Time for a Buffalo Bills offseason update: the Bills have already signed a free-agent linebacker from Houston, and are in the market for another; and today they pulled off their biggest deal yet this offseason. They traded receiver Peerless Price, who in his fourth year had a breakout year last season, to the Falcons for a first-round draft pick. This way they avoid having to pay Price a huge amount of money on a one-year contract — he was a free-agent, but the Bills had placed their “franchise” label on him — and while they lose one of the league’s best young WR’s, they still have second-year man Josh Reed to pair with Eric Moulds. Reed showed a lot of promise in his rookie year, most of all in his precision on his routes, which calls to mind another great Bills WR named Reed. Also, the Bills get a pick in this draft’s first round, which they needed. (They traded their own first-rounder to the Patriots a year ago, for Drew Bledsoe.) The draft this year is said to be especially deep on defensive linemen, and that is a huge area of need for the Bills.
I think the Bills also signed a tight end, although I’m not sure. They do need a good TE, after releasing Jay Riemersma a few weeks back. Riemersma was always a strange case: the Bills gave him a big contract a few years back, despite the fact that his production really didn’t warrant the dollars he was given; and it was standard procedure to watch a Bills game on TV and have the announcers say that Riemersma was one of the league’s top tight ends, even though he often didn’t have a catch until the third quarter. Seems to me when you’ve got one of the league’s top TEs, you throw to him once in a while. Anyhoo….
(Oh, and former Bills QB Rob Johnson will now be taking sacks and getting injured for the Redskins. I’m sure he’ll work his way into Dan Snyder’s heart really quickly….)
