In addition, the Bills could create some cap space by releasing some players in the offseason. Here are four Buffalo players who could be cap casualties this year.Â
The Buffalo Bills have approximately $80 million in cap space heading into the 2020 offseason, according to Spotrac. While that seems like a good chunk of change, there are various considerations that Buffalo’s brass will consider before spending that dough.
Buffalo’s front office has done a tremendous job of putting the Bills in a great fiscal situation. But with players such as Josh Allen, Tre’Davious White, Matt Milano, and Tremaine Edmunds due for contract extensions in the near future, the team will be conscientious with their unrestricted free agent spending this spring.
In addition, the Bills could create some cap space by releasing some players in the offseason.
Here are four Bills players who could be among those cap causalities this offseason:
TE Tyler Kroft
Buffalo Bills tight end Tyler Kroft. Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
2020 Cap Hit: $6,412,500
2020: Dead money: $1,600,000
Tight end Tyler Kroft missed part of his first season in Buffalo with a foot injury. When he returned to the lineup after the injury seemed to linger on for a while, he lost snaps to rookie Dawson Knox. In 11 games, Kroft caught six passes for 71 yards and one touchdown reception.
The tight end room is a bit crowded for the Bills too, as Kroft, along with Knox, Lee Smith, Tommy Sweeney are under contract for next year. Jason Croom is an ERFA, so the Bills will probably hold onto his rights in the offseason as a training camp body, at least. With the Bills reported interest in former Panthers tight end Greg Olsen, there might be limited space for Kroft.
Here’s the Buffalo Bills running back situation room entering the 2019 offseason.
Here is Bills Wire’s position-by-position breakdown of the team’s roster, continuing with the running backs, including the season that was and projecting forward:
The Buffalo Bills’ running backs situation took on new life this season, as four-year starter LeSean McCoy was released by the team ahead of the 2019 campaign. Buffalo’s ground attack started with veteran Frank Gore as the lead back early in the 2019 season.
Gore started eight games for the Bills, but his production slipped as the seasons progressed. He surpassed Barry Sanders for third on the all-time rushing list this season as his crowning achievement. The veteran also surpassed the 19,000-yard mark for yards from scrimmage mark.
However, it was easy to see that Devin Singletary’s explosiveness would catapult him into feature back territory eventually. The rookie finally did so and led the team with 775 rushing to the tune of 5.1 yards per carry. He also caught 29 passes this year as well.
Senorise Perry and TJ Yeldon also provided depth. Perry’s contributions were viewed most prominently on special teams. Yeldon ended up being the odd man out, failing to dress for 10 games this season.
Frank Gore #20. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
Contract situation
Singletary is under contract for at least three more seasons, as he is playing under his rookie contract. His cap hit will be $675,000 this year, a bargain if he reproduces his numbers from last year.
Yeldon, for his part, is signed through the 2020 season. He’ll count $1.9 million against the cap next year. His presence on the roster does give the team a solid pass-catching option out of the backfield, if necessary. But Yeldon was seldom found in the team’s active roster on game day in 2019..
Gore signed a one-year deal, as did Perry, during the offseason. Both were team-friendly deals. Gore still hasn’t decided if he’s going to retire or not, and who knows if the Bills would welcome him back? Perry played a mostly special teams role, but Buffalo’s unit did see a big improvement under now special teams coordinator Heath Farwell this season.
Christian Wade, who remains Bills property via international allocation, is also in the fold as he signed a reserve/ futures contract following the season.
The future
Outside of Singletary, this group is largely up in the air. While Gore was an ideal mentor to Singletary, his production late in the season makes it hard to think Buffalo would re-sign the veteran.
Perry could return as an essential part of the team’s special teams unit. However, he offers minimal out of the backfield.
Yeldon could never gain strong footing on a depth job. With Singletary’s emergence as a pass-catcher, this could continue to squeeze Yeldon from snaps, as Yeldon’s primary duty is to provide a receiving presence out of the backfield. His cap hit is reasonable at $1.9 million, but his dead cap hit is only $250,000. Buffalo could easily make this move if they find a replacement.
But one thing is for certain, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott said he believes the NFL is a two-back league. So the Bills would have a spot for another without Gore.
The Bills will need to look for a reserve player (or players) to spell Singletary when he needs a breather. Buffalo looks to veterans for depth on the team, so there’s a good chance that the Bills would sign a veteran to backup Singletary. They could look to the draft as well, but the organization’s track record of finding veterans means they’ll test the free agency market.
Former Alabama running back T.J. Yeldon has had a hard time finding his groove in the NFL since being drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft. Spending a couple years with the Jaguars was rough for Yeldon, he …
Former Alabama running back T.J. Yeldon has had a hard time finding his groove in the NFL since being drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft.
Spending a couple years with the Jaguars was rough for Yeldon, he was never able to become the franchise’s lead back. He was acting in a complimentary role to Chris Ivory and, eventually, Leonard Fournette.
After four years in Jacksonville, Yeldon left for Buffalo as an unrestricted free agent.
He signed for two years worth $3.2 million. It’s good that he’s getting paid, but I’m sure Yeldon would sacrifice some of that cash for time on the field.
The 2019 regular season was his opportunity to show that he can make a big impact, regardless of how many snaps he saw.
Unfortunately, he was never able to get that point across to Sean McDermott as he was responsible for 63 yards off of 17 carries – a very underwhelming performance for the once Alabama standout.
Those numbers led Yeldon to being the No. 4 ranked rusher on the team. He sits behind the rookie, Devin Singletary, NFL legend, Frank Gore and the team’s second-year quarterback, Josh Allen.
Expectations weren’t high for the Bills heading into 2019, and their run game wasn’t slated to be all too impressive. Yeldon was supposed to be the second-string back, in a supporting role to the aging Gore.
Singletary, the rookie running back from FAU, stole the show and became the lead in the backfield, thus forcing Yeldon even lower on the depth chart.
It’s become clear that he is nearing the point in his career where if he doesn’t “break out” and show the rest of the league that he’s still capable of being the main piece to a team’s backfield.
He has one year remaining on his contract with the Buffalo Bills and will then become an unrestricted free agent. It’s unclear as to if the Bills will keep Yeldon or cut him, but no matter what happens he will continue to do what he does best, fight for a spot.
The Bills lose in their final game of the regular season to the New York Jets.
In the final game of the NFL season, the Buffalo Bills lost to their divisional rival, New York Jets, 13-6. A rainy day in Orchard Park led to sloppy performances from fringe players on the Bills roster.
Thankfully, it was a meaningless loss due to Buffalo locking the fifth playoff seed in the AFC with their victory over the Steelers.
With the final report card of the regular season, let’s see how the backups performed against the New York Jets:
Matt Barkley #5 of the Buffalo Bills. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
Quarterbacks: D
We’ll get Josh Allen out of the way first. He played just two series and threw the ball five times. He completed three of those passes for five yards, but it wouldn’t be fair to add his performance to this grade.
Backup Matt Barkley started the game under pressure, getting hit on his first throw that looked like a fumble but was called an incomplete pass. On his second drive he found more momentum, finding running back T.J. Yeldon, and receiver Duke Williams. Ultimately, it didn’t lead to any points, which was a common theme for the Bills offense in this game.
Barkley also had issues with turning the ball over. Barkley threw two interceptions, both of them were ugly, and he fumbled the ball. He never found a rhythm throughout the game either, so he could never develop a chemistry with his receivers. This led to balls to being under-thrown, overthrown, and a really bad night from the backup.
His final stat-line was 18/35, 232 yards, two interceptions, and one lost fumble which should’ve been two. Oof.
Five takeaways from the Buffalo Bills’ Week 17 loss to the New York Jets.
This one didn’t mean a whole lot to the Bills, but in the one thing they had to do against the New York Jets in Week 17, they failed miserably.
And it had nothing to do with the final 10-3 score in favor of the Jets, either.
With that, here’s five takeaways from the Bills’ loss to the Jets:
Buffalo Bills cornerback Levi Wallace. (AP Photo/David Dermer)
Injury bug bites Bills
The Bills lost, who cares? The game had no meaning for Buffalo. The main goal was to not get injured. Well, the Bills did that.
Throughout the course of the game, the Bills lost cornerback Levi Wallace and offensive lineman Ty Nsekhe. Both plays suffered ankle injuries. Wallace was injured as he intercepted Jets quarterback Sam Darnold while Nsekhe went down on a running play.
Losing Wallace is a big loss. The Bills will want their No. 2 cornerback in the Wild Card round. The Bills will play either the Chiefs or Texans in that game. Both teams sport good passing offenses. In Nsekhe, he’s provided better offensive line play than rookie Cody Ford at tackle. He looked to have re-injured his ankle injury that kept him out for five games. If that’s the case, he’s likely done for the playoffs.
Sure, Josh Allen wasn’t injured in this one, but these could still be big losses for the Bills, who’ve remained relatively healthy all season.
Week 17 is upon us, the last regular-season games will commence this weekend. The New York Jets will travel to Orchard Park, NY, and New Era Field to take on the Buffalo Bills.
Buffalo has already clinched the first wild card spot in the AFC and will most likely limit the starters in this game to give them some rest before next weekend. Josh Allen will get the start with Matt Barkley coming in later in the game to lead the Bills to a possible 11-5 season record, which would be the first time in twenty years.
The Jets are coming in hot and their defense has been playing very well the last few weeks. They will look to knock off the Bills before ending their season in Buffalo with zero playoff hopes. Expect Sam Darnold to play the whole game against his friend and rival, Josh Allen.
Prediction: With the Buffalo Bills limiting their starters, it might give the Jets a chance in this game. I still believe the Bills will want to go into the playoffs with a win so I’m taking the Bills in this game. Bills (+1)
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