Pats Pulpit: An SB Nation Community

Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Sports blogs for fans, by fans.
Around SBN: Post-UNC Thoughts

Around the AFC East, Week 7: Buffalo Bills

Last but not least, I talk to Brian G over at Buffalo Rumblings about some of the signing activity this July.

July was a busy month for the Bills.  There's been a number of key player signings: WR Steve Johnson, their 5th draft choice, was signed; Defensive Tackle Kyle Williams signed a contract extension; OL Demetrius Bell, 7th round pick, was signed to an undisclosed contract.  Break these moves down for us - how important were these signings to the organization?  Can the rookies be impactful early?

Buffalo Rumblings: Two young veterans were signed long-term, and for relatively cheap deals: RG Brad Butler and DT Kyle Williams.  These guys probably won't ever be Pro Bowl players, but they're incredibly hard-working guys that have definite futures in the league.  These were two good signings, especially considering the total new money between the two deals was roughly $23 million over three years for each player.  Butler and Williams are the kind of player that good teams are built around: tough, hard-working and young.

The rookie deals ultimately won't mean much this season.  Bell is a project player that will almost assuredly be stashed on the practice squad, though the team likes his raw tools.  Johnson is an intriguing prospect (and he was actually a seventh-round pick, one of three the Bills made), and since Buffalo's wide receiving corps is so thin depth-wise, he has a shot at contributing at some point.  I don't expect that to be this year, however, with Josh Reed and Roscoe Parrish sitting ahead of him on the depth chart.

Ultimately, these signings were routine and rather meaningless in my book.  The team has five much bigger names to deal with contractually: WR Lee Evans, OT Jason Peters, LB Angelo Crowell, CB Leodis McKelvin and WR James Hardy.  Those are the signings I'm interested in, and some of them need to happen relatively soon.

Brian's right to be interested in the signings he mentioned.  Leodis McKelvin could prove to be huge and they need to get him on board soon, like NOW.  The rookies might be impactful next year or the year after, but Buffalo needs to get the difference makers on the practice field with no lingering issues, just football on their brains.

Thanks to Briang at Buffalo Rumblings.  Head on over there to check out my answer regarding Josh McDaniels.

0 recs  |  Comment 0 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Display:

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

A New England Patriots Blog

Media requests: Please email patspulpit@gmail.com

Start posting about the Patriots »

Join SB Nation and dive into communities focused on all your favorite teams.

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recommended FanPosts

175042_belichick200_small
The Latest Wave of Patriot-hating and Where it Comes From
Stampedeblue_small
Ask Colts fans from Stampede Blue

Recent FanPosts

Images_small
Sebastian Vollmer Best Injury Fill In so far on the O-line
Belichick_2_small
Series History: Patriots vs. Jets
Images_small
The Jets Will Have To Pressure Tom Brady To Come Close To Winning.
Images_small
Stop Hatin On me Please!
Head_light_small
Wednesday Re-focus: I Hate the Jets
Belichick_2_small
Week 11 Power Rankings
Stampedeblue_small
My apologies on this being late- Thank you
T
Even the best minds need Support: BB over his head
12-22-07_1831_small
Chum is in the water...

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >

Latest NFL Headlines from SB Nation

SPONSORS


Managers

Patspulpit_small MaPatsFan