This time around for the Buffalo Bills as they enter the offseason, big moves and acquisitions won’t be be as furious like before. Expect to see the Bills calmly enter the storm of the upcoming offseason.
Ending their season at 8-8 under new head coach Rex Ryan, the Bills thought they had something special brewing in Buffalo last offseason. They spent a lot of money acquiring key free agents they thought would turn into big contributors in the regular season but needless to say, things didn’t exactly go as planned.
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The Bills fell flat of all the big talk Ryan had proclaiming his team would end their drought of making an appearance in the NFL Playoffs. He said they would be the next big bully of not only their division in the AFC East but of the entire NFL. Unfortunately for Ryan, it looks like the Bills actually regressed even though much of their talent remained after Ryan took over.
With their defense not having the same impact like in 2014, it has kept many wondering if it was the players that were starting to decline or if it was simply due to getting use to a new culture. Never the less, the Bills were kept on the outside looking in with all eyes set on what their offseason planning might entail to end their drought of 16 years in missing the postseason.
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Don’t expect any big free agent moves or trades the likes of which that happened last offseason. The Bills will want to enter the storm of free agency relatively calm and actually work on re-signing most of their free agents to continue their development.
Truth of the matter is, the Bills lost a few close games that could have kept them in the Wild Card hunt throughout the season. They had their opportunities but couldn’t punch them in when it mattered most.
General manager Doug Whaley will more than likely receive a contract extension even though he’s entering the final year of his contract. He’s made some smart moves but again, will keep things relatively quiet this time around and not shell out big bucks to marquee free agents. The idea is to continue what Ryan is preaching in that they have the players already but everything hasn’t fallen into place yet.
In an article written by Sal Maiorana of Democrat & Chronicle, here is what Whaley had to say about their top priority heading into the offseason:
"“I think right now with where we are, I think the focus of the offseason would probably be on retaining most of everything that we have,” Whaley said. “We have some guys coming up that we think will be core to where we need to go forward. We’ve drafted well enough that these guys are coming up and we want to retain them.”"
It actually makes sense for the Bills to follow this mantra and continue to build through the draft. The better teams in the NFL all made sure to build a foundation of youth, aggression and bringing in the right players for their system by having successful drafts.
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The Bills already have a nice core but now it’s a matter of trying to keep as much of it intact while infusing it with even more top talent. Teams can accomplish great things if they avoid overpaying for free agent players and putting in the extra time to evaluate this year’s draft class to find hidden gems that can step right in and produce.