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10 AFC East stories from last week for Bills fans to know

AFC East storylines from the past week for Buffalo Bills fans.

You’re probably all on top of the latest news surrounding the Buffalo Bills and we hope Bills Wire helped you get there. But let us keep you up to date with the Bills news, just outside the Bills’ realm.

The upcoming 2020 NFL season has many thinking the Bills are the favorite in the AFC East. But Buffalo isn’t just going to stroll into that title. The Dolphins, Jets, and of course the Patriots, will all have something to say about that.

So let’s stay on top of some of the latest headlines surrounding the Bills’ divisional foes now. Here are 10 news stories from the other three AFC East teams from the last week right here:

New England Patriots

Patriots outside linebacker Dont’a Hightower.Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

Patriots on top of this list

So far, about 45 players have decided to opt-out of playing in the 2020 NFL season due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately for the Patriots, they’ve had, far and away, the most players from their roster take this option. In total, eight Patriots won’t be playing. Those are:

LB Dont’a Hightower
S Patrick Chung
OT Marcus Cannon
RB Brandon Bolden
FB Danny Vitale
OL Najee Toran
WR Marquise Lee
TE Matt LaCosse

Of these eight, important starters or players include Hightower, Chung, Cannon and Lee. As of now, the Patriots don’t expect any more opt-outs.

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Bills predicted as AFC East winner by B/R

Buffalo Bills pegged as AFC East winner by Bleacher Report.

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Whether it’s the changes across the division all throughout this offseason, or the improvements the Buffalo Bills have made itself, the folks at Bleacher Report are Bill-eving.

With the 2020 NFL regular season slowly approaching, B/R predicted all eight division winners in the league next season based on the opinion of five of their analysts. In their guessing game, the Bills bring home the AFC East as four of the five predicted the Bills as the divisional winner:

Here’s part of B/R’s breakdown on the Bills:

The Patriots won’t necessarily be a bad team in 2020 with Cam Newton under center. But they aren’t the front-runners in the division. The Buffalo Bills are, and it’s been over 20 years since anyone said that.

The Bills aren’t dominant in any one facet of the game, but the team also doesn’t have any glaring weaknesses.

Josh Allen improved as a passer in his second season and got a big boost in the offseason when the team traded for wideout Stefon Diggs. Buffalo’s eighth-ranked rushing attack added a bruising young running back in this year’s draft in Utah’s Zack Moss. The Buffalo defense doesn’t have a ton of star power outside cornerback Tre’Davious White, but the team ranked third in yards allowed during 2019.

After a 17-year postseason drought, the Bills have earned a wild-card berth in two of the past three seasons under head coach Sean McDermott. But they haven’t won the division outright since all the way back in 1995.

That changes in 2020.

For the Bills, their 2020 outlook is very much… a mix. Facts are facts, without Brady in the fold for New England for the first time in two decades, the path to the AFC East title is a lot easier for everyone involved. But speaking of everyone, the Bills, Jets, Dolphins… and even the Patriots, Buffalo had the best offseason in 2020. Or at least on paper.

The Bills swung big, bringing in wide receiver Stefon Diggs, giving up a first-round pick to do so. In addition, the Bills have continued to keep their own. No one in the entire NFL returns more continuity than the Bills heading into next season, which is a key chemistry-wise. Since that study was released, the Bills did lose a few starters due to COVID-19 and injury. Defensive tackle Star Lotulelei opted out of playing next year, while offensive lineman Jon Feliciano suffered a chest injury which will sideline in for months.

However, Buffalo’s biggest obstacle to the AFC East crown still likely remains the Patriots. Of all teams in the NFL, no one has had more players opt out due to COVID-19 in recent weeks. The shorthanded get even weaker, so even if Bills quarterback Josh Allen just keeps the ship steady in Buffalo, the Bills have a great look at winning the division next season.

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Saints haven’t reported any positive COVID-19 tests yet

The New Orleans Saints are one a few teams including the Patriots, Chargers, Texans, and Seahawks to not report any positive COVID-19 tests.

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The New Orleans Saints have been testing players for COVID-19 coronavirus infections daily, but they have not returned any positive tests since the first wave of rookies arrived on July 27. Players must test negative twice before they will be allowed to enter the team practice facility, and while it’s early, it appears that Saints players have done a great job protecting themselves and their families during the long offseason.

While the Saints have seen just two players opt out of the 2020 season (backup tight ends Cole Wick and Jason Vander Laan), they have not had to designate anyone to the NFL’s Reserve/COVID-19 list because of an infection. They’re one of a handful of teams to not do so, including the Patriots, Texans, Chargers, Panthers, Cardinals, and Seahawks.

That’s not to say the Saints won’t experience infections. Head coach Sean Payton was diagnosed with the coronavirus earlier this year and spent two weeks quarantined in his home while recovering. General manager Mickey Loomis confirmed that “a couple of other” members of the organization tested positive over the summer, too.

So the Saints will have to be vigilant and limit risk as best as they can once training camp begins in earnest, but the high-contact nature of the sport and its large rosters make breakouts feel like an inevitability. Payton himself has said that, at the end of the day, all the precautions in the world go out the window once two teams gather for a two- or three-hour game of tackle football.

But at this early stage, it’s hard to not feel encouraged by how the Saints are starting out. Hopefully things will continue trending in a positive direction.

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Another critical member of the Patriots has chosen to opt-out in Patriots safety Patrick C

Another critical member of the Patriots has chosen to opt-out in Patriots safety Patrick Chung.Chung started in 12 games last season and has been an important piece on the Patriots for the last six seasons

Another critical member of the Patriots has chosen to opt-out in Patriots safety Patrick C

Dont’a Hightower among five Patriots opting out of 2020 season

Five Patriots have opted out of the 2020 season, led by LB Dont’a Hightower and RT Marcus Cannon.Fullback Danny Vitale, guard Najee Toran and running back Brandon Bolden are the other three Patriots sitting out the season.The Patriots are now especially thin at LB after losing Jamie Collins, Kyle Van Noy and Elandon Roberts in free agency

Dont’a Hightower among five Patriots opting out of 2020 season

AFC East news: Multiple Patriots opting out of 2020 season

Multiple New England Patriots are not going to play in 2020 having opted out.

The New England Patriots have come out of the gate flying on a list you’d really not want to even exist. It’s very understandable that these tough decisions have to be made, but as of Tuesday morning, at least five players on the Patriots have opted out of the upcoming 2020 NFL season.

After bargaining between the NFL and NFLPA, players have the right to opt-out of playing next season due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. For the Patriots, the list of players doing so grew fast and furiously, and has included some key pieces of their roster.

Those players that have opted out so far include linebacker Dont’a Hightower, tackle Marcus Cannon, fullback Danny Vitale, guard Najee Toran and running back Brandon Bolden, according to Patriots Wire.

Hightower, a former first round-pick, longstanding starter and major contributor to New England’s defense, released a statement to explain why he’s skipping this season.

“Me and my fiancée are just more concerned with the health of our family than football — especially the new addition (of a baby boy) to our family,” he wrote Tuesday, via NFL Network.

Without Hightower, the Pats’ linebacker room isn’t looking very deep. Via free agency, the Patriots lost Kyle Van Noy and Jamie Collins.

Cannon, a survivor of Non-Hodgkins’ lymphoma, opted out and was previously slated as New England’s starting right tackle.

Vitale, Toran and Bolden played smaller roles for the Pats by comparison, but their services are no longer going to be benefiting the Patriots in 2020. Again, their decisions are understandable due to COVID-19. Per Patriots Wire, Vitale, like Hightower, both had a child born recently. But this offseason has already been a franchise-shaking one for the club after the loss of quarterback Tom Brady and now here’s another layer for New England to deal with.

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7 AFC East stories from last week for Bills fans to know

AFC East stories from the Patriots, Jets and Dolphins for Bills fans to know.

So let’s stay on top of some of the latest headlines surrounding the Bills’ divisional foes now. Here are seven news stories from the other three AFC East teams from the last week right here:

New York Jets

Jets strong safety Jamal Adams. Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Jamal Adams dealt to Seahawks

The Bills no longer have to face safety Jamal Adams. Not often, anyway. The Bills and Seahawks faceoff in Week 9 next season, but then that could be the last time the Bills face the star safety ever again (if he stays with the Hawks, that is). Over the weekend, Adams’ saga with the Jets came to an end as he was traded away to the NFC West team.

It’s hard to admit, but the Jets got a real good haul for him, too. Just hours after going on the record in an interview where Adams essentially trashed his head coach, Adam Gase, and the team’s general manager, Joe Douglas, the Jets landed safety Bradley McDougald, a first-round pick in 2021, a third-round pick in 2021 and a first-round pick in 2022. It was only the eighth time an individual player was traded for two first rounders.

Two first-round picks? For a guy who was very, very unlikely to play for your team ever again? Not bad, Jets.

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8 AFC East stories from last week for Bills fans to know

AFC East stories from the past week for Buffalo Bills fans to know via the Patriots, Jets and Dolphins.

So let’s stay on top of some of the latest headlines surrounding the Bills’ divisional foes now. Here are eight news stories from the other three AFC East teams from the last week right here:

Miami Dolphins

Buffalo Bills wide receiver John Brown. (AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth)

Social media campaign was suggested by Dolphins’ Byron Jones

Byron Jones is a name that Bills fans are going to want to get to know. The cornerback was a big time free agency signing by the Dolphins this offseason, so when you see Stefon Diggs against the Fins in 2020, Jones might not be far behind.

But reportedly Jones already had his affect on the Bills, and the NFL in-large. On Sunday, NFL stars took to social media via their Twitter accounts and flooded the website with the “We Want To Play” campaign. Micah Hyde and Diggs were involved in that.

In doing so, the league’s stars brought attention to some of the big issues on the table against owners. The NFL and NFLPA are running out of time to agree on safety protocols for the 2020 season amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Since that happened on Sunday, the league and players have started to come together on some issues, such as eliminating the preseason.

So with Jones in mind, maybe we have reason to thank him for playing a part in getting the 2020 NFL season underway because a report says that Jones is the one who came up with the idea.

Finally, something good from South Beach.

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