Tag: bills chiefs

Report: Bills had interest in Chiefs’ Jarran Reed

Buffalo Bills had interest in signing Kansas City Chiefs’ Jarran Reed.

The Bills evidently wanted to add another piece to their defensive line recently. The only problem is that the player ended up signing with the Chiefs instead.

According to Chiefs Wire, defensive lineman Jarran Reed landed a one-year deal from Kansas City worth up to $7 million. Adding to that: The Athletic in KC made mention on Monday that the Chiefs beat out the Bills for Reed.

Reed plays in the middle of the D-line but the versatile player has put up some solid sack numbers in recent seasons. In 2020, Reed had 6.5 sacks for the Seahawks and then back in 2018, he had 10.5.

Earlier this offseason the Bills pursued pass rusher JJ Watt but he eventually landed on the Cardinals instead.

Pursuing Reed, who only signed with the Chiefs over the weekend, at minimal, shows that the Bills would still like to add to their pass rush this offseason. Thus far, Buffalo has yet to add anyone with the 2021 NFL Draft just around the corner.

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PFF suggests Bills LB Matt Milano signs with Chiefs

Buffalo Bills LB Matt Milano called a perfect fit for the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency by Pro Football Focus.

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The Buffalo Bills could soon have to face a reality: Life without Matt Milano.

The linebacker’s rookie contract is set to expire. According to reports, and to no surprise, Milano will test the free agent market when it opens on March 17. Pro Football Focus recently suggested a team that should be in the market for Milano and it’s the last team the Bills faced: the Kansas City Chiefs. The football analytics outlet pegged him as the “perfect fit” for KC.

Here’s why:

2020 team: Bills | Age entering 2021 season: 27

Milano is a very good coverage linebacker, and with the Chiefs holding leads in almost every game they play with Patrick Mahomes, these types of players are essential.

While Milano does miss tackles in the run game, that’s not as important an aspect of the position right now. He had the NFL’s 12th-highest grade at linebacker in 2018, at 76.1, but his play has dropped over the last two years, when he’s graded at 65.6 and 54.5, respectively.

In 2020, Milano struggled in coverage. However, for most of his career when not battling with injuries, the former safety has been a great player in coverage… and to PFF’s point, even if his run defense isn’t perfect, opponents don’t run the ball much against the Chiefs.

But the Chiefs landing Milano might be tough. According to Spotrac, if the 2021 salary cap is $185 million, Kansas City is currently $18.5M over that figure. Spotrac also suggests Milano’s next contract could average $13.8M per year.

Milano to the Chiefs might be too much of an uphill battle.

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Bills WR Gabriel Davis didn’t watch Super Bowl LV

Buffalo Bills rookie wide receiver John Brown did not watch Super Bowl LV.

Bills rookie wide receiver Gabriel Davis did not watch the Buccaneers beat the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV. It’s not that he had better things to do, instead, he just couldn’t stomach it.

The Chiefs earned their bid to that game by beating the Bills. Because of that, Davis wanted no part to do with the Super Bowl, he recently revealed.

“I couldn’t watch it because it made my stomach hurt, I feel like we should have been there,” Davis told the Orlando Sentinel.

Buffalo fell in the AFC title game, 38-24 vs. the Chiefs. Unfortunately, it wasn’t really close, but a tight-knit group in the Bills clearly took the loss to heart. Not only as Davis showed, but we could tell right after the game Buffalo’s players were upset. Fellow wide receiver Stefon Diggs refused to even leave the field. 

After that loss, the Bills proclaimed they’d be back. Davis did more of the same recently, explaining that surpassing the AFC Championship is the objective new for his team.

“That’s our standard, obviously, now. We set the standard and we’re playing to be above that standard every single year,” Davis said.

As a rookie, Davis caught 35 passes for 599 yards with seven touchdowns. He preformed well, but at times, was inconsistent. Davis undoubtedly played his best along the sideline though, grabbing several impressive catches in 2020 by toe-tapping the turf.

Depending how the upcoming offseason goes, Davis might be getting an opportunity to do more of that in Year 2. COVID-19 has caused a massive drop to the NFL salary cap and if it lands near the reported $180-185 million area, the Bills will have to find some cap room.

One of the most obvious potential cut candidates for Buffalo is wide receiver John Brown. If released, the Bills could save around $7.9M against the cap. That’s a lot of dough for a player who was also oft-injury last season.

If Brown is let go, the Bills will likely place more trust in Davis next season. Davis can’t replace Brown’s speed, but he’d still have to step up in other ways.

At the end of the year, Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane did not jump at the chance to name Davis his No. 2 wide receiver behind Diggs… but for what it’s worth, he certainly sounded confident in him.

“I don’t want to put that on him but I don’t think Gabe is near his ceiling,” Beane said. “Thought he wasn’t a rookie by end of year because of how much he played.”

Finding a way to get Brown and Davis both back into the fold is not something that should be off the table for the Bills. Regardless, as the start of free agency on March 17 approaches, it’s a storyline to follow this offseason.

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Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes played injured vs. Bills, needs offseason surgery

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes played injured vs. Buffalo Bills in AFC Championship and will need surgery.

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes did, in fact, play through injury against the Bills in the AFC Championship game.

Kansas City won vs. Buffalo, 38-24, and Mahomes’ health was a storyline leading up to the game. However, nearly all of that surrounded him passing concussion protocol, which he did.

But a lesser-discussed issue was a turf toe injury that Mahomes was playing with. It appears that injury was a bit more extensive than once thought as well as reportedly the QB is set to have surgery on it on Wednesday.

The Chiefs’ season ended in defeat in Super Bowl LV as the Bucs topped KC for the title. Mahomes did not blame his struggles on the toe injury after the loss, but he did mention playing through the issue vs. the Bills.

“Yeah, I can’t say the toe was a problem when I played last week or two weeks ago and I played well on it,” Mahomes said via Chiefs Wire following the Super Bowl. “It’s something you battle through. You’re playing football you have to battle through injuries. We’ll look at it tomorrow and we’ll make a final decision on if we’re going to have to have surgery on it or not.”

Mahomes is expected to be sidelined for several months, but good news: He has an entire offseason to heal.

In the Super Bowl, Mahomes and the Chiefs failed to find the end zone. Against Buffalo, Mahomes’ mobility was limited as he only had five total yards rushing. Still, he managed three touchdowns and 325 passing yards in the win. Buffalo only sacked Mahomes once when he was forced out of bounds near the line of scrimmage on a scramble.

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Super Bowl LV: Chiefs WR Sammy Watkins is questionable to play

Former Buffalo Bills, now Kansas City Chiefs WR Sammy Watkins is listed as questionable to play in Super Bowl LV vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have released their third and final injury reports ahead of Super Bowl LV on Friday.  On the KC side of things, we’ve gotten one notable former Buffalo Bills player: Sammy Watkins.

The wide receiver, who hasn’t played since Week 16, which includes the AFC Championship vs. the Bills, was listed as questionable. Watkins has a calf issue.

According to Chiefs Wire, Watkins did have a full practice on Friday. Final practices of the week are usually more of the walk-through variety, so it remains to be seen if Watkins can get on the field to face the Bucs.

The former first-round pick of the Bills was held to only 10 games this season due to injury. He had 37 catches, 421 yards and two touchdowns on the year.

In last year’s Super Bowl vs. the San Francisco 49ers, Watkins caught five of six targets for 98 yards receiving.

For those looking for a rooting interest in the big game, Watkins did also talk some smack recently to Bills fans on social media … and he has also consistently referenced that the Chiefs will be winning the Super Bowl this year… and even next season, in interviews.

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Tyreek Hill compliments Bills’ Justin Zimmer but forgets his name

Kansas City Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill on Buffalo Bills DT Justin Zimmer.

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Justin Zimmer came out of nowhere in 2020 for the Bills and became a solid rotational piece along their defensive line. In fact, Zimmer impressed so much that he was brought up during Super Bowl media week.

However, he was not brought up by name.

In the AFC Championship game, the Chiefs topped the Bills, 38-24, for a chance to defend their title against the Bucs in Super Bowl LV on Sunday. In that game, Tyreek Hill had a huge outing.

The highlight reel play for the Chiefs wide receiver was a 71-yard catch and run. It came in typically Hill fashion as his speed did the talking.

So how does Zimmer factor in here?

On that play, Zimmer was hustling. And even though he ended up not catching Hill, the wideout who is nicknamed “cheetah” because of his quickness, gave Zimmer a shoutout this week… but Hill forgot his name.

“No. 61 was actually about to clean my clock,” Hill said referencing playing the Bills. “I probably wouldn’t have played football no more.”

“For him to just do that, 61, I don’t know his name, I wish I knew his name, but for him to do that? To run all the way down the field? He’s great,” Hill added.

Still a sweet shoutout though for Zimmer:

For an (unfortunate) reminder of the play, here it is. As Hill would say, keep an eye out for No. 61 on the Bills:

 

Zimmer, a 6-foot-3, 292-pound guy was…certainly hauling. The play started on the Chiefs’ 25 yard-line and ended another 70 yards down the field.

The scenic route certainly applies to Zimmer’s NFL career. After going undrafted in 2016, he originally signed with the Bills, was cut, and jumped around to the Saints, CFL, Falcons and then back with the Bills.

It remains to be seen Zimmer’s future holds.

In `12 games with the Bills, Zimmer had one sack, three tackles for loss, and 21 tackles. His biggest play of the season was, without a doubt, his forced fumble on Cam Newton vs. the Patriots to secure a win late.

After that contest, he did get high praise from teammates and coaches alike. Defensive end Jerry Hughes called him the Bills’ “silent assassin” and head coach Sean McDermott was also impressed.

“Awesome to see it. Two guys who have overcome a lot of adversity in their careers,” McDermott said, also referring to safety Dean Marlowe who recovered the fumble.

What the Bills’ decision on Zimmer might come down to his the finances. First, he’s slated for a 2021 cap hit of $920K. Not a large one, but depending on where the salary cap lands in the NFL, it could reportedly be between $175 million and $186M area, due to COVID-19 causing financial difficulties. The Bills are approximately $6M over that $175M right now.

Zimmer has no dead cap hit on his deal, so if the Bills were to cut him, they’d get his entire cap hit off their books for a guy who only played in 26 percent of defensive snaps this season.

But again, that’s not a large hit and much larger ones can be found on the defensive line by general manager Brandon Beane. Perhaps most telling about Zimmer’s value comes via Pro Football Focus as the football analytics outlet graded him the 31st best defensive tackle in the league this season. For that cap hit? The Bills might be foolish to move on from him… and Hill would probably agree.

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RB Le’Veon Bell explains picking Chiefs over Bills, Dolphins

RB Le’Veon Bell reflects on picking Kansas City Chiefs over Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins.

Former All-Pro running back Le’Veon Bell has had nothing short of a roller coaster of a career. 2020 was no different as he started the year in the AFC East with the Jets and was even briefly connected to other divisional teams including the Bills.

As the story went, he’s now prepping for Super Bowl LV with the Chiefs. After being rumored as a guy who was going to be traded, the 28-year-old was cut and was considering the Bills and Dolphins as options before picking his current team.

On Tuesday, Bell reflected on that decision he made back in October and explained his pick via video conference from the Super Bowl’s media week. Simply put, Bell felt the Chiefs gave him his best chance the win right now.

“I was so torn between how much of a workload did I actually want vs. winning? At that time, [after my time] with the Jets, I was so focused on winning, I didn’t really care about how my production would look. It got so frustrating losing,” Bell said. “I came here to get to this game, and I’m here. So I look at it like I came to the right spot.”

Bell did say the decision was not an easy one, though.

“It’s hard even trying to explain it. But it was real close between the Dolphins, Bills and Chiefs,” Bell said.

During the Bell saga, the Bills did confirm interest in Bell via head coach Sean McDermott.

“You know Brandon (Beane) and I always look into every situation… this being one of them,” McDermott said.

Considering the rushing struggles the Bills had this season on offense, their admitted interest in him, the running back’s “tough” decision, and Bell only signing a one-year deal with the Chiefs… perhaps he’s a name to watch during free agency this offseason? Zack Moss and Devin Singletary will both return in 2020, but an improvement is needed in their rushing attack one way or another.

Bell is expected to return to the Chiefs lineup for Sunday’s game after sitting out the AFC Championship vs. the Bills due to injury.

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LOOK: The perfect food for Bills fans during Super Bowl does exist

Buffalo Bills cake for Super Bowl LV.

Watching Super Bowl LV is going to be… a bummer.

While it kind of always is when the Buffalo Bills aren’t playing, 2021’s game is especially going to hurt considering the circumstances. The Bills fell one game short of it, losing the AFC Championship game to the Kansas City Chiefs, 38-24.

Still, Buffalo is a football town and will undoubtedly tune in to see if the Chiefs can top the Tom Brady-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Buffalo is also a foodie city and there is the perfect food item available for your upcoming Super Bowl party.

Greg Tompsett from Cover 1 posted a photo of this cake from a Sam’s Club in the Erie, PA, region. The icing on the cake is… some of the best icing ever.

“Who ever vs Who cares” is what’s spelled out on it.

Check out the beautiful edible masterpiece which is capped off with a “Go Bills” right here:

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Josh Allen, Bills teammates fined for late shoving vs. Chiefs

Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen, OL Dion Dawkins, OL Jon Feliciano fined for shoving Kansas City Chiefs DE Alex Okafor in AFC Championship.

The Chiefs hit the Bills hardest last weekend and now the NFL has rubbed salt in the wound where some may say it hurts the most: Their wallet.

At the end of Buffalo’s AFC Championship game loss vs. Kansas City, a couple of guys got into a shoving match. It centered around quarterback Josh Allen.

The Buffalo QB was taken down by Chiefs defensive end Alex Okafor. In frustration following the play, Allen threw the ball at Okafor which spurred a shoving match, and according to NFL Network, Allen was fined for it.

For his flick of the ball, Allen was penalized $15,000. After doing so, Okafor was unhappy and appeared to stand above Allen and yell at him. That caused Bills teammates to him to Allen’s defense:

Of those teammates, the two that were also pinged by the NFL in their bank accounts were offensive lineman Jon Feliciano and Dion Dawkins. Feliciano got the first shove in which can be seen in the video above while Dawkins jumped in later.

Those two were fined $10,000 each. No one from the Chiefs was fined for the play.

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Bills are slightly ahead of Chiefs in one respect

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott compared to Kansas City Chiefs’ Andy Reid.

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This week the Buffalo Bills are getting all the comparisons to the Kansas City Chiefs because they’re fresh off of losing to KC, 38-24, in the AFC Championship.

On the field on Sunday, things didn’t look particularly close. But in one sense, the Bills are kind of ahead of the Chiefs already.

To start, let’s put it into Sean McDermott terms.

Buffalo’s head coach, while discussing the Chiefs and their head coach Andy Reid at his end of season press conference, said Kansas City has just simply been at this thing for longer under Reid’s watch.

“They’re in Year 8 and we’re in Year 4,” McDermott said. “In fact, that’s a little bit of a feel for how long they’ve been building their program and where we are.”

If McDermott is going to give himself that sort of comparison, he should also give himself credit. In his own first four seasons leading the Bills, McDermott has actually done better than Reid has with the Chiefs in one distinct and way.

In his first four seasons with the Chiefs after parting ways with the Philadelphia Eagles, Reid did win more games, 43 to McDermott’s 38. Still, both teams did not win their first division titles until that fourth seasons as well. Oddly enough, both also made the postseason in three of those first four years and both missed the playoffs in Year 2.

However, where McDermott has Reid beat is in that same realm.

McDermott won two playoff games with the Bills from Year 1-4 with both coming in 2020. In Reid’s third season, Kansas City won a Wild Card round game, but lost their second. After winning the AFC West in Year 4, the Chiefs were one and done in the postseason.

So hey, Sean, give yourself a little credit. The Bills can say they’re further along in terms of postseason victories. There is no debating that.

Having said that, just a few days removed from losing big to KC, both McDermott and Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane expressed a desire to improve, as did the coach.

“There is still a gap in terms of where they are and where we are,” McDermott said.

“They were clearly better than us. We have work to do,” Beane echoed.

“They’re the gold standard. This is three-straight AFC Championships they’ve been in, in a row, and now back-to-back Super Bowls,” Beane continued. “They’re the gold standard of the AFC and maybe the league, we’ll find out here next week.”

Next week, of course, being Super Bowl LV. The Chiefs will look to defend their title win from last season in the hopes of becoming back-to-back champions. Regardless of that outcome, the Bills will want to be part of the equation that keeps Kansas City out of three-straight Super Bowls in 2021.