Tag: Evan Boehm

8 things to know about new Bills OL Evan Boehm

Get to know new Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Evan Boehm.

Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane said after the early stages of free agency that he’s not going to turn a blind eye to the open market with the 2020 NFL Draft slowly approaching.

He proved that to be true on Tuesday as the Bills signed offensive lineman Evan Boehm to a deal.

Despite returning many players in the trenches from last season, including all five of their starters, Buffalo decided the more, the merrier. While all the starters are back, the Bills won’t guarantee anyone a job. Boehm could turn into an important piece for the Bills somewhere on their depth chart, so learn more about him now..

Here’s eight things to know about new Bills offensive lineman Evan Boehm:

Arizona Cardinals lineman Evan Boehm. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Bounced around

Boehm was a fourth-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals in 2016. Despite being a mid-round pick, he hasn’t found a home just yet. In those few short years, he’s now on his fifth team in the Bills and his movement ramped up in recent seasons.

In 2017, the 26-year-old lost a starting job with Cardinals after five games. Prior to the 2018 season, he was a bit of a surprise cut by the Cards. He didn’t have any suitors, though. Instead, he signed with the Los Angeles Rams via a practice squad spot. After a month there, he was signed by the Indianapolis Colts for the remainder of the 2018 season. After that, he was tenured a contract after the season by Indy, but moved once again at the end of training camp, this time via trade to the Miami Dolphins. After seeing some extended starting time (11 games) with the Dolphins last year, they let him walk in free agency and now he’s heading to Buffalo.

All things considered, he’s played in 55 games and made 21 starts in his career thus far, eight of which took place last season in Miami.

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Former Dolphins OL Evan Boehm signs with Bills

Former Dolphins OL Evan Boehm signs with Bills

One of the few bright spots for the Miami Dolphins offensive line in 2019 was the intermittent play of OL Evan Boehm. Boehm, who was traded over to the Dolphins via the Indianapolis Colts before the start of the season, was one of the few Dolphins interior blockers who seemed to have the ability to reset the line of scrimmage and help make some room in both the pocket and on the ground. Boehm played in 13 games in 2019, starting 8 of them. But the Dolphins, in their quest for an upgraded offensive line unit in 2020, did not pursue resigning Boehm this offseason and instead bid him farewell at the end of the season.

And we now know that Boehm has found himself a new home and will be staying in the AFC East. Boehm announced on social media last night that he was signing with the Buffalo Bills.

The Bills aren’t likely to offer him a starting role, not after the team’s aggressive offensive line rebuild in 2019. If he were to push for a starting role, the most logical spot on the Bills’ offensive line for Boehm would be the right guard position — a spot he also took snaps for the Dolphins at in 2019.

This isn’t a devastating loss for Miami. But Boehm does deserve credit for his flashes of play throughout last season. The offensive line was generally a very ugly unit for Miami in 2019 in all phases. The team didn’t block well in the run game, nor in pass protection. But Boehm, no matter where Miami asked him to step in, was typically one of the better players on Miami’s line. Now, he’ll move on to be a reliable depth piece on the Bills’ unit as Miami looks to chase Buffalo down in the standings.

Bills sign OL Evan Boehm

Offensive lineman Evan Boehm has signed with the Buffalo Bills, he announced via his social media account on Tuesday.

Offensive lineman Evan Boehm has signed with the Buffalo Bills, he announced via his social media accounts on Tuesday.

Boehm, 26, was a fourth-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals in 2016. After spending two seasons there, he’s since bounced around the NFL, suiting up for the Los Angeles Rams, Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins last season. The Dolphins traded for him last year.

Boehm appeared in 13 games for the Dolphins in 2019, including eight starts. In his career, Boehm has played both center and guard, a versatility the Bills will covet.

That skill set mimics Spencer Long. While both will hope to earn a starting spot along Buffalo’s offensive line, the two could be going head-to-head for a depth position as well during training camp.

While versatile, Boehm struggled last season per Pro Football Focus. His overall grade from the football analytics outlet was a 47.4 overall, far below average. In regard to Long, he graded out a 56.8 overall per PFF’s grades last year, but Boehm did see far more playing time, playing in 595 snaps a year ago compared to Long’s 173. Boehm allow one sack last year and notched three penalties.

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7 low-cost free agents Colts could target

There are still some solid low-cost options on the market.

The Indianapolis Colts spent freely during the initial free agency period and while that only came in the form of two players essentially, they still have enough salary-cap space to work another deal or two on the lower levels.

Staring at roughly $28 million in salary-cap space, the Colts have enough to target some bargain free agents and cheaper options on the market. None are without their issues—whether it be age, injury or an overall lack of production.

Some of these aren’t bottom-of-the-barrel cheap but relative to their positional market, the Colts would be fine targeting them. Given the depth still needed on both sides of the ball, some moves still need to be made.

Here are seven low-cost free agents remaining for the Colts to target:

Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Rashard Higgins | WR | Age: 25

Higgins got lost in the mix with the Browns during the 2019 in what turned out to be an utter circus in Cleveland. From Freddie Kitchens running the offense into the ground to Baker Mayfield regressing at an alarming rate, there wasn’t much for Higgins to work with coming off of his best season since entering the league.

The Colts are most likely going to target the wide receiver position early in the 2020 NFL draft. It’s a must. But adding Higgins would give them a depth piece with experience and one that offers solid WR2 upside. He wins with length would be a versatile piece in Frank Reich’s offense.

Higgins shouldn’t be expensive at all. Breshad Perriman was in the tier above him and got $8 million on a one-year deal. The Colts could easily pull off a deal worth $5 million for Higgins.

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