Written by Taylor Odenat
Seemingly overnight, the Buffalo Bills have gone from a team consistently missing the playoffs, to a team that now has a chance to be a powerhouse in the AFC East. They have grabbed hold of opportunities that have come along in this NFL offseason and don’t seem to show signs of slowing down. Last season, the Bills finished with a 9-7 record and were beginning to improve as a franchise with the ground work of RB CJ Spiller and an unexpectedly productive season from veteran QB Kyle Orton. After a 2-2 record as a starter, QB EJ Manuel was benched which would end up sparking the 7-5 playoff missing end to Buffalo’s season. Buffalo made improvements, but the franchise knew that changes needed to be made.
As with all teams in any sport, when an organization is not doing as well as expected the first person blamed is the coach of said team. Coach Doug Marrone was fired after a season and a half and a 15-17 record as Buffalo’s head coach. In his place, after he had recently been fired by the New York Jets, Rex Ryan was hired to replace Marrone and turn the Buffalo roster into a playoff team. To make his job much easier, Buffalo’s front office decided to take this free agency to make their team one that could compete with the rest of the AFC.
The AFC East all upgraded their rosters with the Jets acquiring Brandon Marshall, the Dolphins acquiring Ndamukong Suh, and the Patriots resigning Devin McCourty, so the Buffalo Bills needed to do something about their lack luster roster. So far, they have been successful in that task by making several beneficial free agent additions. According to CBS Sports, the Bills signed two players out of the NFL Top 100 Free Agents for their 2015-2016 squad. They inked former Miami Dolphin TE Charles Clay, ranked 47th in the top 100 NFL Free Agents and resigned DE Jerry Hughes, ranked 25th among Top 100 Free Agents. Additionally, although they may have lost Spiller to free agency, they gained former Philadelphia Eagle RB Lesean McCoy to take his place. Although they have some quarterback confusion on who is going to start between Matt Cassel, EJ Manuel, and Tyrod Taylor, once that situation is figured out they’ll have plenty of healthy options to throw the ball to. The Bills are now pretty deep AT Wide Receiver with last year’s rookie Sammy Watkins, veteran Percy Harvin, 2013 rookie Robert Woods, and other recent signings like previous Pittsburgh Steeler Justin Brown.
Rex Ryan’s track record in six seasons with the New York Jets, before he got fired, included two trips to the AFC Championship and constant criticism by Jets fans. However, with a fresh start, new players, and new organization, Ryan should be able to prove that he is capable of taking an NFL team to the promise land. His relentless defensive coaching style should translate well with the big bodies such as Pro Bowlers Mario Williams, Kyle Williams, and Marcell Dareus that the Bills have on their defensive end. After this free agency, the Buffalo Bills have the opportunity to go from a team that frequently misses the playoffs, to a team that could compete for a realistic chance to play in the Superbowl.
http://www.buffalobills.com/team/roster.html, http://www.ourlads.com/nfldepthcharts/depthchart/BUF,
http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/transactions/_/name/buf/buffalo-bills
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