AFC East Thread

A month ago, Bills wide receiver Gabe Davis said he expected to test free agency, but was open to staying in Buffalo. Now Davis is hinting that his days in Buffalo are done.

Davis posted a video on social media that serves as a retrospective of his four years with the Bills, and although Davis didn’t specifically state that he’s leaving, it comes across like a farewell message.

It’s possible that Davis and his agent have engaged in preliminary contract talks with the Bills, and that Davis has realized the sides are far enough apart that he’ll be signing elsewhere when he becomes an unrestricted free agent next month.

That’s not a surprise, given that the Bills still have to make some roster moves just to get under the 2024 salary cap. Buffalo’s first priority is going to have to be shedding or restructuring veteran contracts, not re-signing veterans who are going to want more money.

So after four seasons in Buffalo, it appears likely that Davis will be playing elsewhere in 2024.

 

The Bills are moving on from one of their key defensive players. According to multiple reports, Buffalo is releasing safety Jordan Poyer.

Poyer, 32, has been with the Bills for the last seven seasons. He started 16 games for Buffalo in 2023, recording 100 total tackles with four passes defensed, a forced fumble, and a sack. He started both of Buffalo’s postseason games as well, recording 14 total tackles and a forced fumble.

A seventh-round pick in 2013, Poyer spent most of his first four seasons with the Browns before signing with the Bills as a free agent in 2017. He was a first-team All-Pro in 2021 and a Pro Bowler in 2022. In 155 games with 117 starts, Poyer has recorded 54 passes defensed, 24 interceptions, 37 tackles for loss, and 12.0 sacks. By releasing Poyer, the Bills will save $5.72 million against the cap.

Additionally, Buffalo is releasing cornerback Siran Neal, according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport. He was a heavy special teams contributor for Buffalo, having played 80 percent of the unit’s snaps. The club will save $2.88 million against the cap with Neal’s release.

 

Add center Mitch Morse and wide receiver/kick returner Deonte Harty to the discard pile in Buffalo.

NFL Media reports that the Bills will release center Mitch Morse and kick returner Deonte Harty as they continue to get their house in order ahead of the start of the new league year next week. Safeties Jordan Poyer and Siran Neal are also getting cut by a team that will still need to do more work to get under the cap.

Morse was set to make $8.5 million this year and the Bills will get all of that cap space back. Harty’s release will clear $4.315 million and there will be over $4.625 million in dead money left behind, but they also picked up over $8 million in cap space with the moves involving the two safeties.

Morse joined the Bills in 2019 and he started all 87 regular season and playoff games he played for the team. Harty spent one year with the team and had 15 catches for 150 yards and a touchdown. He also had a 96-yard punt return for a touchdown.

 

So is the Parker era:

Wide receiver DeVante Parker’s time with the Patriots is just about up.Parker’s agent Jimmy Gould said that his client has been informed that he will be released on Wednesday and that he has been given permission to speak to other teams ahead of that move becoming official.

Parker signed a two-year extension in New England last year and has nearly $3.2 million in guaranteed money on the books for the 2024 season, so releasing him is a clear sign that the team had no vision for him in the offense that new coordinator Alex Van Pelt is installing.

Parker had 33 catches for 394 yards last season and he had 31 catches for 539 yards and three touchdowns during his first season in New England.

 

Edge rusher Leonard Floyd is headed back to the West Coast. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, Floyd has agreed to a two-year deal with the 49ers. Rapoport notes Floyd’s contract is worth $20 million with a maximum value of $24 million. Floyd will also receive $12 million guaranteed in 2024.

Floyd, 31, spent the 2023 season with the Bills. He tied a career-high with 10.5 sacks, also recording nine tackles for loss and 19 quarterback hits. He was on the field for 54 percent of Buffalo’s defensive snaps.

Heading to San Francisco will reunite Floyd with 49ers assistant head coach Brandon Staley. He was Floyd’s position coach with the Bears in 2017 and 2018, along with Floyd’s defensive coordinator in 2020 with the Rams.

In 121 games, Floyd has recorded 58.0 sacks with 63 tackles for loss and 122 quarterback hits.

Floyd was No. 38 on PFT’s list of top 100 free agents.

 

The Buffalo Bills were already set to look vastly different on difference ahead of Leonard Floyd's sudden free-agency decision on Monday. His latest move now leaves another noticeable hole on that side of the ball for Buffalo.

Per reports from NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the San Francisco 49ers are signing Floyd to a two-year, $20 million deal. Floyd now sets himself up to potentially win his second-career Super Bowl as he joins the defending NFC champs.

 

Five wide receivers caught passes for the Bills in 2023. Four of them are now on other teams. Stefon Diggs led the Bills with 107 catches, 1,183 yards and eight touchdowns last season. He was traded to the Texans today.

Gabriel Davis was the Bills’ No. 2 wide receiver in 2023, catching 45 passes for 746 yards and seven touchdowns. He signed with the Jaguars at the start of free agency.

Khalil Shakir, who was the Bills’ No. 3 wide receiver in 2023, is the only wide receiver from last year’s roster who remains. Along with free agent signing Curtis Samuel and potentially a rookie draft pick, Shakir will likely be a starter in Buffalo this season.

Deonte Harty and Trent Sherfield were backups who were the only other wide receivers to catch passes from the Bills last year. The Bills cut Harty in March, while Sherfield left for the Vikings in free agency.

Justin Shorter, a 2023 fifth-round draft pick who spent his rookie season on injured reserve, could be a contributor on the Bills this season. And Mack Hollins, who played for the Falcons last year, signed a free agent contract with the Bills last month. Shakir, Samuel, Shorter, Hollins and a rookie would likely be the five wide receivers the Bills would keep this season, as they hope to re-shape their offense with pass catchers who can take advantage of Josh Allen’s talents.

 

Stefon Diggs is gone, but he won’t be forgotten. It will be hard to forget him, given that he counts for $31 million in dead money under the Buffalo salary cap in 2024. By trading him before June 1, the Bills will take the full charge in 2024, instead of splitting it up. After June 1, they would have absorbed only $8.849 million this year, with the rest hitting the cap in 2025.

It won’t be impossible to move some cap dollars around, but it would have been cleaner and easier to wait less than two months. It also would have been strategically useful to wait until after the draft.

If, in 22 days, the Bills still had Diggs and if it was generally believed they’d be keeping him, they wouldn’t be so widely viewed as a team in the market for a receiver. Now, as they inch closer and closer to being on the clock, teams picking behind them might be thinking about trying to leapfrog the Bills to get the receiver they think the Bills wants.

It’s possible, if not likely, that the Texans wanted to do it now, so that Diggs will be on the team for the full extent of the offseaon program. If the Bills had no better offers, and if the Texans were going to walk away if the trade didn’t happen now, the Bills had no choice.

 

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profo...ead-cap-charge-in-2024-for-stefon-diggs-trade

That's not to say they are correct - it is a news sight.

 

A little off topic but thought it interesting:

With the Bills trading receiver Stefon Diggs to the Texans, the Texans’ schedule requires more careful focus. The most significant game on it? A visit to Houston from the Buffalo Bills.

But there are others. The Texans go to Minnesota, where Diggs’s career started — and where he made one of the biggest plays in league history. (He’ll be reunited in Houston, again, with Case Keenum, who threw the pass that became the Minneapolis Miracle.)

The Texans visit the Chiefs, the team the Texans are trying to catch by going all in in a way that the other NFL team in Texas can only talk about doing. And, yes, the Texans visit the Cowboys, giving Diggs a chance to square off against his brother, Trevon, and giving the Texans a chance to show they are the better team. (Now THAT would be a great Thanksgiving Day game.)

Houston also hosts the Ravens, Dolphins, Bears, Lions, Colts, Jaguars, and Titans. The Texans visit the Packers, Jets, Patriots, Colts, Jaguars, and Titans.

It’s not an easy schedule. Its specific configuration will be very interesting to see, with the Texans likely a lot more prime-time games than they did 2023. There also will be a lot of games having storylines that go beyond who wins and loses.

 

Buffalo will receive a 2025 second-round pick, originally from Minnesota. Houston will receive Diggs, a 2024 sixth-round pick, and a 2025 fifth-round pick.